While Jazz has done remarkably well in some off-leash attempts - I have to say the shiba is not meant to be off-leash. They are hunting dogs by nature and if allowed to be off-leash, they will go chasing after a scent trail and you'll be spending time hunting, cursing, and bemoaning your ownership of a shiba.
I would never do the training by busy streets I just was wondering if there were any suggestions on how to train a dog off leash. Like right now I have a whistle and everytime I blow the whistle he gets chicken which has worked pretty good so far any other suggestions because im going to try it in a safe enclosed area.
My neighbor has a cream shiba who is 4 years old. He is very well trained off leash - its really unbelievable how obedient he is. I had asked them how they trained him so well and my neighbor got this look of being exhausted and said "YEARS OF CONSISTENT TRAINING!" I think her Shiba is a very rare one! Its still very risky regardless of how much you trust them to be off leash. Dogs go through stages in their life where they want to test you and see what they can get away with. If your dog is off lead and decides to test you - then what? It's just too risky IMHO.
Ninja does very well off-lead. We have been using a 30 ft. lead for attentive training, and he is awesome. He actually walks much better when we use the 30 ft lead vs the 6 foot lead, dunno why. Even in fenced in area's where he is off lead, he stays pretty close to us and is always keeping and eye where we are - except when he is searching for his poopie spot, thats a different story. (damn picky shiba's!). When we used to go to the dogpark, a lot of the other dog owners would tell us how Ninja is so "loyal" to us, because he would always follow us around and come when called. My boxer is very very good off leash. Although, i think she may just be too chicken to wander around by herself. She is very submissive and tends to cling to us a lot. But we still keep her on lead all the time in public places that are not enclosed.
Like a few of the other members have mentioned, shiba's have a high prey drive, and once their mind is set on something, I think it would be quite hard to get their focus back on you. Using a really long lead is almost the same thing as a dog being off lead anyway, you should just go that route if you want your pup to be able to explore without you being right next to him at all times. Its really the best way to go to be a responsible owner and to be sure that your pup will be safe.
There are just too many cons vs pro's with off leash dogs. The off-lead dog owner always loses when it comes to being hit by a car or getting attacked by another dog or animal. It just isn't worth the risk.
LOL, he's not too fond of the water (are we talking about baths?). But once he gets in the water (for a bath) he actually seems to enjoy the rubbing of the shampoo and conditioner on him. He doesn't squirm around and try to get out...he just stands there and seems to enjoy it.
But if its not for a bath - then no...he stays away! Although I think there are a couple of shiba's here who love the water and don't mind it at all!
Ryu has a mouthing problem too but I notice that he only does it when he's REALLY excited (like when we let him out of his crate in the morning and he is so excited he can't contain himself) and when he wants to play. The latter is obvious to me because he does the same thing to dogs when he wants them to play. He nips at them to get their attention and then goes into a play bow. The excited biting is getting pretty old (Ryu's 9 months old). We've tried the yelping thing but unfortunately, he doesn't seem to care and bites harder. Our game plan now is to put our hands behind our back and say "No more!" and walk away. Even still, we're getting pretty tired of getting up and walking away just after we settled into the couch :-) Never heard of the mouthwash idea but I'll be trying that very soon! The main problem is that it is just nibbling and mouthing so we're used to it. If it was serious biting where he breaks the skin, it would be another matter. But we're used to the nibbling so its making it harder to consciously train him to stop. Right now, we have company in town and we're just now realizing how annoying it is to them and how conditioned we have become to it.
Joey went though a very mouthy stage, but he stopped pretty quickly when he learned that it ended play. Lucy was only a little mouthy when I first got her but she gave that up pretty quickly as she settled in.
Comments
Ninja does very well off-lead. We have been using a 30 ft. lead for attentive training, and he is awesome. He actually walks much better when we use the 30 ft lead vs the 6 foot lead, dunno why. Even in fenced in area's where he is off lead, he stays pretty close to us and is always keeping and eye where we are - except when he is searching for his poopie spot, thats a different story. (damn picky shiba's!). When we used to go to the dogpark, a lot of the other dog owners would tell us how Ninja is so "loyal" to us, because he would always follow us around and come when called. My boxer is very very good off leash. Although, i think she may just be too chicken to wander around by herself. She is very submissive and tends to cling to us a lot. But we still keep her on lead all the time in public places that are not enclosed.
Like a few of the other members have mentioned, shiba's have a high prey drive, and once their mind is set on something, I think it would be quite hard to get their focus back on you. Using a really long lead is almost the same thing as a dog being off lead anyway, you should just go that route if you want your pup to be able to explore without you being right next to him at all times. Its really the best way to go to be a responsible owner and to be sure that your pup will be safe.
There are just too many cons vs pro's with off leash dogs. The off-lead dog owner always loses when it comes to being hit by a car or getting attacked by another dog or animal. It just isn't worth the risk.
But if its not for a bath - then no...he stays away! Although I think there are a couple of shiba's here who love the water and don't mind it at all!
here's a picture of our little devil:
Here are our Shibees:
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Lucy:
Joey: