Training a Shiba Inu to Stay Behind a Line to Help Him See His Human as a Leader

For this Los Angeles dog training session we teach 8 year-old Shiba Inu Max to stay behind an invisible line to help him see his human acting like a leader.

Knowing that Max was sometimes wary of strangers, I arranged to meet him outside and used a few Dog Behaviorist tricks to set him up for success. The greeting went well with no dog nipping so we took a short walk to seal the deal.

When I sat down with his guardian I learned that he didnt have any rules and was able to tell her what to do. For many dogs this confuses them into thinking they have the same rank or status as their humans or that the dog is in charge. This can lead to a dog not thinking it needs to listen to the human as it doesn’t see or respect her as a leader.

Dogs associate using energy, like getting up to correct or enforce a rule, as leadership tasks. If you have a determined breed like a Shiba Inu, you need rules more than other types of dogs.

I shared a number of tips and suggested some rules for the guardian to put in place. One of them will be very challenging for her, but I hopefully communicated until he dog is confident in her leadership, listening will continue to be spotty. Its important to remember, these rules don’t have to be in place forever. In some cases, that happens, but the key is for the dog to see the human acting like a leader by controlling the situation. This gives the dog confidence which can lower stress and anxiety, two things that will be of the upmost importance in Max’s case.

Another benefit of enforcing rules is the dog gets to practice self control. Dogs need to practice everything they do. So asking a dog to stay off the furniture or behind an invisible line is a wonderful way to help them practice restraint and develop a healthy leader follower dynamic.

I demonstrated to the human how to train a dog to stay behind an invisible line. Max got it right away so I pulled out my phone and filmed the guardian teaching the dog to stay out of the kitchen using body language and movement.

Although its hard for some people to see how enforcing a rule like no furniture or to stay outside of the kitchen can help stop a dog from nipping someone to disagree, it does. In fact, this is a very established method of canine behavior modification for that kind of dog behavior problem.

I know it will be hard for the guardian to enforce some of these rules, but Max will be more relaxed, live longer and feel less like nipping people if she does. You don’t have to be a professional Shiba Inu dog trainer to do this, it just takes time and determination

To help the guardian remember all the dog behavior tips we covered in this in home LA dog training session, we filmed a roadmap to success video.