Training a Shiba Inu: Using Easy Scent Games to Burn Energy

For this Omaha dog training session we worked with 4-year-old Shiba Inu Honey. Honey’s guardian wanted tips for training a Shiba Inu. She wanted help preventing Honey from going after her roommate, a 15-year-old Toy Poodle, Ebony.

We taught Honey and her guardian how to play Cookie in the Corner. This was one of our tips to help stop her from being aggressive towards her roommate.

Knowing that the dogs were sometimes anxious when greeting new people, I had the guardians bring the dogs outside to meet me.

If your dog feels uncomfortable, anxious, shy, or scared of people, meet outside. It helps to have distractions around.

After we said hello and made good connections, we went inside. I asked the guardians about the dog’s background.

It turns out that the dogfights had started right around the same time the pandemic arrived. This time also featured Honey’s guardian losing her job, which creates a stressful situation for anyone.

Many people believe that dogs reflect their owners’ feelings. The dog’s behavior often shows what is happening in the guardian’s life. If a human feels stressed or faces uncertainty in their life, that can certainly, and often does, impact their dog’s behavior.

During the session, I saw that Honey’s ears were often flat against her head. She seemed a bit jittery and stiff at times.

These are all indicators of a dog who does not feel comfortable. I’m sure that some of it was attributed to my presence. But I’m sure that Honey was uneasy for other reasons as well.

When we were inside, the guardians kept Honey on the leash while we talked. The guardians were concerned about having her around Ebony as they have gotten into fights in the past. I think that the dog fights had caused the humans to be on alert in anticipation another fight may occur.

This tension can be a factor and I believe is part of the reason Honey seemed on edge.

While the leash can be a helpful safeguard, tension on a leash can amplify dog behavior issues. One of the dog behavior tips I suggested was to purchase an X pen. These exercise pens for dogs are great things to use when you have two dogs that don’t get along together.

The X pen will allow the dogs to be in the room together in a way that ensures that Honey cannot get to Ebony. I believe this will help keep Ebony safe from injury. It will also help his guardian, Honey, feel more relaxed and confident when the dogs are together.

If she is always anxious about Honey attacking Ebony, that can definitely add to the dog’s anxiety.

How to Stop Dogs from Fighting

When you want to stop dogs from fighting, it’s important for all the people involved to stay calm and relaxed.

Hopefully, the X pen can help reduce some of the human’s anxiety. This should positively affect Honey, making her feel more relaxed and secure.

One tip I have learned to stop dogs from fighting is to let them spend time together. This time should be positive and productive. Many people simply separate the dogs completely and that was the case here.

The problem with that is for dogs, being excluded from the group is one of the worst punishments there is.

Additionally, separating the dogs all the time prevents them from creating any positive associations with one another. If you want to stop dogs from fighting each other, it’s critical that the dogs do things together that are positive.

Using an X pen with bully sticks, lick mats, or just having a barrier between Honey and Ebony can help. This setup can be very useful to stop the dogs from fighting.

If the guardians get some lick mats and tasty chew items, they can start training the dogs. The dogs should practice being in the same room together. The dogs can stay behind the X pen fencing. This way, they can learn to be together and build positive associations.

It will be important for the guardians to pick and choose their opportunities to get the dogs together. I would like to see them bring the dogs together when they are calm and relaxed. This could be after walks or other exercise.

Tips for Training a Shiba Inu

I think one of the contributing factors to these dogs attacking each other, or Honey attacking Ebony to be more precise, is a lack of exercise and stimulation. The dogs do not have a fenced-in yard to run around in and their home is cozy.

I explained that dogs burn more energy on walks by sniffing than they do from walking. I would like to see Honey and Ebony going for at least one walk every day. This gives them an opportunity to do an activity together in an environment full of distractions and with as much room as needed.

These walks are a wonderful way to get the dogs more stimulation, burn energy and help Honey and Ebony practice being together in a positive way.

I recommended a few other ways to exercise and stimulate the dogs. As Omaha’s resident dog behavior expert, I always tell my clients that their dogs should get an equal amount of physical exercise and mental stimulation.

Some activities crossover, such as going for a sniff walk. For other activities like fetch or tug-of-war or are specific to physical exercise.

But mental stimulation is equally important for dogs. Not only does this help burn energy, it helps them stay stimulated. One of the best forms of mental stimulation for dogs are games that include their nose.

A dog’s nose controls around 60% of their brain which is why I decided to show the guardians how they can introduce scent games.

One of the easiest scent games for a dog to learn is searching for treats. I like to use the cookie in the corner to introduce scent games and establish a command cue for this activity.

You can learn how to play the cookie in the corner game and teach your dog how to search for things by watching the free positive dog training video below.

One of the best things about this easy dog training exercise is that anyone can do it. You don’t need to be a professional Shiba Inu trainer.

Because Honey was a little bit anxious, I wasn’t actually holding onto her harness as I threw the treats. She did well without my help, but the guardians might want to hold her harness. This way, they can throw the treats and stop her from sneaking off and getting a head start.

Once Honey understands the concept of this game, they can start playing all sorts of versions of scent games. I recommended the guardians do a quick internet search to find a number of scent game options.

I would also like to see the guardians teaching the dogs some new tricks and commands. Dogs have confidence like humans. There is a link between what a dog knows and how it feels about itself.

When we teach a dog a new trick, we show our leadership. This helps dogs feel more comfortable and confident around us.

Shiba Inu’s are notorious for being independent and Honey demonstrated this trait throughout the session. I believe using a marker word and petting dogs when they do what humans like will be very helpful.

This includes actions like sitting, laying down, and coming when called.

I also showed the guardians how to use some hand gestures to lure them into sits and downs.

I’d love to see the guardian spend the next 2 to 3 months teaching the dogs a new trick or command cue each week. To make things easier, here is a short list of dog training tricks and cues that they can work on to get started.

• Pose for pictures
• Sit pretty
• The hurricane trick
• The leave it cue
• Hand targeting
• The Middle Cue
• Teaching a dog to focus
• Introducing a positive interrupter
• Stay for distractions

There are hundreds if not thousands of dog tricks the guardians can move to once they’ve mastered the shortlist I provided. This will boost the dog’s confidence and increase their respect for humans. It will also give humans ways to redirect the dog’s attention.

Just make sure the training techniques you use are force and punishment free. Sadly there are still a ton of force based trainers out there.

Since Shiba Inus are independent dogs, I suggested that their guardians practice my petting with a purpose idea. They should use the word “paycheck” to remind each other not to pet without reason.

Purpose: Reward desired actions when they happen. This can be done by capturing behaviors. For example, mark and pet the dog when it does what you want without being asked.

You can also use some Premack principles. This means asking the dog to do something for you before they get what they want. For instance, have the dog sit before they get on the couch or before meals.

If humans use the word “bien” as we talked about in the video, dogs will learn faster what they want.

I told the family I would like to send one of our trainers to work with the dogs. They will use something called the relaxation protocol. This will help the dogs learn to be calm. This should help all the dogs, but especially Honey with her anxiety.

We covered many topics in this in-home dog training session. I worried that the humans might not remember them all. To make sure that’s not the case, we recorded a roadmap to success summary video that you can check out below.

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