oh and shiba's *roxy was atleast idk about others* but the ones that willing to please easily interprit*spelling* hand signals, roxy will sit, laydown, crawl, speak, and stand on command with out saying a word just by moving you hands in a certian way, over head slightly for sit over head high for stand, hand with toy or treat folded under other for speak, hand going to floor for laydown and hand on floor moving slowly away for crawl its quite amazing as well.
I just took a walk with Jen and 3 Akita and a Shikoku. I realized something that should be noted for Akita:
Akita - Excitement poopers
*All of our Akita get excited and then dump-out - 2 have done this in Jen's car, multiple times. :oT
----
[side note] - Ran into 2 off-lead dogs on our walk. They were just wondering their property free... they charged us... that's always a great experience when your walking 3 Akita and a dog charges you - not smart. Tho, Ahi is the one that gets the most worked up... Ahi is Ahi tho, she's kinda crazy.
aww, well ... Toby is totally cool with his pack. He doesn't even realize it's on him. I think its more of a 'cool' factor for him, than an insult. He usually barks at other dogs, and finds himself more dominant with the pack on. I guess he thinks it makes him the strongest dog around?
-Cat in a dogs body
-ESCAPE ARTIST!
-Thinks they are a big dog in a small dogs body
-Everything in their eyes is "mine, mine, mine"
-HATES WATER! or being combed or nails trimmed
-Clean for the most part
-Will eat anything that they can reach - i.e. drywall, carpet, shoes, underwear, CAT POOP!
-BARKS ALOT!
-Beware of the shiba scream! lol ;-)
Kai~
-Has a "favorite" owner and is mostly one person dog (from experience and what I have heard from alot of kai owners)
-Likes to know whats going on at all times
-Likes to be in high places - i.e. picnic tables, couches, tables (yes my kai's bed of choice is the coffee table...on top of it)
-Doesn't like loud noises or too much going on or gets scared (early socialization is key)
-Aims to please its owner
Hokkaido~
-Fast runner
-Prey driven
-Must be firm and gentle
-Doesn't bark, but howls like a wolf
-LOVES attention
-LOVES water
-Good jumper
-Does what it wants and isn't a very good listener
-Loves to give kisses and be the center of attention
-Aims to please its owner
OMG Yes! Keira had the whole Petsmart looking at her when I was at her puppy class last year and they give free nail trims, well the trainer refused to believe that Keira wouldn't let her cut her nails if she tried, and the trainer was like you have to show her who's boss and yada yada yada, the second she picked her up and tried touching her paw she screamed and screamed and she didn't even start trimming yet! The thing that made me mad is the trainer refused to put her down until she could show her who's boss and the whole store was looking to see what was going on, it was very embarrassing plus I wasn't too thrilled the my dog is upset and wouldn't let me do anything about it until she proved her point....and after all of that she didn't cut her nails after all.
thats interesting - Kitsu will let us cut his nails and touch his paws, no issue. Hachi is getting used to the dremel but its taking a loooong time, Tsuki, for-get it!
Tsuki LOVES water, she was nose dive into a lake or stream if we let her - she pulls relentlessly to get to a water source, puddle included. Hachi will sniff and drink and Kitsu wants none of it.
Barking, Kitsu was pretty bad, but we've been teaching him 'thank you' which to him means bark 3-5 warning barks, get a treat. Tsuki will bark under her breath once or twice to get Kitsu riled up and I've only heard hachi bark a handful of times at John.
Jazz loves the dremel - no fuss whatsoever. I spend a portion of every night with her lying beside me and while I massage her legs, I'm holding a foot.
I don't have to trim their nails at all because we do so much walking on asphalt (except Piglet lately with the knee surgery needs a trim, but she is a freaking breeze) But ever since I got Moto I made a point of playing with his paws a lot so he would get used to it. The water thing is just cute he DIVES into our kiddie pool outside.
I guess I am lucky with him.
Miko thinks she is made of sugar and freaks if she gets so much as spritzed with water.
Neither of my Shibas like water. I had read that was a typical trait of Shibas and was not surprised. As for nail trimming, Lucy will allow me to do it without much fuss. Not anyone else though. Joey HATES it. I play with his feet multiple times a day and he gets really upset about it. I've had him for five months now and there is no appreciable progress on the feet. He is so bad that he'll express his anal glands all over me whenever I try to trim his nails. I've tried conditioning him with treats while I touch the nail trimmer to his feet but he ignores them and just flips out.
Yes, I should mention that I miraculously ended up with a shiba that's good off leash (only in places he knows). I should post disclaimers with any photos of him running free, haha.
Heidi - A lot of Tojo's being good off leash has to do with the amount of space that you have. He has the space to run the type of routes and off leash behavior that Shibas are programmed to do. If I had your land space, and low traffic, I'd go off leash with Nemo too.
When we first got Tsuki we met up with a woman who took her litter mate from the rescue, and she was all "I don't get this dog, before him I had a lab and he was so affectionate, its like having a cat". Clearly, they are not lap dogs or big wannabe lap dogs. When we adopted Tsuki we were fostering a basset who loved to love on us. He lived for attention and gave affection is large quantities often. It was really nice, but overwhelming at times, so I'm OK with the shiba (or nihon ken?) affection level.
Which leads me to believe that a large percentage of shibas give affection on their terms, in their own way, and when they do, for me its like Christmas. Its very rewarding.
Comments
Akita
- Excitement poopers
*All of our Akita get excited and then dump-out - 2 have done this in Jen's car, multiple times. :oT
----
[side note] - Ran into 2 off-lead dogs on our walk. They were just wondering their property free... they charged us... that's always a great experience when your walking 3 Akita and a dog charges you - not smart. Tho, Ahi is the one that gets the most worked up... Ahi is Ahi tho, she's kinda crazy.
----
& you guys really have an off-lead dog problem there don't you?
Steph - omg. That reminds me of that silly show on animal planet, "Meerkat Manor" they give the dominant Meerkat a radio collar to wear lol ~
Shibas~
-Cat in a dogs body
-ESCAPE ARTIST!
-Thinks they are a big dog in a small dogs body
-Everything in their eyes is "mine, mine, mine"
-HATES WATER! or being combed or nails trimmed
-Clean for the most part
-Will eat anything that they can reach - i.e. drywall, carpet, shoes, underwear, CAT POOP!
-BARKS ALOT!
-Beware of the shiba scream! lol ;-)
Kai~
-Has a "favorite" owner and is mostly one person dog (from experience and what I have heard from alot of kai owners)
-Likes to know whats going on at all times
-Likes to be in high places - i.e. picnic tables, couches, tables (yes my kai's bed of choice is the coffee table...on top of it)
-Doesn't like loud noises or too much going on or gets scared (early socialization is key)
-Aims to please its owner
Hokkaido~
-Fast runner
-Prey driven
-Must be firm and gentle
-Doesn't bark, but howls like a wolf
-LOVES attention
-LOVES water
-Good jumper
-Does what it wants and isn't a very good listener
-Loves to give kisses and be the center of attention
-Aims to please its owner
I also read that Kai are one-person dogs. I think it's kind of sweet
Some people are really just something. Honestly, the trainer should have quit while she was ahead ;p~
Tsuki LOVES water, she was nose dive into a lake or stream if we let her - she pulls relentlessly to get to a water source, puddle included. Hachi will sniff and drink and Kitsu wants none of it.
Barking, Kitsu was pretty bad, but we've been teaching him 'thank you' which to him means bark 3-5 warning barks, get a treat. Tsuki will bark under her breath once or twice to get Kitsu riled up and I've only heard hachi bark a handful of times at John.
I guess I am lucky with him.
Miko thinks she is made of sugar and freaks if she gets so much as spritzed with water.
When we first got Tsuki we met up with a woman who took her litter mate from the rescue, and she was all "I don't get this dog, before him I had a lab and he was so affectionate, its like having a cat". Clearly, they are not lap dogs or big wannabe lap dogs. When we adopted Tsuki we were fostering a basset who loved to love on us. He lived for attention and gave affection is large quantities often. It was really nice, but overwhelming at times, so I'm OK with the shiba (or nihon ken?) affection level.
Which leads me to believe that a large percentage of shibas give affection on their terms, in their own way, and when they do, for me its like Christmas. Its very rewarding.