Walking the Shiba Inu: How the Relationship Is Built

The lead is not a means of control: it is a means of communication. And the walk is where the relationship is built and consolidated step by step.

The star: when the puppy circles around you

If on walks the puppy moves in circles around you, forcing frequent turns and hand changes to avoid getting tangled in the lead, do not get annoyed: it means you are its reference, and that is very positive. This behaviour is the evolution of the star — the movement with which all puppies move a few metres away from their centre (their mother) and come straight back, like the rays of a star — and will tend to fade as self-confidence and maturity grow.

Why understanding this matters: the star is visible proof the bond works. The puppy feels free to explore because it knows it has a safe place to return to, and that place is you. Let it circle, praise it when it comes back towards you, reward it when it looks at you; the more its confidence grows, the more these behaviours will fade, but what you have become for it in the meantime — the centre, the fixed point — will remain over time, consolidating your role and the relationship between you. In this phase be an authoritative reference and above all avoid traumas: no jerks, no shouting, just calm and consistency. When it stops doing the star, it will be time to teach it to walk at your side, although most of the time it will come naturally.

The lead as communication, not coercion

It may surprise you, but the lead is not a means of control or coercion: it is a means of communication, a thread allowing a two-way exchange of information. Try this exercise: stop with the dog on lead and close your eyes. Try to understand just from the sensations the lead transmits what it is doing — whether sniffing, tensing towards something, about to sit. Pay attention to how the leather or webbing moves between your fingers, to the vibrations, to the tension it transmits. I assure you that in no time you will be able to sense the dog even without seeing it, and it will learn to feel your intentions even before vocal commands.

Mistakes to avoid

Jerking the dog on walks because it does things you dislike — pulling to stop it sniffing, to make it walk straight, as punishment — breaks trust: the lead becomes the means through which pain or fright arrives, and the dog will experience the walk as a stressful moment, learning to fear your hands instead of trusting them.

At the opposite extreme, letting it do whatever it wants without ever intervening builds nothing: the dog learns you count for nothing and that pulling always pays.

Here too the lead can help through distance management. The dog must learn that if I keep it short, close to my body, it means I am leading; conversely, if I leave it long, it means it is free to do what it wants and it is leading. This short-long alternation on walks should be used as soon as star behaviours start decreasing and the dog begins asserting some autonomy.

Postural handling

The last step is postural handling. Every dog can read our expressions and our body’s micro-movements; it has a brain area specifically developed for this. This is what makes it so reactive when we try to grab it, and anyone who has tried to catch a reluctant Shiba knows what I mean. But this can be used to our advantage to communicate with it. Through reading the lead, postural handling can be adopted.

Postural handling is the way of using our body and its movements to guide the dog naturally and almost invisibly. It is about direction micro-corrections given with the body before the arms or even just the head: simply shifting our weight right or left while walking causes a direction change, but the basis is that the dog feels you — behind it there must always be the relationship between you.

When this technique is applied you move in unison, with no need for lead corrections: to onlookers it is like watching a pair of dancers perform. Everyone will think of an extremely trained dog, while we are simply conversing through the lead.

All this is achieved fairly quickly if applied correctly. At first we will use frequent rhythm and direction changes to keep the attention that must be rewarded, and we reward likewise when the lead is slack. A slack lead must always be rewarded: it is the dog telling you it is choosing to stay with you.

Long line and retractable lead: yes or no?

The long line is a 5 or 10 metre webbing — the right tool for managed freedom: the puppy explores, sniffs, chooses where to go within a safe radius, and you remain the anchor. This is where recall is trained safely and the dog learns to manage space without getting lost. It is certainly the right tool, even if impractical and complex to use in urban settings.

The retractable lead, the spring-mechanism one to be clear, is excessively demonised in my opinion, while it is more versatile than the long line if used correctly. The retractable’s trait is keeping constant tension on the lead, which the dog may misread (learning that pulling is the normal state), but this is easily worked around if we handle with 2 hands. In one we hold the retractable from which the webbing comes out, passing it through the other, leading hand. This way we get long-line advantages and retractable practicality in one, plus the greater safety of a double grip. This will help a lot in playing with distances, long-short, and in managing emergencies (rewinding 8 or 10 metres of long line takes time and technique to avoid messes).

If instead you prefer two different tools, use a fixed training lead (with those evident metal rings at different distances) 2 metres long for the city and a long line for parks.

Practical rules: always watch for potential dangers and proactively avoid them. Cyclists, other dogs, road crossings: if we glimpse danger, stop until it passes; if possible change pavement; avoid exposing the dog to negative stimuli, frights or traumas.

Walks as the mirror of the relationship

As said, the walk is one of those moments when the relationship between dog and owner can most easily be assessed — and it is also one of the moments when the relationship is built, because it is an activity to do together. Those who can read a walk see everything: the dog checking you with frequent glances while exploring versus one pulling straight ahead without ever turning; the slack lead for long stretches versus constant pulling; free, relaxed sniffing versus dragging you from one stimulus to another.

Unfortunately many owners walk their dog without paying it any attention: they walk, but each minds their own business, often the owner on the phone while the dog is at the end of the lead. There is no communication, they are doing nothing together, then people are surprised if the dog does not listen.

Who are you to the dog?

Correcting a bad walk means changing your approach: first of all you must devote your attention to the dog — it means giving the moment its due importance: those 10 or 20 minutes of your day must be only for it. Try to empathise, read your dog; it is one of the most beautiful things you can do. Feel what it wants, indulge it if possible, reward it when it does the right thing (looks at you, slows down, returns). Twenty minutes of well-done walk beat an hour of mutual dragging. If the walk is a daily war, the problem is almost always in the relationship: change yourself, the dog will change. If you need advice we are at your disposal.

In short

Star to value and never punish, lead as communication not coercion, long line yes in open spaces and retractable yes but with method, walk as mirror and workshop of the relationship. For reliable recall read the dedicated guide; for a puppy set up this way see the available puppies, read the FAQ and meet the breeders.