# Am I a shiba addict? I guess the first step is admitting it - so here I am - my name is Jen and I am a shiba addict. Every day, I go to petfinder.com and look at the shibas, even though I foster and realize its much more than just a cute dog picture when they are rescues. Then I go to websites to see what kind of pup… ## Thread In Shiba Inu · started by tsukitsune · 44 replies - **Category:** [Shiba Inu](https://nihonken.org/community/c/shiba-inu) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T14:41:17.000Z I guess the first step is admitting it - so here I am - my name is Jen and I am a shiba addict. Every day, I go to petfinder.com and look at the shibas, even though I foster and realize its much more than just a cute dog picture when they are rescues. Then I go to websites to see what kind of pups are for sale from breeders. But everyone says if they advertise, chances are they are not good breeders. Then I look in our local paper which never EVER has Shibas in it. Until today... 5 pups, 1 black and tan male, 3 red sesame males, one red female. Located 10 miles from me. Price negotiable. You have no idea how hard it is to not call the number. I would love, love, love the black and tan. IS THERE A CURE?? ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-04-28T14:45:46.000Z The diagnosis is....incurable......must buy land......install big fence........must have job that lets me work from home......introduce another dog to pack...wait a minute - I'm describing Brad & Jen. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-04-28T14:54:26.000Z wait a minute... are you calling me an addict? ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T15:03:34.000Z i think if a study were conducted, you would have all the signs of an addict, a Nihon Ken addiction anyway. i've come to the conclusion that my next 'fix' will have to be put on hold until I can infact produce some land with my name on the title.... ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-04-28T15:03:54.000Z Let's review the situation: 1. Maui 2. Kaia 3. Ahi 4. Loa 5. Hilo 6. Lani 7. Kona While not a shiba addict, I think this is self-explanatory. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-04-28T15:43:08.000Z If it is in the paper (especially in PA) it's probably from a mill. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T15:47:23.000Z so i gave in and called, this lady bought a shiba from a pet store, and another from someone giving him away and decided the best idea would be to breed them. So she did it on purpose, it wasn't an 'oops, my dog is prego' thing.  our conversation did not end well. especially when I brought up that she was irresponsible to breed a petstore dog w/o checking for LP or hip dysplasia and she said her female has food allergies that she never could 'solve' .... oh my. I'm too mouthy. Even for a self proclaimed "shiba addict", I still cannot support such utter disregard for irresponsible breeding!!! AND she's selling the pups at 6 WEEKS OF AGE!! my stomach hurts. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-04-28T15:55:55.000Z You were right to tell her off.  I'm so tired of people who think that breeding any two dogs is a good idea.  It never seems like it will end either because people are just too stupid to care. Just like I am on a facebook group and someone asked about getting a dog from a REPUTABLE breeder.  I mentioned some breeders I know of.  This assface links up this website: http://www.purebredpups.com/index.htm Sure this guy got a healthy dog from him, and the guy has a lot of references on his site from happy customers.  However the guy breeds mostly mutts, and talks nowhere about health checks that the dogs go through, nor breed standards. ## MommyofNiko · 2008-04-28T19:41:55.000Z Good job!!  How irresponsibly ignorant and selfish of them!! ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T20:02:30.000Z I don't know how any so called breeder can totally disregard breed standards! Thats a huge part of it!! ## okiron · 2008-04-28T20:06:09.000Z Designer dogs are usually so random in the outcome, I don't think most of them actually have any breed standards yet. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-04-28T20:29:41.000Z That really pisses me off. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-04-28T20:30:55.000Z The "breeder" lady, not the addiction comments... just to be clear. ## okiron · 2008-04-28T20:31:01.000Z I love how their main page looks like it's made just to come up first in search engines. ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-28T20:45:55.000Z As for the Shiba addiction, I can't say I blame you. My life used to be almost completely consumed by work and now its evenly divided between work and my dogs. Addiction isn't quite the right word for me though, its more like an obsession. I like to think of it as a healthy obsession.  As for the breeding, I don't get it either. Why is it that people think just because they have two intact dogs it makes sense to breed them? Hell, most humans are running around intact and we don't procreate just because we can (well, a majority of us anyway).  Have we every had a discussion on this forum about mandatory spay/neuter laws? ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-04-28T21:33:38.000Z They are trying to pass one of those here in Taos. There is actually a law in the area I live that dogs/cats must be fixed. It is in our home owners covenants and they bound the covenants to the land so that the county would observe it as a law. kinda crazy. The issue here is that the county doesn't do their job... Taos is like a third world country. We had to get approval to allow our pack to move in... had an attorney and everything. Cost us more than the closing of our loan. We recently learned that NM is in the top 3 states for dog abuse! It's horrible here... Jen sees some really bad stuff at the shelter when she helps out. We have become pretty involved with the shelter and all the supporting people. The shelter here in Taos gets more money than the school system and county (in taxes) combined annually. Honestly, I support spay/neuter laws, even if it ruined Jen and my plans... if it stops things like the shit at that link above I am all for it. I'd fix my dogs in a second if even just half the states in the USA passed a spay/neuter law. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T21:37:02.000Z i support it 100% - i think stricter laws need to be passed and observed for breeders, then spay and neuter will be mandatory for all those who don't meet a breeding standard. Right now, its so sad to think of all the abuse and unwanted pups that are out there that rescue people don't even know about... ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-28T22:27:27.000Z Wow Brad. Your covenants has a spay/neuter clause? That's serious. I've never heard of that before. The approval you needed to move in, was that since not all your dogs are fixed or because you didn't plan to fix some of them? I'm for spay/neuter laws too. Although I suspect there would be the same barrier to getting them past as there is to getting just about anything passed in polotics: money. The pet industry is HUGE and a mandatory spay/neuter law would likely decrease the number of pet owners. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T22:32:12.000Z decreasing the amount of pet owners would not be such a bad thing!! then and only then would the responsible, monitarily compable people would be getting pets and maintaining them. bring it on! ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-28T22:39:46.000Z I don't disagree with you Jen, I'm just saying the politicians will when their campaign donors go elsewhere. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T22:41:35.000Z I didn't think you were disagreeing - i'm sorry, rereading that I guess I could have worded that better!! i'm exemplifying your point! But politics aren't animal friendly without money. Tis true. ## Romi (admin) · 2008-04-28T22:50:43.000Z Jen - were you calling the person with the puppies because you were interested in getting another Shiba and then found out that this person was a irresponsible breeder?  Or were you just calling to find out information about the breeder to see if they were good or not? ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T22:55:00.000Z i was calling because they had a number that registered less than 20 miles from me, so i thought if it was worth it, maybe that lovely rebate from the gov't would have brought good furry things my way. how cool would a good local breeder be? Yes, I wanted to find out info about the pups and realized she was just a backyard breeder with no clue. ## okiron · 2008-04-28T23:08:14.000Z No offense Jennifer but I'm kinda glad that lady was a byb. You don't need another dog in your life right now. You should concentrate on Kitsune and Tsuki for a few years. ## Romi (admin) · 2008-04-28T23:20:52.000Z I don't mean to sound mean, but do you really think you are ready to get ANOTHER SHIBA?  I mean, I understand your love for the breed and everything, but you just encountered a BIG issue with Kitsune and Kobe and to be honest, I think its a bad idea.  The bite that Kitsune gave you was pretty bad, could you imagine the damage he could do to a puppy?  I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but just like you, all of us on the forum are in love with these dogs and care about the well-being of them, regardless if they are our own or someone else's.   If you don't have control of your own dogs right now, i think its pretty irresponsible and selfish to bring in another puppy into your unstable pack because YOU want it.  I think you should really put the dogs safety into consideration regarding this decision, especially if you haven't gotten professional help for Kitsune's behavior. ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-28T23:36:11.000Z I don't know how to say this without sounding like an asshole, so I'm just going to say it. I am very disappointed to hear that you were even thinking of getting another Shiba. I was very happy with the outcome of your fostering and everything it appeared you had learned from it. But reading this, now I'm not so sure you did learn from the experience. We all have limitations, some imposed by our abilities and some imposed by our situation. I have no doubt that you are more than capable of living with three Shibas, but its abundantly clear at this point that Kitsune is not. Whether you like it or not, you have to acknowledge that.  Being a responsible dog owner means more than caring for your dogs. It means making decisions that are in their best interest. While love is essentially a prerequisite for that, it is not enough. You have to be smart and think through the implications of everything you do. Please try to keep that in mind as you move forward. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-28T23:46:54.000Z i was going to get mad and never come on here again - but you (all) are right, no matter how frank it was said, you are. Truly - I have an itch when it comes to the shibas and notably realize that Uncle Sam is going to fund my visit to the behaviorist instead of an ill advised back yard breeder pup. my husband is the voice of reason, reminding me that he is working with Kitsune at home very day and can only handle that right now and I know that, really, I'm a well adjusted adult, who had to convince him for a year after we were married (3 years ago) to foster dogs b/c he never had one before. He keeps me in check. Calling that breeder was for a selfish reason, but honestly I wanted to be pleasantly surprised that a good breeder was located so close to me for future litters when it all worked out in the end. But since I believe God knows best, she was not what I wanted to find. Not that I need to prove it, I feel compelled to say that I'm not a crappy dog owner, I did learn my lesson, and I enjoy this forum so don't think of me otherwise! I am committed to my two dogs, and I am committed to my work in rescue, so I really do know what is the best for me and my dogs in every aspect. I've seen to many dogs end up in shelter because their owner did not really see the big picture and realized that the dog didn't fit into it after all. I could never ever do that, nor do I ever want to get bit again (the bruising SUCKS), and I want to make the dogs I have now the best sort of canine citizens I can. Sorry if anyone misunderstood. I'm just a girl with big dreams and fast typing hands. The reality is I'm not really an 'addict', its just a past time finding out where shibas are and what they look like and what their names are, then I get to come home to mine and its a dream realised. I don't know. Now i'm babbling. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-04-29T00:18:16.000Z Jen - I'm glad you didn't get mad and leave, others on here have.  Everyone is excited that you love Shibas so much, but I'm glad that after reading things on here, and talking with your husband, you have realized things just can't move that fast.  Tsuki and Kitsune are fantastic with each other, but it seems like it is really going to take some work to get things right for a third dog.  Everyone here will be happy for you when that day comes. Besides, any good breeder would have asked you about the bite on your arm, and then said the same thing that everyone else said. If you really want to work with other dogs, and help other dogs, I'm sure your local shelter could use another volunteer.  They may not be Shibas but they are ever so grateful for some petting. ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-29T00:21:47.000Z I'm glad you decided not to leave the forum, that was the last thing I wanted to have happen! We're a community here and sometimes in a community you have to tell people things they don't want to hear in a way you think will make them hear it. Like Romi said, we're all very passionate about all dogs, but especially the Japanese breeds. That's why we're here! We all want what is best for them as well as their owners. ## Romi (admin) · 2008-04-29T00:54:14.000Z Jen - I apologize if i offended you, but really...i wasn't trying to make you mad or offend you. I was just trying to help you see your situation from another point of view. It seemed as if you were interested in getting another dog. Given the events of the past few weeks, I was pretty surprised you were considering it. That is why I asked you. I just want you to see it from my side of it. You posted that you got bit, you found Kobe a new home, you said you were going to get a behaviorist and work with Kitsune on his behavior for a while. That sounded great and I figured that would be the end of the discussion about new dogs entering your pack, at least for a while. Then you made this thread, and its been a week since the Kobe incident? Do you see what I mean? It just seemed like you were jumping into things without really thinking them through. I got a little more personal on this thread because if you remember, you made a thread "fighting within the pack" and then a week later, you decided to foster Kobe. So when this came up, I was worried you may make the same mistake again. I am having the same behavioral issues with Ninja. He is not friendly with other dogs and is fearful of strangers. I have been working really hard to keep it consistent with him and its finally paying off little by little. The one thing I've learned is that you can't force it, you have to be *VERY* patient. I want a Kai and a Shikoku SO BAD. I was convinced that I would not be able to get another dog as long as Ninja lived. But after working with him for the past 3 months consistently and having a behaviorist come, I am pretty confident that I will be able to add another dog to our pack and know that Ninja is in my control. Despite all his progress, that day is still a long way off. I hope you understand my motivations were not to be mean in any way. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)