Please Help Us

Have you seen the show Its me or the dog? Our shiba tops all those dogs. We got Dexter when he was about 4 months old. He was great for the first month and then all of a sudden he changed. He became very aggressive towards his food. We have tried everything from hand feeding to sit/wait commands. He is not only aggressive while eating but afterwards he is strange for 10 minutes or so. We are still working on crate training so putting him in the crate has also become a challenge. We just had him neutered but it had 0 effect. We are really at a loss, does anyone have any suggestions? How much do dog trainers generally cost?

I have seen the show a couple times and Victoria seems to be a very good trainer. In fact, I've picked up a few tips from her. Food aggression is a serious matter and needs to be corrected ASAP. Aggression in a dog is usually a sign of insecurity. Also when a dog shows aggression, he is trying to be the leader of the pack, not you. You didn't mention if you have any other pets, so I'm guessing he is showing aggression against you and/or other family members. You need to re-establish that you are the Alpha of the pack and reassure him that you are not a threat to his food. You need to do this in a positve way. There are a few things you can try. First of all, if you leave food out all the time, you need to stop that and put him on a feeding schedule, say twice a day. When you go to feed him, make him sit/stay and put food in his bowl. Then pretend that you are eating his food. This is showing him that you are the leader of the pack and get to eat first. Then while he is still sitting, place his bowl on the floor. If he leaves the sit position before you give him the release, pick the bowl back up. Say NO or EH, EH and make him sit/stay again. Only when he sits until you give him the release should you let him eat his food. When he is done eating, leave his bowl on the floor and several times during the day between feedings, walk by his bowl and throw a treat in there. He should start to see you going for his bowl as a positive thing. If this goes well without any signs of aggression, then maybe after a couple weeks stand about 10 feet away while he is eating and see if you get any negative reaction from him. If you don't, then the next time move a little closer. When he behaves himself and shows no aggression, make sure you tell him what a good boy he is and give him extra treats. If you are finally able to stand very close to him while he is eating without showing any aggression, try to stroke his fur, tell him he is a good boy and give him a treat. This is going to take some time, but I would try this for about a month. If after that time and you see no signs of improvement, then you should seek the help of a dog trainer. If you have a PetSmart in your area, I would call them up and see if they have a trainer that is good with aggression issues. We are very lucky and have an excellent trainer at one of the PetSmarts close by. We took our two shibas through the beginner and intermediate classes. Our trainer does one on one training. In fact last weekend when we went in there he was working with a couple that had a mastiff that was dog aggressive. Since he knew us, he brought the dog over to our two a couple times and the dog seemed to handle it very well. If you don't have any PetSmarts in your area, I would ask your vet for a recommendation. Good luck and please let us know how things work out.

I appreciate the response. I want to try and help our baby through this but my girlfriend is very scared now after being attacked. Do you think his crate has any weight in the situation? Perhaps he thinks he is going into his crate after meals and does not want to? We also just got him neutered, how long will it take to see (if any) effect from this?

I would suggest that if you have tried everything you can, your next step would be to go to the vet and ask him or her these questions. Neutering a dog will not necessarily stop a behavior a dog has already started. It may make it easier to correct it. If you vet has no ideas, then I think he should recommend a trainer for you that will help you with the problem. Have you heard the saying, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Well, you girlfriend is showing her fear the the dog can sense that and takes advantage of it. She needs to stand up to the dog or she will always be in his shadow.

Travis,
I'd like to jump in here with some info.
I too had a Shiba that pretty much did the EXACT same things at the EXACT same age! We got Budi when he was about 15-16 weeks old. I've since learned that was part of our problem because we really don't know what all happened with him in those formative weeks before then. Budi had food aggression issues, but not with the adults in the family, it was with my then 10 year old son. Budi would run up to him anytime he was eating and jump on my son to push him away. I could easily walk up to Budi's">Budi's bowl and take food from it, him, feed him by hand, you name it. But anytime Michael was around, Budi was a handful! We got him neutered and although its supposed to calm them down, it takes a few months for all of the testosterone to get out of their system so its not an immediate thing. I still have battle scars from the attacks with Budi because naturally, I'd put myself between him and my son and I was the one that got the brunt of things. After two decent attacks, I told my husband that three strikes and he was out. We searched for a trainer and found one that specialized in Dobermans and such. The mentality of a Shiba is more along the lines of Dobs, Shepherds, Rotties, etc. The trainer even said that many Doberman breeders also keep Shibas as they are excellent companion dogs due to the mental similarities. Anyway, we had her come out for a consultation visit (around $60 if I remember correctly). She observed his behavior and basically said that we needed to obtain total domination over him. Not that we needed to break his spirit or anything like that, just that he had to totally see us as the alphas, all of us. She recommended that he work for everything, nothing's free (food, treats, toys, attention, etc). She also taught us various training techniques for basic commands. Budi learned to do puppy push ups (sit, lay, sit, lay, ...) for treats with the treat giving at various points. We also would go in the backyard and everyone would have treats (cut up hotdogs). Then we'd call him (come) to us and reward him with the treat. We didn't agree with the work for toys theory but that's us. It took a few months, but we finally got him over his food aggression. Basically, what I'm saying is that you do need to find a good trainer for not you, but your family. We've had dogs all of our lives, but Budi was a learning experience.

After all of that, I swore up and down that I'd NEVER have another Shiba, as much as I liked the breed. Well, never say never! LOL! Last Christmas I got a female Shiba pup. :) I got her from the breeder as soon as she was old enough to be released and I had seen her multiple times from the age of 2 weeks. We haven't had those problems with her and there have been very few food aggression issues. What issues there have been have been more of two dogs eating than one having agression issues. :)

I don't think that the crate should be a problem for you. Crate training is a wonderful idea! We have two large crates for our Shibas & they love having their own personal caves. I'll find them sleeping in them at various times during the day. In fact, Budi's">Budi's in his right now. If you have problems with getting your Shiba to go into his crate, then you need to make it a fun place to be. I did have problems with Budi when he was a pup that he didn't want to go into his either. I started using his toys as bait to get him in. I would play with him with one of his favorite toys and then throw it in there. Sometimes he'd be so excited to be playing with it that he'd run in after it. That's when I'd close the door. I'd stay by his crate though and talk soothingly to him and then let him out shortly after. After a lot of work, he got to love his crate.

Today is Budi's">Budi's 4th birthday. You would never know that we had all of the issues with him that we did by looking at him today. He is such a docile and loving dog! I couldn't ask for a better dog then him! I really think that with a Shiba its a LOT of work until they're around 1.5-2 years old. It seems that something clicks in their brains then and they calm down. Kind of like going through puberty. LOL!

Also, like Judy said, you (and anyone else) can't show fear around your dog. A Shiba will pick up on that in no time flat. I know from experience that can be difficult, but if you love your dog and want to keep him, you need to be sure to be calm AND assertive around him. A lot of the things that Cesar Millan (Dog Whisperer) puts out makes sense with Shibas too. If you haven't already checked out his books, you may want to do that and see some of his shows.

So, as someone that has truly been there and done that, do yourself a favor and find a trainer that understands the mindset of a Shiba (IE look for someone with experience with large, guard, or working dogs). It will be money well spent! I wish you well with your Shiba! Please write back to the board and let us know how things go for you all.