What is your Shiba's personality?
Niko is VERY outgoing and attention seeking from ANYONE. She goes up to people and waits for their attention and then will move on the next. She is an instigator, especially at the dog park. She will get all the dogs to chase her. When we walked into the big dog park(the small one would have just been an insult to her) someone said "oh, she thinks she is a big dog". I said "she KNOWS she is a big dog". She knows how to wrap everyone around her little paw...and she knows how to use it for her own wants. She will shove toys in her sisters face until she gives in and plays. She bites her sisters tail and legs to get her to "fight" with her. She will take toys and put them in our lap to play. The trainer is trying to get us to not feed into her passive dominance but we so often find ourselves making that mistake...how can you neglect the Shiba's wants?? She is the biggest drama queen when she gets hurt and will milk it for all it is worth. She eats her treats right away and then demands that Sasha surrenders hers. She will NOT listen when there are other people around no matter how hard we try. She gets upset that we dare scold her infront of company by telling her what to do and then when she goes into timeout she screams like someone needs to call CPS! She humps her sister all the time!!! Tries to drink the spray bottle when we use it as a correction. And definatly has that "take a number and I will get back to you" attitude, especially when outside in hunt mode! She does the Shiba 500 every night before bed time. She tries to sneak upstairs without anyone knowing, gets halfway there and then charges. Her den is under the bed. She rolls all over anything and everything to get the scent on her, including frogs, her sisters, her treats, her toys, the cats, our bed and any bug she can find outside....
Oh I could go on and on.
Oh how I love the Shiba...let me count the ways!
The torture pics...
Comments
She sounds feisty.
Nemo is not good with new people, it takes time and patience (on the part of the people) for him to trust them. Once he makes the jump to trusting someone he is 100% dedicated though. The people he loves, he really loves. After a few minutes of petting or attention he calms down though and will just hang out. He doesn't always need attention, but finds a way to get it when he needs it. For strangers, there is a lot of barking, hiding under bed or keeping a real close eye on them. Although now he will usually accept treats that are tossed at him, the first time someone comes over, and works up to accepting from someones hand much quicker than he used to.
Nemo is a drama queen about the small things (salt between his pads) but doesn't react to bigger things, such as when he got a big cut under his eye when running into a picnic table seat. Overall he is a bit of a crazy dog, like any shiba, keeps things interesting though.
Nemo sounds like my sasha...except she NEVER seems to warm up to anyone.
How long have you had Nemo? Is he a rescue?
He entertains himself by doing very peculiar things. Recently, he got a pot lid out of the drawer below our stove and carried it to our bedroom and dropped it there. My husband burst out laughing when he saw Tojo walk by so non-chalantly with a giant pot lid in his mouth! He also likes to stand in front of the window, facing in, with one of the hanging blinds on his head like a hat or sit by our bedroom door and push it open with his paws over and over again (it closes on its own if now propped open).
His relationship with the cat is very interesting. He likes to mouth her, snuggle her, and even a couple of times, has carried her down the hall in his mouth by the scruff of the neck! Of course, when he does, I tell him to "leave it" at which point he sits in her and looks at you like nothing's strange, meanwhile there's a cat squirming around and clawing his butt!
The amount of staring he does is rather off-putting to those who aren't used to it. He'll sit or stand in front of you staring at you with an unfaltering gaze for a looong time. Once, while he was doing this, my husband and I decided to point and laugh to see what affect that had on him, and he very calmly turned around and sat down with his back facing us. It was hilarious! Sometimes, he does seem to fall asleep in the middle of staring, though, and you will look over and he's sitting perfectly still with his eyes closed. He's very stoic when he's not acting totally nuts.
I think he's very smart. He tries really hard to open doors by turning the doorknob with his paws and sometimes, he sounds like he's "talking", especially if he wants something. He will sit in from of you and make all sorts of crazy vocalizations.
On the other hand, if he gets tangled in his leash, he thinks the world has come to an end and will just thrash around until someone frees him!
In short, he's rather weird.
Kaia – She is a clown. She just lays around all day and sleep quietly on her bed. She is rather aloof in that she is not always begging for attention but at the same time she LOVES attention. She loves stranger, and especially kids – she gets to excited when she sees them and loses control of her body – she will jump and fall over and turn in circles, it’s really silly. Kaia is pretty scrappy, and will tell any dog what she thinks but will never bite or fight. She has a really motherly vibe, and will clean the ears of the other pups – she has also started trying to tolerate Hilo snuggling with her but he starts to get bored and will bite her head or something, this will turn her off and she will leave. It’s fun to watch – like a cartoon or something. My favorite thing about Kaia is her nightly silliness – she gets on the couch when we are watching TV and just digs and digs on us. She will push her head under our leg or into the couch and bark as loud as she can – then jump as if she scared herself or something. She does this for like 5 minutes then just crashes out and goes to sleep. I guess it’s her version of zoomies. Kaia is by far our sweetest pup and anyone who meets her asks if they can have her. I’m not 100% sure but she may be the boss of the pack – all the pups seem to listen to her.
Well that’s my Shibas – they are really cute and silly.
Anakin is a very outgoing little dog. He will approach ANYONE, some with caution (sniffing hands/feet/clothing), some without abandon (jumping, begging for attention, and demanding to be seen/heard/loved). He is a wonderful little guard dog, and perks his ears at every sound; he will bark if someone is at the door and run to investigate. He loves the company of men, and only seems to use women (I'm the exception, of course) for food & tummy rubbing. He constantly seeks approval, and LOVES to have his photograph taken; he will pose for the camera, even get between the camera lens and whatever is supposed to be in the photo. He definitely likes to clown around and be the center of attention. He throws temper tantrums (rolling on the floor, clawing at the carpet, yodeling) when he doesn't get his way. He believes that EVERYONE exists to love, pet and play with Anakin. He is easily jealous and will often nudge others (animals & people) out of the way for attention. He is gentle with small children, but obviously doesn't care much for them, as he loves to sneak up behind them... bark loudly enough to frighten them... and trots off smiling. He is agressive towards other dogs at first, but becomes accustomed to them fairly quickly and even considers them "friends". He will snuggle and play with people/animals that are familiar to him.
He loves my husband, but Anakin is definitely my dog. He follows me around EVERYWHERE, or at least needs to know where I am at all times. If I go to work, I have to inform him that I am going to work and will see him after my shift. If I'm late coming home, or if I switch shifts and work a different schedule than he's used to, he will pout and sulk the entire time I'm gone, and then he won't leave my side once I am home again. I have to inform him when I'll be leaving the room for more than five minutes that I will be right back, otherwise he will wait for me (at the bottom of the staircase, outside of a door, etc) until I either emerge or he has cried enough that I tell him I'm still nearby. He hates it when I leave the house without him. I cannot go away for 24 hours (even if I leave him with my husband or another very familiar family member) without a huge dramatic display of doggy-sadness. Hence, Anakin loves long car trips and is very well behaved; he considers himself my co-pilot, since I won't allow him to drive (although I'm sure that is what he would prefer). When I go to bed at night, Anakin waits patiently while I brush my teeth, wash my face, etc. He waits until he thinks that I am asleep before crawling up from the foot of the bed to sleep beside me with his head on my pillow. Basically, the dog likes to spoon! (My husband gets jealous.) Anakin is usually at my feet, or beside my chair when I'm sitting. He places himself beneath my chair at the dinner table, leans against my leg when I'm standing, and insists on sleeping on my side of the bed. -- Oddly enough, Anakin will let my husband cuddle/sleep with him on the sofa, however I believe this is just to make me jealous. That, or it's a "daddy thing" that they started when he was very young and I simply missed out on that bonding moment.
Anakin loves to play. More specifically, he loves to be chased, but isn't too keen on chasing toys, balls, etc. He will play tug-of-war for short periods of time, but gets bored easily. He will play catch for a short while, but then decides that he would rather not give you the ball, and that running off with it seems like a far better idea (in hopes of being chased). He LOVES to have his tummy rubbed, and his back scratched, and will paw at you relentlessly until you give into one demand or the other. He also knows when he is misbehaving, and he will make certain that no one is watching or, if he knows that you see him, will pretend not to care.
Anakin is so intelligent that sometimes it scares me.... He is always learning. I have to stay on my toes at all times to keep up with him!