SHIBA INU STANDARD
BASED ON TECHNICAL PUBLICATION IN JAPAN
by Valeria Rodaro

The Shiba is a small dog with strong bones. In his origin use was hunting carried out in mountainous areas, rich in undergrowth vegetation. Its function was to find wild, small animals and then to make it "raise" or flee towards the hunter. To do this he had to be small, to slip into every bush, but also robust and combative in case of encounter with aggressive and dangerous prey. Shiba is not very fast, but resistant and tenacious; while being able to stand out very high leaps and to reach impressive speeds for very short stretches. From these assumptions, the Shiba standard describes a robust, small, extremely proud, lively dog, always alert and faithful to man. His musculature must be well developed and his bone structure powerful. The only character of elegance is the rapid and snappy movement. The Shiba is a dog whose length must be 10% more than the height for which it is inscribed in a rectangle. The standard does not mention any other possibility and considers it an important proportion. The character of the Shiba is extremely strong and proud. His attention is continuous and he is extremely alert. It is natural for him to be suspicious of strangers, particularly in males, who have a marked and natural tendency to defend their territory and in particular themselves from strangers: animals, people or things does not have much importance. So if we meet a Shiba who stares at us while we try to caress him and, if ever, he takes two steps back, he is not showing shyness, but it is advisable to avoid touching him, the reaction could be rather aggressive and violent. A Shiba who runs away with his head down without reactions due to excess of shyness, is seriously penalized and in any case should not be used in reproduction.

HEAD

The head of the Shiba is made up of a set of rather pointed triangles, where all the pride of this small big dog is expressed. The forehead is rather wide and slightly rounded, the cheeks are very pronounced, the width of the skull should be approximately 56-58% of the overall length of the head, the craniofacial axes are parallel. The stop must be defined but not excessively accentuated with a clearly visible median sulcus, but without absolutely forming wrinkles.

The nasal bridge is straight, the muzzle is thick, but not too much, and ends decidedly pointed. The muzzle is approximately 40% of the total length of the head. The lips are thin, close-fitting and tightly closed with the pigment clearly visible, which must be strictly black over its entire surface. The chin is strong and the teeth are large and strong, not visible with the mouth closed, but barely hidden by the lips. The closure is scissor.

Considering the toothing, the standard does not foresee it complete, on the contrary, in the "defects" section it specifies that only the lack of numerous teeth constitutes a defect. This anomaly, in fact, is very frequent. The standard prior to 1992 provided for tolerance of up to five missing teeth, currently the number has disappeared, replaced by the word "numerous". The absence is therefore expected, but leaves some freedom to the judge. Example: A dog missing six teeth with the previous standard had to be penalized even if built perfectly and extremely typical, Currently the judge will decide to penalize the teeth or reward the correctness and typicality of the subject.

The eyes are very dark with rigorously black eyelid rhyme. On average small, well spaced, clearly triangular in shape. The external corners face upwards to form an imaginary line that extends until it exactly touches the lower part of the earline. The triangular shape is given by a small crease positioned under the eyebrow which is thus highlighted, normally the fur of this point is slightly lighter or darker depending on the coat of the dog. This shape of the eye contributes to giving the particular and characteristic expression that distinguishes the Shiba.

The ears are small, thick and hairy, triangular in shape, tilted forward following the curvature of the neck. They must be firmly straight, pointed forward, with high attachment and lateral to the skull. The forehead space must be large and clearly visible between the ears.

DEFECTS COMMONLY RECOGNIZED BY THE HEAD ARE:

Narrow skull, forehead too round or too flat, scul-facial axes tending to diverge or converging (rarer). Stop excessively accentuated or non-existent, lack of median sulcus, presence of wrinkles on the forehead, excessively loose skin. Muzzle too long or light, muzzle too thick or not pointed, heavy lips. Eye too small, not triangular (normally in eyes that are too almond or round) too close, external angle with the continuation line outside the base of the ear (too high or too low). Large ears, too slightly hairy or thin, not tilted forward or too close together, tips too turned to the outside of the skul, too pointed.

BODY

The structure of the Shiba highlights all the power and animosity of this small dog. The neck is large, strong and robust, strongly muscled, well proportioned to the head and body with clean, imperceptible attachments, the skin is soft, the hair is very thick and uniform, the undercoat is thick and extremely dense (it is almost impossible touching the skin or seeing it even by opening it on the surface) and contributes to giving majesty to the head. This conformation is absolutely indispensable to face the pitfalls and eventual attacks of animals even of much bigger and more powerful than just for the particular type of hair and structure of the neck could not damage it. The back is straight, wide and strong, uniformly united to the neck. The ribs are very circled even though they are not barrel-shaped.
The thorax is wide deep and well descended, the handlebars of the sternum are well marked. The chest width measured between the shoulders is approximately 36- 38% of the height at the withers.
The loins are broad and muscular, relatively short. The broad and strong croup, slightly inclined, the belly tense and slightly raised. The width between the ischial tuberosities is about 28-30% of the height at the withers. The length of the body from the tip of the shoulder to the tip of the buttock (ischial tuberosity) is 10% more than the height at the withers (100-110).
The height from the elbow to the withers varies between 45-50% of the height of the withers on the ground. The trunk of the Shiba therefore looks like a rather large and elongated cylinder.
The tail is attached high, thick and strongly curled with one or more turns or high and curved like a sickle. The tip of the tail fully extended must reach the hock.

LIMBS

The limbs are large and strong enough to support such a small but imposing structure. The shoulder is moderately oblique, the arm slightly inclined, the elbows close. The corners are quite open. The metacarpus is long and robust, but rather inflected. Seen from the front, the front legs are straight.
The hindquarters must show very hard and well-detected muscles under the hair.
The thigh is long, broad and robust, the leg short and strong, the hocks are well raised, robust and long. The posterior angle is slightly to moderately accentuated (moderately open angles).
The feet are slightly oval with thick and hard pads, strongly tightened and well arched toes, very hard nails preferably dark.

TAIL

The tail must be attached high, completely unrolled must be at least up to the hocks, carried strongly rolled on the back and forming one or more turns, or high carried in the shape of a sickle more or less falling on the back or on the side, (it can also be completely high and open). The tail must be decidedly large and strongly hairy from the attachment to the tip, the hair is longer than all the other parts of the body and is straight and hard to form a rigid and swollen crest that overhangs and covers the rump and the loins.

DEFECTS COMMONLY RECOGNIZED BY THE BODY, LIMBS AND TAIL ARE:

Long and delicate neck, delicate, elegant, attacks too clear and visible, strong dewlap, hair and undercoat not very thick or too long, protruding or falling, uneven. Saddleback or carpate back, too short, too long, Narrow, slightly dropped, shallow chest, barrel ribs, flat and flattened, handlebars of the sternum flat or retracting. Loins and rump tightened, rump too short, too much or too little inclined. Non-toned muscles. Soft or small limbs, too short or too long, metacarpals excessively rigid or too flexed. Hocks barely detected, short thigh, long leg, 'cat-like' feet, loose fingers, loose pads, lack of muscle tone. Low tail, small, slightly hairy or with hanging hair.
DISQUALIFICATION DEFECT: SHORT TAIL

MOVEMENT

The movement of the Shiba is an elastic and snappy trot, it is not too stretched, but fast enough it enhances the powerful musculature with which it is equipped. Normally the trot takes place with a natural and wide tilting of the front with a rigid limb and good thrust of the rear, the covering lines are parallel and tend to close slightly especially on the rear increasing the speed, but they must never be in single-trake.

DEFECTS COMMONLY RECOGNIZED BY THE MOVEMENT ARE:

Too fluid movement (generally for too long and / or angled limbs), ambio, crossing, non-rigid limbs and therefore a trot not skipped and jerky, total lack of rear or front thrust, single-trake, total lack of speed (generally for excess of compactness or excessively open corners, often in combination), too close hocks, elbows open.

COAT

The coat consists of a slightly harder guard hair than the undercoat (much harder in males), straight and thick, the undercoat is soft, dense and as long as the guard hair except on the tail where, however, it must be straight and hard enough to form a real very large and imposing crest when the tail is well rolled. In all other parts of the body the guard hair MUST NOT protrude beyond the undercoat because the fur of the Shiba is short and uniform and does not hide the muscles or the profiles of the animal.

DEFECTS COMMONLY RECOGNIZED ARE:

Long and soft hair, too bristly hair or protruding hair in the parts not admitted, lack of undercoat or undercoat not sufficiently thick to hide the guard hair, short and soft hair, neck or tail with little hair or undercoat. The hair is an essential component of the type for the Shiba, therefore the dog should never be presented in the show.

COLORS

The colors currently cited by the standard are only five more: red, sesame, black sesame, sesame red and black and tan. Colors that were previously normal are no longer allowed, namely: gray, uniform black, piebald red, brindle, white. Obviously there will continue to be Shiba with such colors for some time, but they should no longer be considered excellent on display or used in reproduction.
The red is considered as more or less intense fawn, the darker the better, the light red is not penalized as long as it does not reach the yellowish or cream, it must not however be brown.
Sesame always has red as its base, but normally it is an almost mustard red or light brick, more or less intense with the tips of the black and white guard hair spread over the entire surface of the body (sesame) or only black (black sesame) . The sesame red is instead a normal red (with all possible shades) with more or less diffuse black guard hairs, often they are evident only on the back and upper part of the tail.
No color allows uniform black spots and no color allows white spots on the upper parts of the body.
Black is considered exclusively as black and tan, with a delimitation of sufficiently dark brown markings (possibly not yellowish) arranged exactly in the same parts of the urajiro from which, however, they must be highlighted as clearly as possible.
The urajiro as it defines the standard is the presence of white or whitish spots on the sides of the muzzle, cheeks, lower part of the jaws, neck, thorax, belly, lower part of the tail and inside of the legs. This stain must also be present on black and tan and clearly distinguish itself from tan.
Partially white legs are normal in all colors.
Urajiro is a basic type characteristic and is severely affected the absence is penalized.
ANY COLOR OUTSIDE OF THOSE INDICATED IS A DEFECT

SIZE

The variation with respect to the previous standard is clear, in fact the minimum and maximum tolerable limits are clearly established, thus defining the precise size of this small dog.
The giants (often light or very heavy) allowed by the old standard are thus strictly excluded.

MALE: Ideal 39,5 cm; Maximum 41 cm; Minimum 38,5 cm

FEMALE: Ideal 36,5 cm; Maximum 38,5 cm; Minimum 36,5 cm

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The ideal Shiba is therefore a small dog strongly built, muscular and robust, imposing and well balanced, rectangular, proud and daring, faithful and combative in the same time: a Shiba is not a graceful toy or a stuffed animal or a docile hound, it is a dog which must express in all its being: strength, dignity and power contained in the small size. In fact, shyness is gravely penalized (intended as unconditional escape). The lack of well-defined sexual characteristics is also severely penalized, the latter, in fact, are not difficult to find, especially in female masculinity since all the characteristics indicated above (strength, dignity, robustness) must also be applied to females who essentially distinguish themselves from smaller size, with a greater sweetness of expression and a head with greater chisel and slightly finer and more elegant features.