Questions about Mollie and the shiba inu breed
I was wondering if some of you can tell me a little bit about your shibas personalities, their likes and dislikes.
I`ve read a lot about this breed before we got Mollie, but she was in a small cage for the first 2 1/2 months of her life, and I`m guessing with very little human contact, so I was wondering what is genetics and what is their individuale personalities, Mollie doesn`t like to be petted, she likes to be held only when she`s tired. Her neck seems to be very sensitive, not in a good way, I think I`ll ask the vet to check her chip on her next visit . I showed her how to sit 4 times, and she will do it when I ask her, but only when she wants to, she can be stubborn. As for potty training, we are almost there, she doesn`t really bark so she just sits by the door, if we don`t see her right away she`ll go in the house, if we do see her she does go outside. She loves to be outside so much that she`ll try to hide from us when she knows its time to go inside. She`s very smart but definitely has a mind of her own, and thats ok, we love her just the way she is.
I`ve read a lot about this breed before we got Mollie, but she was in a small cage for the first 2 1/2 months of her life, and I`m guessing with very little human contact, so I was wondering what is genetics and what is their individuale personalities, Mollie doesn`t like to be petted, she likes to be held only when she`s tired. Her neck seems to be very sensitive, not in a good way, I think I`ll ask the vet to check her chip on her next visit . I showed her how to sit 4 times, and she will do it when I ask her, but only when she wants to, she can be stubborn. As for potty training, we are almost there, she doesn`t really bark so she just sits by the door, if we don`t see her right away she`ll go in the house, if we do see her she does go outside. She loves to be outside so much that she`ll try to hide from us when she knows its time to go inside. She`s very smart but definitely has a mind of her own, and thats ok, we love her just the way she is.
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Comments
Shibas in general do not bark too terribly much. Unless something is out of the ordinary, out of place, or if they want something. We have a bell by the door for Nola (who is 4 months old). Bella knows how to get our attention if she wants to go out... usually by pacing around the house.
As for the stubborn-ness... get used to it. That is the Shiba way.
Now, the neck... Both of mine love neck scratches, so I am not sure what that is about. You may want to get her checked by a vet if it seems painful.
[ How does she react when you touch her neck? If it's something abnormal, or you're unsure about, I would definitely get her checked, better safe than sorry
That being said...I know very few shibas like Jazz. Most are as you have described with the exception of the neck thing...I find most of them really enjoy scratching behind the ears.
There are some Shibas that are absolute holy terrors as pups and you would have no idea once they reach adulthood, if you have been firm in training but fair as a parent it should all fall into place at some point.
Is molly having problems at the scruff of her neck or she just fussy when you scratch her under the chin, throat, or rub her face? If she is fussy about her face and is rubbing I would think she might be working on teething. If she has a collar on I would check it for size, making sure it's not too small. I would certainly have her chip scanned to make sure it did not migrate or isn't irritated. (Some dogs do have issues with the scruff being handled if recently chipped.)
Snf
Tsuki allows me to carry her around, tolerates being flipped over, and constantly sits by me for head pets when I'm watching TV (she might be looking for comfort because of her inhalant allergies though ):). Sometimes when I am overwhelmed by her cuteness I hug her and she doesn't try to escape for at least 10 sec. She HATES being outside, loathes walks.
Tsuki is just like Mollie with commands! When playing fetch or otherwise interested in something she will never sit when told. But if in a calm environment she will sit with no reward being offered at all.
My Anakin, as a puppy, was incredibly independent and wasn't much of a cuddler unless he wanted to sleep. He didn't like people touching or petting him, and he often wandered around the house on his own "adventures". On more than one occasion, we had to take apart large pieces of furniture because he thought that hiding behind/under things was a fun game... and that us being unable to reach him was even more fun. (I learned what that doggy smile meant very quickly.) He liked to shred paper, hated to have his paws touched, but was always very clean. And stubborn.
Now that Anakin is older and we've bonded, Anakin loves to be petted, and especially loves his face touched and his tummy rubbed... but it's over when he says it's over. If he loses interest, he will walk away and that's the end of the affection. He wants to be held/cuddled when HE wants, and not when I want. He's demanding when he wants my love, especially when he wants his belly scratched, but can ignore me at other times. I've learned to accept this. Likewise, Anakin loves to be walked and played with, but he's finished when he says so. I've carried him home a few times when he decided that the walk was over a few blocks from home. He eats what he wants to eat (and can often be picky) when he wants to eat. He will come and sit/lay beside me, but moves if I "bother" him too much, either by moving around or by repeatedly reaching down to pet him. The sofa is HIS. He sleeps in bed with me and often gets jealous when my husband gets too close to me. When he wants to be alone, he sleeps under the kitchen table where no one can reach him through the chairs. He has learned the command "Sit", but won't do any other tricks. He sometimes will not come inside when I tell him to. He is often aggressive with other dogs, and protective of his toys/snacks.
Anakin does have a lot of allergies, and hip problems, but his vet is excellent and we've made a lot of progress. He puts his complete trust in me, and I give him all that I can. I've even put off getting another Shiba because I feel that Anakin deserves my full attention.
Shibas, in general, are extremely intelligent and incredibly stubborn. They create strong bonds and have a sense of humor. So much personality in such a small dog!
I should have explained about Mollie`s neck a little better. A small child pulled the skin on the back of her neck before I could stop him, I did see it though, and it didn`t look like he pulled very hard, Mollie yelped and the child let go.
Lesson learned, put Mollie in the crate when small children are around. Later that night when mollie was tired my daughter was holding her, my daughter put her hand on the back of Mollies neck to pull her toward her for a hug, something she`s done many times before but this time she yelped just like she did when the child grabbed her, I don`t know if she was still looking for more sympathy, if she was a little afraid of her neck being touched after what happened, or if it really hurt, my thought was maybe the child pulled her skin where the chip was implanted, but she seems fine now.
Mollie doesn`t like her paws or her face touched, She does like the back of her neck scratched sometimes, she likes to shred paper, she likes to hide under the kitchen table when we are playing with her and she`ll sneak out and nip at us and then she runs away because she wants us to chase her. She`s not a picky eater, at least not yet, and she loves to ride in the car. She also responds and plays with each of us in different ways. She`s usually gentle with my husband, she lets him rub her belly, but not us, and when they play fetch she always brings the ball to him, but with my daughter and I she`ll sometimes run away with the ball because she wants us to chase her, but she lets our daughter cuddle her the most. When my son comes to the house she goes crazy, she is very excited to see him because it`s play time, she gets tired before he does, I think he`s a challenge because she can`t win with him the way she can with us, she likes to nip at us while playing and my son is so fast that she can`t bite him.
Another question though, Mollies scratches her back a lot, close to where her tail curls and lays on her back. I know she doesn`t have fleas, why does she do this and is there something I can do to relieve the itching?
She does lick her paws but she`s not obessed like Sol is, she also chases anything that moves, her favorite thing is to chase bugs and butterflies, and she tries to get worms out of the ground, I say get as she doesnt exacly dig, she`ll sniff the ground and the rub her body against the grass and the next thing you know she has a worm. I probably shouldn`t discourage her when I see her do this but the thought of her eating a worm is disgusting so most of the time I try to distract her when I see her doing that.
If you can look at the area and not see any skin irritation and no flacky sking, for the most part I would say she is allright, but you can try to bathe mollie in a good oatmeal aloe based shampoo, the vet can sell you a medicated version (expensive) or hunt around shops and just get a good high quality brand, give her a good wash and dry to see if that helps her. In the end some shibas just have little "quirks", thats all.