History of the Shiba Inu

There are six original dogs from Japan and Shiba Inu is the smallest of them. The other original Japan dogs are Akita Inu, Shikoku, Kai, Ainu and Kishu, but in this video, we will talk only about Shiba Inu. Their story began in 300 before christ as a hunting dog in central Japan. They were used for hunting small game like birds.

Have you ever wondered what their name means? The Japanese character for dog can be pronounced as Inu or Ken. That is why you can hear that someone reffer to Shiba Inus as Shiba Ken. So the Inu means Dog, but what Shiba means? That is less clear, it can mean „red shrub“ or it can alternatively means „small“.

Watch our video about Shiba Inu history here: