Sometimes it can be easy for us humans to think of the crate as "restrictive" or "being caged", but we must remember that most of a dog's life is about associations - if we make the crate a positive place to be, the dog will not see it as "jail" and will instead see it as a safe haven to relax and decompress, especially since many dogs like to sleep or rest in a den-like environment.

Make it like a party to go in there!  It's important that the puppy wants to go in the crate and doesn't feel forced.  First, think of what verbal cue you'd like to use to get your puppy to go into her crate - I use "go kennel."  Next, bring your puppy up to the front of the crate and gently hold your puppy around the chest as you show her some tasty, high value treats.   Toss those treats to the back of the kennel and hold your puppy back for a second - don't let her go in right away, even if she wants to go in after the treats (you want her to build up some anticipation and excitement).  Let go of your pup at the same time that you say "go kennel!" and watch your pup happily romp in to gobble up her treats!  The idea here is to make her like hearing the cue "go kennel" and be happy to go in, not hesitating with a "do I have to?" kind of attitude.

The location can make a difference.  If your pup is new to the household, being separated in a completely far away area of the house can feel very daunting and scary - so this is when it may be best to have the crate in your bedroom or a quiet corner of the living room, etc., closer to where you are.  Or if you have a lot of activity going on in the main part of the house, your pup may need to be crated in a quiet back room where she is not continuing to be stimulated by the things happening around her.  I often recommend having a crate in more than one area of the house so you can crate your pup in whichever area is most appropriate for that particular time.

Coming out of the crate is no big deal.  Sometimes we accidentally make a big to-do about the pup coming out of the crate - we are excited to be home to see her (and she's excited to see us), we want to hurry up to get her out of the crate first thing in the morning, etc. - so we accidentally feed into the idea that coming out of the crate is a wonderful thing.  Remember, we want her to think the opposite:  that going into the crate is great, and that coming out is no big deal.  This means we want to be sure not to let our puppy out of the crate until she is calm and quiet. 

If she is jumping, pawing or pushing at the crate door, we should calmly and quietly wait for her to calm herself down, maybe even sit, before you reach for the door or open the latch.  It's also a good idea to work on impulse control here by having her wait patiently inside the crate until you open the door far enough and then release her with a verbal cue such as "you're free" (or whichever release cue you choose) before she is allowed to come out.  If she tries to come out before you have released her, you just gently block her way with the crate door so she cannot rush out like a bull out of the gate, and have her try again.  With consistency, she will quickly learn to wait until you release her.  Lastly, while we can calmly acknowledge the puppy, we mustn't make a lot of fuss/get her amped up/etc.  when she comes out.  Instead, you can matter-of-factly go about your business - like turn and walk to the door to bring her outside to potty.

NEVER use the crate as punishment!  ALWAYS ask your pup to "go kennel" in a pleasant tone and reward your pup for going into the crate, even if you are putting her in the crate because she won’t stop chasing the cats or is doing some other annoying (but natural) puppy behavior.  Remember, we want to make her feel like the crate is still a good place for her to be - we do not want her to start avoiding the crate or associate the crate with your anger or frustration.

Putting all of these pieces together can result in a pup who LOVES her crate and won't ever hesitate going in when you ask her!  She may even prefer her crate to other rest areas around the house and truly see it as the "safe haven" that we intend for her, just like this...

Sheba had been doing so well on all of our recent trips to downtown Savannah so I figured she was ready to graduate to a higher level of stimulation.  My plan was to walk her for only a few blocks along busy Bay Street (and Factor's Walk for a picture on the iconic Love Lock Bridge) to one of my favorite cafes, Cafe M, that I used to frequent with my previous dog, Scout.  I hadn't been there in a while and this would be Sheba's first time there (although she has eaten out with us countless times at other locations).   I really had my heart set on their Bombay Chai latte and a macaron ;) 

​So I parked where I normally park us when we venture near that area of town and Sheba did just fine at first.  But as we moved along, I could see her starting to get worse...

​​I slowed things down and was able to get her walking on a looser leash a bit more, but I could see there was still just too much stimulation for Sheba to be successful getting to the cafe and I didn't want her to have a bad experience (or we wouldn't get there in the future either).  So we turned around (with only 1 more block to go - ugh!) and slowly made our way back to a less stimulating area.

Be willing to adjust your plan to help your dog get back under threshold and in a more relaxed mental/emotional state.  It does neither you nor your dog any good to keep pushing once your dog is over threshold - at this point, you are doing more harm to your dog's mental/emotional state than good and instead of building a confident dog you can actually build an anxious dog (let alone a lot more stress for you!).

Do what you can to lighten the mood.  Remember to breathe to keep yourself calm (since your dog will feel if you are tense and feed off of that energy) and talk to your dog in a clear, calm but uplifting/happy way.  Sometimes I tell clients to think of "rainbows and butterflies" instead of stewing over how the situation just went wrong.  Get down near your dog and get silly for a minute, or give her a rub in a favorite spot - perhaps a hearty butt scratch - anything that will get your dog's tail wagging again and loosen up any of that tension in your bodies.  There's a reason laughter is the best medicine!

Retreat to a quieter area and give your dog a chance to decompress.  This could mean putting more distance between your dog and the stimulating trigger or retracing your steps and moving back to an area where your dog was already comfortable (alleviating the bombardment of novel stimuli that comes from moving further into new territory).

Provide a sniff break.  Sniffing allows a dog to process her environment using her strongest sense and is also a natural stress reliever for dogs (two reasons why sniffing is a frequent displacement/avoidance behavior).

Try a little massage.  IF your dog enjoys your touch and finds it soothing (some dogs don't - they either have large personal space bubbles or are body sensitive, which would then just add to their stress).  You don't want to coddle your dog, but just providing long slow strokes down your dog's body or over tense muscles can get the "feel good" hormones flowing and help your dog relax.  T-Touch is a wonderful method and you can find various video examples on YouTube about how to apply it.

Don't quit, just help your dog find a way to cope.  It's best not to call it quits altogether when the plan falls apart, so long as you can still help your dog decompress and cope while still having the exposure to the situation.  Dogs hold onto their experiences like humans do, so it's important you leave an outing or training situation with the dog feeling like "that wasn't so bad, after all!" instead of "thank God that's over!"  If you can move further away and give your dog some time and space to process, you can still leave that situation on a good note.  If there's absolutely no way to get your dog to relax in the situation you're in, however (maybe you're in close quarters, you've got stressors coming at you from all sides, or if your dog is harming herself or you), then you must choose the lesser of two evils and just get out of Dodge.  Your dog's physical and emotional safety should be your #1 priority!

With some breeds of pups in particular (such as many herding breeds, terriers and hunting breeds), early socialization and exposure is paramount to getting ahead of problem behaviors such as anxiety and aggression later on in life.  Since I know this is so important for Shiba Inus - who tend to be sassy and strong-minded but not exactly confident or comfortable with novelties - I want to start right away with giving my Sheba girl exposure to various sights, sounds, new people, other dogs, different environments, etc and not wait until she is fully vaccinated to do so (since that is still at least 6 weeks away).

So what is a good way to "meet in the middle" and keep her safe but ensure she still gets out and about?  Taking her out in a carriage like the Queen that she is!  

Step one:  make sure Sheba sees the carriage (which we have named the "Scoutmobile" after our late corgi, since we bought it for him when he got sick and couldn't do as much physical exercise anymore) as a good place and not something to be scared or stressed by.  How do you do that?  Watch the video below!

​What do you do if your pup looks completely confused?  Sometimes it can help the pup make a clearer connection if they smell their urine in the area where you want them to relieve themselves.  This is one of the reasons why dogs tend to go in the same spots or go where they smell other dogs have gone - in addition to that marking behavior, of course ;-)  If your pup has had a potty accident inside the house, somehow "scoop/suck some up" - like in a spoon or syringe - and then place/pour outside in the area where you want the puppy to go.  

What if I just had my puppy outside, she did nothing, and then she potties in the house 5 minutes later?  I would keep the pup's options limited in the home to a smaller space until she has better control over her bladder/bowels.  This could mean the crate when unattended, or being gated in the same room where her people are, or on leash with her people - probably fluctuating between these depending on the situation.  This way someone is either able to observe her at all times - to watch for signals that indicate she is getting ready to go - or she is confined to a small enough area where she is less likely to want to potty due to space.  Avoid allowing her to move from room to room or around furniture, as puppies will often go around or into a corner to potty where it is out of sight/they don't have to stay close to their excrement.

What if my puppy gives me no signs that they have to go, I just find a puddle/pile on the floor?  Rather than waiting for a pup to give a signal that she has to go out to potty (as she may not know what that should be in the beginning), I would put her on a regular potty schedule - it's better for her to be given more opportunities to go outside when she doesn't go than being given less opportunities to go outside and then more practice going potty indoors because we miss an opportunity.  You can determine how long between potty trips by taking a look at how frequently a pup has been having accidents inside the house - if let's say the majority of incidents have been within an hour and a half of taking her out, then I would offer her an opportunity every hour or hour and 15 minutes to ensure she gets the opportunity to go outside before she needs to go so badly that she goes in the house. 

Can't I use bells on the door to teach my pup to go out?  What if she's not getting it?  While you could use bells to teach your pup to indicate to you that they have to go potty, I do not rely on this method myself because they are not a clear connection to the act of eliminating itself (so many pups will get the wrong idea about what ringing the bell actually means).  Think about it this way if you will...

• Puppies have an extremely short attention span - you have about 3 seconds worth of time to mark or connect a behavior to an antecedent.  If we take the puppy to the door to ring the bell (antecedent), then she goes outside but does not actually go potty (behavior) until 45 seconds to 3 minutes after the ringing of the bell, the puppy does not learn to associate the act of ringing the bell with the act of going potty because too much time has passed for her to make a clear connection.  Instead, she will make the connection that ringing the bell means going outside but not eliminating.  This often results in a pup who will ring the bell anytime they want to go outside, get your attention, are bored, etc - not necessarily need to potty. 
• So, for the sake of clarity (and less annoyance on your part), I recommend taking the puppy out on regular intervals and not trying to teach them to offer a signal in the beginning - they will still learn to hold it until an opportunity is presented to them if we are clear about potty opportunities.  Once they start learning how to eliminate outside, you can start watching for signals they give that indicate they may need to go. 
• For example, with my previous dog Scout, when he came and sat intently in front of me and stared at me, I figured it meant he needed to go out to potty so I would then give him the opportunity to go out.  He learned quickly that every time he sat and stared at me it would result in my taking him to potty, so this behavior got reinforced and became the signal he offered to me throughout his life.

If you do find a puddle/pile on the floor, there is no effective way to discipline your puppy after the fact so please do not yell at, spank, rub your puppy's nose in it, etc.  After a few seconds of completing a behavior, puppies are onto the next thing in their short attention spans.  A pup cannot make the connection that you are mad over something that happened 10 minutes ago.  So if you act out in one of the aforementioned ways your puppy can actually become afraid of you or just think you are crazy (after all, who wants to have their face rubbed in poo?) and this will negatively impact your relationship.  So all you can do is clean up the mess, consider it what I call a "missed training opportunity" and shorten your time between potty trips to get ahead of another accident and help your puppy be successful next time.  Even though I take Sheba out very frequently, sometimes she just doesn't go when it's windy, cold, raining, or she's distracted, and so accidents do happen during the learning process - I just nonchalantly clean it up and move on.  Once your pup is consistently eliminating outside and no longer having accidents in the house, you can prolong the time between potty breaks a little at a time (say, 15 minute increments).

What about those disposable potty pads?  While there are occasional situations where I would recommend a potty pad (such as if a pup is left in a pen because their human has to work longer hours than would be fair for the pup to be in a crate without a potty break, or for people who live on the 20th floor of an apartment building) I typically avoid the use of potty pads.  For most pups these can encourage the pup to think there is an indoor potty option and can be confusing - I would much rather cut out the "middle man" and teach the pup right from the get-go that there is only an outdoor potty option.

What if you have other dogs?  Initially I  would take the pup out separately so she can understand it is potty time and not play time (sometimes if we use those things simultaneously a dog has a hard time telling the difference or respecting potty time).  She may also get extremely distracted by your other dogs.  I would also make "potty time" separate from a walk for two main reasons:  1) often a pup will stay distracted by various external stimulation (sights, sounds, smells) on walks and will not focus on internal stimulation such as their bladder/bowels until they come back inside where all that extra stimulation is gone, and 2) you may not want to get in the habit of needing to take time for a walk if you just want the dog to be able to potty - such as 

What if my puppy potties to get their treat but then they still have an accident shortly after we get inside?  Some pups are so smart and food motivated that they will potty 5 times to get 5 treats rather than just eliminating the first time!  If this happens to you, I would only recognize the first potty in an outing but ignore all of the other attempts.  The goal is we want the puppy to completely eliminate when given the opportunity or "get busy" cue, not just trick us into giving them cookies ;-)  Be sure you are not carrying the treat in your hand - as this often does bribe the puppy and makes them focus more on the treats than the act of eliminating.   If your pup becomes too focused on the treats that they spend all their outside time staring at/jumping up on you instead of looking for a spot to potty, I would not use treats (or use less valuable treats, like their kibble) and would only use verbal praise. 

The length of time it takes to successfully potty train a puppy varies greatly depending on how consistent/clear you are about these parameters, how much activity/food the pup is getting, the age/physical capabilities of the pup, and the environment, among other things.  But with the right direction and understanding, I have seen some pups become potty trained in just a few weeks!   We have had Sheba for less than 2 weeks and we are already having only 1 accident per day on average - woo hoo!  During this process you will have successes and failures, but rest assured that if you take the steps above your puppy will become a trustworthy house companion in no time!

I specifically selected a playpen with only vertical bars (not horizontal) so Sheba could not climb her way out, since Shiba Inus are known for being quite agile, and one that was made of steel as opposed to plastic or wood (which is more easily chewed by a puppy).  I also wanted one with a full door that we/she could walk through easily, that latched securely so she could not accidentally push it open, that could stay open if I wanted to give her free reign of the room and that would close automatically behind us if I didn't want it propped open.  The pen I chose is the Frisco Steel 8-Panel Configurable Dog Gate and Playpen, available on Chewy.  I am pleased with how well it is made and how easy it was for me to put it together by myself (no second person required).  I also like that I can change the configuration anytime I want from a stand-alone pen of various shapes, to a gate across a wide open space in the house, to a pen I can secure against a wall in a corner space as needed.  I don't know how often I will use those other features at this time but they are nice to have as options!


​I have included some items in or nearby her pen to provide mental stimulation - including various types of toys and things for Sheba to engage with or check out on her own - and some items for a feeling of security...

• A balance pad with surface grooves for her to step on
• A faux-fur blanket that is soft and large enough for her to curl up in but does not have fill for her to pull out
• A stainless steel water bowl - only enough water at a time to keep her hydrated but not more than she needs to take in at once (to avoid excessive potty accidents)
• A large stuffed sloth - not for her to play with but as a novel object she can look at from afar or explore under my supervision
• A curio cabinet with a mirror backing where she can see her reflection
• A window with a bird feeder so she can watch birds as they come to eat
• Lamps for soft light (cords tucked away where she can't access them!) - this provides a more relaxing atmosphere than harsh/direct ceiling lights
• A music player for some background noise.  Can be a sound machine with river/rain flowing/etc or soft/classical music - right now she is enjoying Josh Groban's Noel Christmas album :-)
• ​A "cuddle pup" calming stuffed toy - Sheba doesn't care for the heartbeat setting so we leave that off, but she likes feeling she has a "buddy" in her area with her
• ​Some toys she can safely entertain herself with when not under supervision include: a Benebone puppy stick, a puppy KONG (softer than KONG Classic) - often with some of her food inside, a Moo Tug toy (made of an upcycled cow milker liner - durable rubber - and rope), a Bark Rudolph & Clarice toy set (these are Sheba's favorite so far - thanks to Auntie Nicole! - and are standing up very well to her exuberant chewing and tossing, haha), a braided fleece lanyard tug and a Nylabone dinosaur bone (this was from way back when Scout was a puppy - the dinosaur actually had his head and part of his tail chewed off back then but Sheba doesn't care!).  We have several more toys/chews that we keep for interactive time only to make sure she doesn't chew pieces off when we are not watching her.

I have also "puppy-proofed" the rest of my office, which is the room where the pen is set up, so that Sheba can be free in my office as well if I am in there working or doing a few things around the house.  After all, these are good training opportunities!  More to come on that later ;-).  The floor is tile, which makes for an easy clean-up if she were to have an accident, but I have also included a washable pee pad on the floor of her pen.  I have tucked away any electrical cords where she cannot reach them, have removed any fragile items from anywhere within reach for her, and have made sure there are no areas she can get "stuck" without having enough space to turn around or get out.  Lastly, I keep the door to the adjoining bathroom closed so she cannot help herself to the trash or toilet paper when I am not around and I have a gate in my office doorway so she cannot escape into the hall.

The more Sheba has settled in, the more I have already been able to trust her free in my office without incident while I have taken a shower or gone out to run errands, etc.  Way to go, Sheba!!

​If you have known many Corgis in your life, you may know that Corgis can tend to be bossy (given that they're an active herding breed), independent-minded (they will give you a "run for your money" and are not great for first-time dog owners, despite their cute looks and fluffy butts!), and they act like big dogs in smaller dog bodies.  This "larger than life" personality is what attracted me to Corgis so many years ago and it is the same thing that attracts me to Shiba Inus.

Shibas are one of the oldest and most popular breeds in their native Japan, but have been lesser known in the U.S. until more recent years and especially gained popularity when they became the face of Dogecoin cryptocurrency.  Their pointy ears and big smiles may make them appear adorable and innocent (like Corgis), but don't let those cute looks fool you into thinking they are just cuddle bunnies - Shibas are bold, proud, and active!  Similar in some ways to a Corgi's tendencies as a herding breed, Shibas are hunting dogs meant to flush birds and small game - so they are smart and like having a job to do.  Without the proper outlets to provide mental and physical stimulation, they can tend to get themselves into trouble and are even notorious for not coming when called if they get loose to venture on a walkabout!  So I am looking forward to meeting these challenges with our Sheba girl (including many walks and hikes again) and chronicling her experiences for others to see and learn from!