# First Shiba Hi, I'm Alex new to the forum been reading it for a while but just now joined. I'm getting our shiba on sunday after she gets her shots. shes 8 wks old and a red little girl who we have named Roxy. Thats her. We just fell in love with her. and we saw her in person on wednesday and just love her pe… ## Thread In General · started by kekti · 27 replies - **Category:** [General](https://nihonken.org/community/c/general) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## kekti · 2007-11-09T23:14:09.000Z Hi, I'm Alex new to the forum been reading it for a while but just now joined. I'm getting our shiba on sunday after she gets her shots. shes 8 wks old and a red little girl who we have named Roxy. Thats her. We just fell in love with her. and we saw her in person on wednesday and just love her personality. We had looked at other Shibas but she had the best look and personality. I can't wait til we go get her sunday. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-11-10T09:45:25.000Z Congrats!!  She is adorable, I love her socks.  So are you prepared for the shiba terror?  It can be very frustrating, hair pulling, funny and rewarding.  I have had many of nights in the first 8 months specifically of wondering what the hell I got in to.  Saying all of that, I know that we are hooked for life.  I cant wait to hear all the new shiba pup stories from the new owners! ## kekti · 2007-11-10T09:49:50.000Z ya I know what we are getting into and I've prepared for it and tried to prepare my parents for it but idk if they completely understood what I was saying. and well my little brother is lucky cause he's deaf well I meen its not good that he's deaf but atleast he won't have to hear the dreaded sream. I can't wait til tommorrow after noon when we go get her. What toys would you sugest for a 8 mo. old shiba? I've gotten a few toys like a rope bone and squaky toys and a ball. but idk if there was mabe like a toy that I should know of that work wonders for paccifing shiba or something. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-11-10T11:00:05.000Z Dont spend a lot of money on toys.  They are very destructive.  I have learned to get nylabones, or other virtually indestructable items.  Also kongs are great.  I love the shiba noises, they are so much fun!  Is she 8 weeks or months? ## kekti · 2007-11-10T11:20:17.000Z weeks sry. ugh so tired woke up early for no reason. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-11-10T12:23:43.000Z Hi Alex, welcome to the forum! Congrats on your new puppy, Roxy is very cute! I second what Rachael said, don't buy any toys. Our dogs amused themselves for a day with a shoe string last week. Our Shibas favorite toys are fleece blankets. Shiba puppies are totally crazy, but they are a lot of fun and REALLY cute. Anyway, welcome! When you get her post lots of pics! ## kekti · 2007-11-10T12:46:54.000Z O I will, how easy/hard is it to teach them to fetch? ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-11-10T13:50:15.000Z I think it's easy - they are very smart. Having said that, our Shibas suck at fetch. They tend to just chase the ball then stand there till you walk over an throw it again. I know a few people that have taught their Shibas to play fetch very well tho. ## kekti · 2007-11-10T14:47:24.000Z thats really all I want her to do really well is fetch, But I'd also love her her to be an agility dog too. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-11-10T15:33:10.000Z Good luck with the dropping part.  No matter how much we try and use treats she refuses to listen AND cooperate (she will drop ONLY if you have a treat).  More like brad said.  Throw me the ball, I will hold it in my mouth and make you tug!  I think personally with the agility start young.  They are very very smart but very very stubborn and it takes time for you to convince them to listen and actually follow through. ## kekti · 2007-11-10T16:11:56.000Z ok. well we're getting her I guess shes more or less still 7 wks old cause we're getting her just after she gets her vaccancation. litteraly I meen she's getting the vac in the morning and we're picking her up just after that. ## hondru (moderator) · 2007-11-10T16:29:25.000Z Congrats on the puppy and welcome!   My shiba is quite good at fetch!  At first, he did the, "Okay, I found it for you, now throw it!" thing is just stand over it once he found it, but I started giving him treats for bringing it back and I just refused to go get the ball and throw it if he didn't bring it back.  He's also very good at dropping.  If I say "drop it" he drops it immediately, even if he's really far away and otherwise does not seem to be paying attention.   As for agility, Tojo loves it!  I'm not in a class right now, but I'm hoping to get a fence built and an agility course going (could take a while to get everything finished).  Back when I was in a class, Tojo was the only one not afraid of the jumps and ramps right away.  In fact, during free play time, he'd go running through the tunnels and up the ramps instead of playing with the other dogs!  He was better at it than the poodles and golden retrievers in our class! ## kekti · 2007-11-10T17:12:24.000Z lol, I just hope roxy is as enthusiastic as tojo is. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2007-11-10T17:16:10.000Z Don't be too upset if your Shiba does not like fetch.  They are not retrievers so it is not natural for them.  Some enjoy it a lot, some for a little bit at a time, and some none at all.  Nemo likes to play fetch for about 10 minutes once every three months. However he loves other games such as "chase me around the dining room table" and "stomp your feet and clap your hands while I run around like crazy and bounce off the back of the couch" and "watch me destroy this non-dog item". Shibas are the best. They will make you laugh and frustrate you to the point where you want to cry.  The years from 1-3 tend to be the roughest.  This group is a great place for advice and venting. ## kekti · 2007-11-10T21:06:31.000Z O I'm just happy I'm finally getting another dog. Our last one was a mutt and he was huge and mean so we had to do what we had to do cause he bit my lil brother. and my lil brother had alot of special needs so... ## kekti · 2007-11-10T21:12:04.000Z heres a few more pics I just got from her breeder. err I can't wait til tommorrow when I pick her up! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-11-10T23:21:36.000Z She looks like trouble!  lol ## kekti · 2007-11-10T23:37:21.000Z lol, she looks like a dog who sees a cat just out of view of the camera. ## ShikokuSpirit (moderator) · 2007-11-11T09:11:54.000Z Roxy is adorable! Have fun with your new Shiba Inu. A great and inexpensive toy is a shoe box. She will have tons of fun tearing it apart -grins-. On the retrieves...just encourage her to smell, touch or pick up the toy. It can be done, especially if you start her at this age (they are never too young to start training). And if she is highly food driven, that just makes it easy (force retrieve on a Shiba is a BAD idea!!!). You can use a ''marker'' such as ''yes!'' or a clicker. She smells, noses, touches or mouths the toy. Then use the marker and feed her a treat. Once she connects the behavior to getting a reward, she will enjoy this game! Maybe not right away, but eventually it can evolve into a retrieve (baby steps first). The Shiba I have seen have had such great focus, but these Shiba were very food and toy driven. Good luck! Enjoy your pups. ## kekti · 2007-11-11T18:05:08.000Z well we just got her home and AWW she is so adorable, she's real tried right now just becasue she had her vac today and isn't feelin well cause of it. I'll put more pics up tommorrow. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-11-11T18:12:48.000Z Congrats! I'm sure she is a little stressed too. Tomorrow she will be bouncing off the walls tho. lol. ## kekti · 2007-11-11T18:43:49.000Z lol I hope so. I just concered about her registration to the AKC because the breeder has shaded the box that limits her registration so that she can't be bred or showed. and I really really wanted to show her. so I contacted the breeder concering the problem. I hope she doesn't take the quest the wrong way. ## kekti · 2007-11-12T23:54:24.000Z heres some more pics of her being silly and some of her being calm. Tell me what you think of her. ## jacpot · 2007-11-13T00:08:07.000Z She's adorable! She looks like a little terror too! How much does she weigh right now and how old is she? ## kekti · 2007-11-13T07:51:59.000Z she doesn't way alot idk the exact # right now but she's under 10lbs and about 1lb, o and shes just a little foot chaser thats all. she laying on the couch beside me asleep. ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2007-11-13T08:04:34.000Z she is precious. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-11-13T10:04:54.000Z Careful with baggy pants around her...I have a feeling she may attack them... ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-11-13T10:12:03.000Z She looks very happy! Congrats! --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)