The Shiba is a harmonic dog with good legs and well-developed muscles. It’s movements are fast, free and beautiful. It has small forward pointed ears, the eyes are dark and relative small and oblique. The tail is high placed and thick. It is carried tight rolled up or in a sickle-shaped curve over the back. The back is straight and strong. Abdomen is firm and well tucked-up. The size for males are 40 cm. and for the bitches 37 cm. There is an allowed tolerance on plus-minus 1.5 cm.

The color is red, red sesame or black and tan.

The red color shall be clear and intense. It must not be muddy or pale. The red color is described as "flame colored", that will say clear orange red.

For all three colors it counts that they shall have the white markings called "Urajiro", that’s the white coat on the side of the nose, on the cheeks, underneath the jaw and neck, on chest and abdomen and the inner side of the legs. Furthermore it’s allowed, but undesirable, to have white markings on the front legs up till the elbow, on the hind legs up to the knees and on the outermost on the tail.

The Shiba coat consists of an thick, short undercoat and a longer and rougher outer coat which stands out of the body in an angle of at least 45 degrees. The coat is shortest on the head, a little longer on the body, on the neck, on the back and longest on the tail.

The Shiba is shedding it’s coat normally 2 times a year, where it sheds all it’s thick under coat, but besides this there’s only moderate grooming on a Shiba.

It’s a robust little dog who are happy and very easily trained. It loves to work together with it’s handler and are therefore well qualified for obedience, agility and scent working.

The Shiba is in it’s native country, a popular hunting dog since it’s very fast, has a sustained effort and is brave.

The Shiba is a watchful breed, but isn’t very noisy or barking.. It only barks when it will turn it’s humans attention on something. Guests will be looked upon with a little distance and will be accepted when they are welcome.

A Shiba is a very interesting and challenging dog to train . With that not said that it’s difficult, far off… With simple rules and common sense it’s an easy dog to live with, but it’s different. The Shiba demands, with it’s special temperament, also an special training. You will learn that a Shiba is a primitive "original" dog who have kept the origin dogs language, and uses it more than the most other breeds.

A Shiba is in many ways a wild dog who has come to live with a modern human therefore it’s very important that we understand it’s background, including that it in hundreds of years have lived in a culture which in many ways are very different from ours. You must learn to understand how you get the best out of your Shiba, and not believe that all breeds are exactly alike. You can’t automatically use experiences from other breeds when you live with a Shiba.

A small Shiba puppy needs a particular training to get respect for it’s owner. If the puppy is allowed to do whatever it wants to without getting a clear picture of who’s the leader of the "heard", it can be both wild and self-willed and then it will be very difficult to live together with it.

A Shiba is a devoted, loving and loyal friend.