It’s one of the hardest things to walk away from: a tiny puppy in a pet store cage, or a sickly pup on a sketchy website or roadside ad. You feel like you’re rescuing them. You imagine giving them the love and care they deserve—because they look like they need saving. And the thought hits:

“If I don’t take him, who will?”

But here’s the truth:

Buying that puppy doesn’t rescue them. It rewards the system that hurt them.

Puppy mills thrive on this guilt. Puppy mills and irresponsible backyard breeders depend on the emotions of animal lovers. They know that someone will eventually feel too bad to walk away—and when that happens, they get paid.

Each purchase says: “This works. Let’s Breed more.” That one “rescued” puppy becomes a sale—and sales are the only thing keeping puppy mills in business. So while your heart may be in the right place, your dollars go toward:

• Keeping mother dogs locked in cages, bred over and over.
• Creating more litters in poor conditions.
• Continuing a cycle of neglect, suffering, and profit-over-welfare.
• Continuing the cycle of placing puppies with irresponsible owners
• Continuing the cycle of filled animal shelters

One “saved” = Many more created. Taking one puppy home doesn’t close the mill—it opens the door for another litter. And while you may give your puppy a good life, the dogs left behind suffer unseen. They don’t get homes, fresh water, or vet care. They get bred again. You didn’t save a life. You paid for one to be created, and many more to suffer.

If your goal is to save a puppy:

• Adopt from a legitimate rescue—they pull dogs from shelters and bad conditions and place them in loving homes. When you buy from them you are saving a dog without supporting a terrible practice. You then open up a space for a new dog, and the adoption fees help fund the clean up of messes created by backyard breeders and puppy mills.
• Support a responsible breeder who prioritizes health, ethics, and lifetime care—not fast sales. Supporting a responsible breeder helps preserve the breed for years to come. Responsible breeders raise puppies in stimulating environments to ensure good socialization and development. They screen buyers to make sure their puppies go to prepared homes and have contracts in place to protect their puppies and require spay/neuter. Click here to learn more about identifying a responsible breeder.
• Spread the word about puppy mills. Educate others before they get caught in the same emotional trap.

So what happens to the puppies if no one buys them from the puppy mill?

If puppies from a mill go unsold, it puts pressure on the breeder’s profit-driven system. Unsold puppies cost money—feeding them, housing them, and caring for them (if care is even given). When demand drops and litters stop selling, many mills are forced to slow down or shut down entirely, reducing future suffering. Usually, unsold puppies may be surrendered to shelters or rescues, where they have a real chance at being adopted without fueling more breeding. It’s heartbreaking to think of any puppy left behind—but the more we refuse to buy, the more we cut off the supply chain that creates the suffering in the first place. Compassion sometimes means making the hard choice now to protect countless animals in the future.

This is a question I see often from pet owners when they get a puppy with a dark mask.  Often times it can be a little difficult to tell if a puppy is going to grow up to be sesame or red. Red puppies, not always, but often times have many grey and dark hairs before getting their adult coats in, especially around their muzzles. This is normal. Sometimes a dog will not loose its black mask even into adulthood, although they are supposed to. 

Pictured below, a puppy with a black mask and dark hairs but is still a red dog, as he aged his coat changed significantly.

Genes Responsible for Sesame: AysAys, AysAt, AysAw, AwAw, AwAt

The sure way to get your answer is VIA a genetic test, which most tests right now can identify the (AW) gene. As for the AY(s) gene, it is a newly discovered gene for sesame that can only be detected by UC DAVIS for the time being. 

Sesames can either have a strong widows peak, or the black hairs can even reach to the bridge of the nose and under the eyes. Dark ring hairs around the outside of the eye and dark ticking evenly distributed on the body is usually a good indication of a sesame. 

AKC Sesame Standard:

Sesame (black-tipped hairs on a rich red background) with urajiro. Tipping is light and even on the body and head with no concentration of black in any area. Sesame areas appear at least one-half red. Sesame may end in a widow’s peak on the forehead, leaving the bridge and sides of the muzzle red. Eye spots and lower legs are also red. Clearly delineated white markings are permitted but not required on the tip of the tail and in the form of socks on the forelegs to the elbow joint, hind legs to the knee joint. A patch of blaze is permitted on the throat, forechest, or chest in addition to urajiro.

AKC Breed Standard

Study Pictures Below

Other Coat Types Usually Mistaken for Sesame

Other coat colors that are usually mistaken by amateur breeders or pet owners but are not actually sesame: reds who kept their black masks, “sashige” also called a dirty red, and saddleback/creeping tan/red headed.

Not Sesame:

• A red with a black mask – a dark muzzle. The black mask is considered undesirable.
• Sashige (dirty red) – Significant black ticking on back but not enough to be saddle back. This is generally acceptable in moderation.
• Saddleback/Creeping Tan – a dark body and head, sometimes they have what looks like “sideburns” this is a non-standard color caused by a masking gene, it is considered undesirable.

Please understand that non-standard and undesirable markings are intentionally avoided to help preserve the integrity of the breed. Certain genes can become dominant or have unintended effects on other traits. These markings are rarely seen in well-bred dogs. We kindly ask that you respect the intentions of preservation breeders from the breed’s country of origin.

Welcome to Shiba Inu Community (SIC)

The Shiba Inu Community is an online community of breed specific enthusiasts interested in collaborating with others for the good of the breed. Our goal is to help people interested in the breed seek out responsible breeders and learn to identify a well bred Shiba Inu. We share guides and resources from experienced breeders. A group for pet owners, show homes and responsible breeders. We support breed clubs, responsible breeders and Rescues. 

How Can You Connect With Us?

We have three social communities you can connect with us. Facebook Group, Discord Server, and Reddit r/theshibainucommunity. 

How Can I Support the Community?

By sharing our social links, sharing our website knowledge database, and by buying mercy from our red bubble account.

Our Breeder Screening Process

When evaluating breeders for inclusion or recommendation, we take the screening process seriously to help ensure transparency and integrity. Here’s what we look for:

• Community Reputation: We check whether the breeder is known and recognized within the Shiba Inu show breeder community.
• Active Participation: We look for evidence that the breeder is involved in showing their dogs, which often reflects commitment to breed standards.
• Online Presence: We review their websites and social media pages for accuracy, professionalism, and to identify any signs of misleading or deceptive advertising.
• Health Certifications: We search the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) database to verify that their dogs are health tested and/or in the process of getting health results.
• Public Record Check: We check for any news articles, reports, or legal records that may indicate involvement in animal abuse, pet brokering, involvement with puppy mills or other unethical practices.
• Breed Club Affiliations: We review whether the breeder appears on regional or national breed club rosters, which can further indicate credibility and community standing.
• Pedigree Review: We examine dog pedigrees to ensure they are free from known puppy mill kennel names or disreputable breeding lines.
• Breed Standard Alignment: We assess whether the breeder’s dogs reasonably conform to the official breed standard in terms of overall presentation.
• Ongoing Monitoring: We regularly revisit and update breeder profiles based on new information or changes in practices. If concerns arise or circumstances change, we edit or remove listings accordingly.

Our goal is to highlight breeders who demonstrate transparency, responsibility, and a genuine commitment to the health and well-being of the Shiba Inu breed. Although we do our best to screen applications, sometimes it’s hard to know everything so if you have any questions or would like to report concerns about anyone listed please email SIC.

What we recommend for breeders in our list:

1. Breeding Dogs & Litters match the breed standard and focusing on the betterment of the breed.
2. Health Screening on breeding dogs: Breed club recommended requirements per OFA; Eyes, Hips, Patellas and GM1 screening.
3. Keep alert for and work to control and/or eradicate inherited problems and conditions that are particular to my breed.
4. Must Participate in Dog Conformation and/or Sports per legitimate Kennel Club.
5. Dogs are from a reliable pedigree, and not from BYB or Puppy Mill sources.
6. Additional points if you are part of the main breed club or a regional club.
7. Pet Home puppies are being sold on limited registration, a Spay/Neuter and return to breeder contract.
8. Dogs are Registered with AKC (or legitimate registry for those out of country)
9. Full Transparency to buyers about any issues a puppy may have.
10. Refusal to knowingly sell dogs to wholesalers, retailers, puppy mills, dog fighters or any other where there is reason to suspect that the Shiba will not receive proper care or may be used in any way detrimental to the breed or the dog itself.
11. No history of animal abuse or neglect.
12. No history of working as or brokering for backyard breeders or puppy mills.
13. No excessive amounts of breeding dogs (I.e 35+ breeding dogs within one household)
14. Websites with “add to cart” features on puppies without proper screening of potential owners are not permitted.
15. Good sportsmanship as the breed comes before any personal disputes.
16. Refrain from deceptive or erroneous advertising.
17. Knowingly falsify any records, pedigrees or registrations will have you removed.

Application Format

Kennel Name: 
Breeder Name: 
Website: 
Socials:

A. Basic Interactions

1. Be Kind and Courteous: Try to create a welcoming environment. Treat people with respect, healthy debates are ok, kindness is required. 
2. Respect Everyones Privacy: Being part of this group requires mutual trust. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but may also be sensitive and private. What’s shared in the group should stay in the group.
3. No Political Discussion: We will keep any discussion regarding government Politics OUT of the group as that always seems to create problems. This is neutral ground. 
4. No Hate Speech or Bullying: Make sure everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn’t allowed, and degrading comments about things like race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated.
5. No Crypo Posting: This Community is about the dog BREED. Crypto spam will be deleted. 
6. No Blocking Admins: This is an auto boot. 
7. No Promotions Or Spam: Give more than you take in this group. Self-promotion, spam and irrelevant links aren’t allowed. That includes anything related to cryptocurrency.
8. No crossposting from other groups: No cross posting from other groups allowed. Pages are ok as long as it does not violate any other rules. 
9. Community Involvement: Posting only links to pages, kennels, YouTube videos, Instagram accounts should not be the only thing you share. Please participate in the group in other ways. Once things start to become spammy we will start restricting posts. 
10. Shiba Inu Only: Posting about another dog breed or mixed dogs is prohibited. We are a purebred specific group and would like it to stay that way. 

We are a group that supports ethical breeding, rescue, breed standard, health and dog sports. Any commentary offending that will be removed.

B. Breeders & Puppies

1. NO Tolerance for Irresponsible Breeding: Backyard breeders, puppy mill owners, pet brokers, and pet stores. We do not support these unethical practices. We will not support any mention of them or people who participate with such. 
2. NO Obvious Puppy Sales: Approved breeders showcasing puppies are fine. Mentioning that the puppy is open is fine. But any obvious verbiage and “market” type posts will be denied even from approved breeders. We do not want to risk groups being shut down. Avoid words such had “Available”, “Pricing”, “$”, “For Sale”, “Not For Sale”, “Sale”, “Sold”
3. No Privately Messaging Members: Unsolicited advertisement to our members via DM will have you banned if you are in violation of rule 1B. 
4. Litter Videos & Pictures:Any media content that suggests you have a litter and are a breeder will be declined unless you are an approved breeder.

C. Artists

1. Artwork Must Be Tame: no violent posts that depict harm or cruelty, no vulgar or hateful images, no politically driven images, please follow facebooks content rules and keep things G rated.
2. Participate In Other Ways: In order to list your artwork and links you must be at least activity participating with members and other posts.
3. No spam posting: please keep your ads to a minimum and do not post multiple ads in a week.
4. Authentic & Original artwork only: we do not allow AI art to be sold, or any artwork that is not authentic (ie, traced over photos, no skill utilized )
5. No stolen artwork: if we detect that you have stolen someone’s artwork, that is an automatic ban, and it is OK to take inspiration from someone else’s artwork, as long as they are credited.
6. On Topic: Posts must be Shiba themed

• Rules are subject to change

Coming Soon.

BREEDERS AND RESCUES ONLY

It’s here! It’s finally here! We have created a database to put all sorts of information regarding Shiba Inu in one place in a massive collaboration by enthusiasts for the betterment of the breed.

We have now an interactive map for breeders and rescues to apply for members to find. It requires our approval once you have added yourself, we will strictly be looking into each and every application to make sure they are aligned with breeder ethics and/or making sure they are members of either the parent club or regional club. We will be verifying that rescues who apply are legitimate rescues.

That being said, please add yourself here:

And follow our format.

The name of your kennel

Description: your website/Kennel page or anything else you would like to add.

And you can even add a picture just make sure it’s a suitable size.

Hope to see your applications soon. Thank you!

Our RedBubble Merch shop is still under construction but expect to see more options up soon as they start to approve our designs! Currently we just have our logos up but soon we will have much more to choose from! 

https://www.redbubble.com/people/ShibaCommunity/

There are a lot of grooming tools today that promise to make your life easier. But one tool we always warn people about it the dreaded furminator or ANY kind of bladed brush or rake. These tools are damaging to certain coats which would include double coated with coarse guard hair type breed…the Shiba Inu. 

Shiba Inu have long coarse guard hairs throughout their body which play a part in keeping their body temperature regulated and help aid in keeping debris and parasites out.  Tools what have tiny little blades on them trick you into thinking you are removing a lot of shedding hair but what is actually happening is that the tool is shaving off healthy and new guard hairs that your shiba inu needs. This can also often result in making your shiba look thin-haired or very short-haired. 

Some groomers are not aware of this so if you are taking your dog to the groomer please remind them not to use any bladed brushes such as the furminator.

Shiba Inu shed their coat 2-4 time a year. They shed into a summer coat when their undercoat is thinned out but they still have long guard hairs, and in winter they grow a nice thick undercoat back. The best way to groom a Shiba without causing damage (and often long lasting damage) to their coats is by giving them a good bath to loosen the hairs and then proceeding to blow them out with a high velocity dryer while using a slicker brush and a greyhound comb.  

Another useful tool that a lot of pet owners seem to enjoy are slicker head brushes attached the a vacuum. It is a quick and easy way to safely remove loose hairs. 

I brushed my dog with a Furminator so you don’t have to.

Sebastian is a 3yo poorly bred shiba (probably mix). His coat is not a standard shiba coat, but my other dogs are show dogs, and the black and tan coat is easiest to see this particular difference in. The furminator deshedding brush does the same thing on all double coated breeds. Sebastian has black guard hairs over a light tan/grayish undercoat. As this isn’t a routine of ours, you will not notice a huge difference in the left (furminator side) and right (slicker side). The last picture is from a groomer’s page regarding the long term effects of using a furminator.

Notice the differences. Yes it appears the furminator got out more hair, but it is predominantly dark top coat. We are not trying to shed top coat. It’s the undercoat that is what they blow. The slicker got out much lighter fur – his undercoat. You can sort of see the difference of texture in this image. The darker hairs the furminator pulled are longer and more thick, indicating guard hairs (top coat). The lighter hairs pulled by the slicker are shorter, more wispy, and more textured.

Something I noticed while grooming him was that the furminator seemed to cause him pain. You can see him pulling away from the furminator and sitting down. When I used the slicker he did not pull away and remained standing. Also note the difference in sound. When using the furminator it sounds like hair is being ripped out. The slicker is just pulling out dead hair. Side note: slickers are not meant to be used in long pulling strokes. They are short strokes from back to front.

At the end of the day, you can use whatever you want to groom your dog. But if you want a fluffy shiba coat, the furminator is not the way to go.

Dixie Watson

Here was a post showing the difference from a professional dog groomer. So if you are still not convinced to dump your beloved Furminator, take a closer look next time you run that brush through the coat.

AKC PARENT CLUB: National Shiba Club Of America

NIPPO CLUB OF AMERICA: Nippo North America

Shiba Inu Fanciers Of Northern California – California

Shiba Inu Fanciers Of Southern California – California

Evergreen Shiba Inu Club – Washington & Oregon

Mid-States Shiba Club – Kansas, Colorado, 300 miles around Oklahoma City, OK, and Little Rock, AR. Excludes Louisiana. Contact the secretary Betty Rarick.

Shiba Club Of Greater New York – New York and New Jersey

Ohio River Basin Shiba Inu Fanciers – Surrounding areas