The interview and conscious matching — how we choose owners

Every Shinjukawa adoption begins with a phone interview. It is not a formality: it is the first step of a matching process that aims to find the right puppy for the right family — not the other way around. It is not choosing from a catalogue; it is building a bond that lasts a lifetime.

Why we hold an interview

We gladly collect the enquiries that come in through one of our channels — email, WhatsApp, Messenger, Line — but the follow-up phone interview is the mandatory step to begin the adoption journey.

We care about understanding who the prospective owners are, their expectations and their knowledge of the Shiba, whether they have previous experience as owners — also of other breeds — and which path led them to this choice.

It is essential to understand the environment our puppy will live in: the family unit and the ages of its members. We usually prefer couples and families, because they offer greater guarantees even in the event of illness, accidents or other unfortunate events — we know there will always be someone to take care of the dog.

Rejections are a daily occurrence, especially when the reasons behind the purchase do not align with our way of seeing things and we sense emotional instability in the person on the other end of the line. This is Myriam’s domain, where she can put her Master’s degree in Personnel Selection to good use.

How we match puppy and family

The matching process begins on the day of birth. An experienced eye can immediately perceive the subtle differences from one puppy to another — details that will then be explored in greater depth over the following days.

Some help comes from our clients’ specific requests regarding sex and colour, which narrow the field of possible choices, but even with some limitations it is still possible to find a good match.

For example, a family needs a dog that is outgoing, balanced and resilient, dynamic but not overly so. An elderly couple will need a calm, sociable subject, more inclined to a “relaxed” life. There are many parameters to take into account.

Sometimes the best match has been choosing a subject with characteristics opposite to those of the adopter.

It is not choosing from a catalogue: it is building a bond that lasts a lifetime.

That was the case of a family with a hyperactive child who had been advised to adopt a dog to help him become more responsible. An overly energetic dog would have accentuated those traits; instead, a calm and thoughtful dog proved to be the winning choice. In that case, the dog was given at three and a half months, because a different kind of preparation was needed, one that started with the choice of the puppy — the calmest female in the litter, with the most solid temperament — and went through habituation (that is the technical term) to the stimuli she would be exposed to.

Now, almost three years later, we can say that the bond is stronger than ever, and both the child — now a young man — and the dog are doing wonderfully.

The Shiba is not a dog for everyone

The Shiba Inu carries within it the traits of its own history like few other dogs. It is a fascinating dog, of unique beauty, certainly — but it is also autonomous, stubborn and independent. It decides to listen to you and stand by your side — that is not a given. That is what makes it so irresistible.

That is why the interview is so important. It is not a filter to exclude; it is a way to make sure that your expectations about your future Shiba are realistic and that you start off with the right foundations for a happy life together.

We have many cases in which, during the interview, it emerged that the reasons behind the purchase would certainly have wrecked the relationship before it even began. Later, we managed to challenge those reasons and, once they were framed in the right perspective, they allowed us — with the other parameters assessed positively — to proceed with the adoption.

The journey: from booking to delivery

After the interview and the booking, you will have to wait for the birth of your puppy, of which you will be notified almost in real time, if not live. It has already happened that we were on a video call during the birth, letting the new owners watch their puppy come into the world. From that moment on, it is our care to keep you informed almost daily about the puppies’ development and their progress, and to send you photos and videos so you can see how they are growing. We believe it is important that you have a sort of photo book to keep among the happy memories of your dog, from its very first days to its arrival at home.

We can arrange to deliver the puppy if you cannot come and pick it up, and we often carry out the delivery personally to make the transition to the new home as smooth and natural as possible. In that case we will stay with you for a few hours and, when we understand that the time is right, we will leave you on your own. We usually take these opportunities to give you final advice on risk prevention (what constitutes a danger and should be temporarily removed or moved) and on managing the dog inside and outside the home, with concrete examples too — it is not every day that you get two dog trainers at your doorstep!

After the adoption: a relationship that lasts over time

Our puppies will always remain our puppies. That is why we care about staying in touch with their owners and getting to know their lives. This is an integral part of our breeding programme.

The owners’ feedback regarding disease resistance, any allergies, dietary disorders and behavioural problems enriches that body of knowledge which is the very core of breeding. These data are so important to us that we have developed an app that we give to all our owners, on which it is possible to upload data about veterinary visits with their diagnoses and treatments, and vaccinations — a true digital health record.

In this way we gain access to part of those fundamental data needed to feed the BLUP software to estimate the genetic value of our dogs. Moreover, our professional qualifications as educators and trainers allow us to provide qualified support on behaviour, nutrition and training — not generic advice, but professional answers based on direct knowledge of the puppy and its family.

If you want to understand where this method comes from, read how our educator and trainer credentials change the way we breed and what our genetic testing protocol involves before every mating. If you are considering a puppy, see the available puppies: the interview is the first step.