Breed Description
The Shiba-Inu is a well-developed muscular breed of compact proportions. These compact breed typically stands between 14.5-16.5 inches at the withers for males, while females usually stand between 13.5-15.5 inches tall.

Coat
The double-coated Shiba-Inu has an outer coat of stiff and straight consistency, with a thick and soft to touch inner coat. They commonly come in red, sesame, or black and tan, along with a buff, grey, or cream undercoat.

Activity
The Shiba Inu has low to medium exercise needs. Meaning, this breed is undemanding, and is capable of adapting to whatever the dog owner's lifestyle is. While these dogs are active, they will often look for ways to exercise themselves. This can be highly beneficial to those older dog owners who are not able to walk these dogs as often as they would want.

Temperament
The good-natured Shiba Inu is dignified, but bold and spirited. Although they tend to be reserved around strangers, once their respect has been earned, they will turn into an affectionate and delightful pet. These are typically great with children, but will never tolerate harsh treatment. Socialization during puppyhood will instill tolerance and patience for this breed. They are known to be aggressive with other dogs, particularly with that of the same gender, but can usually live with other household pets if reared alongside them. But, they should never be trusted around small animals due to their high prey drive. These independent and intelligent breed can be challenging to train.

Overview
Primarily bred to flush birds, the Shiba Inu has been occasionally used in hunting wild boar. This breed is among of Japan's native breeds known for spirited personality, cat-like agility, and upright ears.

Care
As puppies, the Shiba Inu requires extra care due to their tiny size. Their coats are usually clean, and rubber brushing to remove loose and dead hair is required. But due to their seasonal heavy shedding, most dog owners prefer going to a professional groomer to keep shedding to a minimum.

Training
The key component in training the Shiba Inu is praise. These dogs love to please their owners, and are willing to do almost everything to keep them happy. Praise particularly works best than other ways of training since this method doesn't require punishment. But, leash training this breed is not the easiest. They do not take well to being leashed and may often overreact to this. They should get used to leash training as puppies to have them accustomed to it as early as possible.

Character
The Shiba Inu has been well-known for a fiery and bold personality. In Japanese, three words have been used to describe this breed's mental traits: kaani-o meaning spirited boldness, ryosei which denotes good nature, and soboku, which translates to alertness. In short, they make up the intelligent, interesting, and strong-willed character of this breed.