Hi all,
Our rescue dog is, we think, a cross of the above dogs, though far too large for her to be direct offspring of one of the smaller breeds. She looks like a fox.
We've had her 18 months now and she was around 6 months when we rehomed her after she was abandoned in a park. Nothing of her history is known other than that.
She's a lovely, lovely dog but quite well, feline in nature, and incredibly strong willed. She also seems to be overly protective of her humans and her home, which can lead to her becoming quite stressed if new people come to the house or appear to be considering approaching us when walking her (we are working on this and are looking in to getting a trainer come to our home).
We have another dog (jrt), who we've had since she was a young puppy. The thing is, whilst the jrt is easily trained and in every way a standard dog, the rescue really isn't and it can be a bit daunting to have literally no idea how to best encourage her to behave in x rather than y way.
Is it possibly down to breed mix or that she's damaged by her obviously dodgy start? Both? Neither?
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Shiba Inu xChihuahua/Papillon
Alisvolatpropiis · 11/01/2016 20:18
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She's gorgeous! I don't see much Shiba in there tbh, but it's hard to tell. If there are some Shiba genes then you'll have a hard job training her as she will only do something if she wants to. Often their reward is making you happy, which would fit in with the family orientedness (!) you explain. If you're going to get a trainer in, make sure they are breed-savvy otherwise it won't work at all.
Lots of positive reinforcement, lots of experiences, and find out what makes her tick, treat-wise. Hopefully something sensible like sausage or cheese, unlike my Shiba who likes butter and smoked salmon 
I have wondered that myself a few times, Tough 
Wrt trainers, is it clear on their websites if they are affiliated (who are they affiliated to?), I've looked up a few but didn't know to look for that and can't remember seeing mention of it.
Both are spayed. I think her protectiveness has become marginally worse since our baby arrived in June last year, though her behaviour around the baby is completely fine (obviously keep a close eye on both dogs around her).
When new people come to the house and we're expecting them, one of us will hold her back until she has calmed down, lots of yapping and generally trying to show she's the biggest dog. She's fine once she's met someone once before. When people come to the door we tend to pick her up. I know this isn't ideal for dogs and was always able to avoid doing so with the jrt, but don't know how to avoid it with her (she's very canny and moves way too quickly to close her in the room before answering the front door), I don't want to risk her getting in to the front garden essentially trapping whoever has knocked on the door until I manage to nab her.
When out and about, we largely try to avoid stopping to socialise with other dog walkers/passing people. She doesn't always react well to other dogs though there seems to be no pattern to it and can be funny about people trying to touch her. And they always want to, because she's a very pretty, unusual looking dog.
Have developed a passionate hatred of people who send their children over to pet her without checking/telling the children to check its okay, because it isn't. They never want to pet the considerably more easy going jrt! Jrt is from the same dogs home but was born there so I don't really think of her as a rescue proper.
I wondered about that, Miss, how effective getting a trainer in would be if breed mix is so unclear.
To be honest the only reason I think she might be part shiba is because I saw a photo of her twin on Instagram (of all places) and that owner said her dog was a shiba/chihuahua mix.
We did wonder corgi cross for a while but she's far too narrow for that to be the case.
She definitely only really does things she actively wants to do! She's quite solitary for a dog, will take herself off to sleep quietly out of the way but will appear and demand attention when she wants it too, bats at you with her paws as though she doesn't realise she isn't a cat!
You get the Shiba Paw! Ok, I'm convinced, LOL! And Shiba / Chihuaha crosses are a 'thing'. The Shiba is 'independently intelligent' which means they think for themselves rather than do what you tell them. Hence the difficulty training them.
We still have to actively restrain ours if someone comes to the door and we've had her six years. Once she's bounced them she does settle down. But she is a nightmare. It is her aim in life to be petted by as many people as possible, but then she hasn't read the breed manual.
Re the petting - tell people not to go for her head but to stroke her chest first. Or tell them to bugger off! Put her into a sit first to make it easier.
Check out some Shiba websites - there are loads as us owners are somewhat obsessive 
and look on FB for groups.
She definitely only really does things she actively wants to do! She's quite solitary for a dog, will take herself off to sleep quietly out of the way but will appear and demand attention when she wants it too, bats at you with her paws as though she doesn't realise she isn't a cat! grin
Definitely got shiba genes
MissTeri your shiba sounds like ours re the head petting and wobetide any human who makes eye contact but fails to come and make a fuss of her. Ours is a rubbish guard dog - if friends ring the doorbell she runs to the back door but everyone else is ignored because its demeaning to get up
We've trained ours to do a variety of tricks but she only performs for the human who taught her the trick and there must be a treat on offer. Her recall is fantastic, we took her to puppy classes and I told the trainer she couldn't be let off her lead and he said bollocks, all dogs can learn and he gave us some strategies that work so I'm always the smug one at meet-ups, I don't own up to the pockets of tasty treats and she walks to heel as if she knows its the thing to do and to show her superiority over the other dogs.
I used to use this forum when ours was younger and I had loads of questions but do a search before making a post and don't go off topic or you get a bollocking off the mods and your thread closed
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