Those who have several cats may find adding the Shiba Inu to the mix a very easy adjustment. The Shiba Inu, considered one of the primitive breeds because of its original wolf traits, has a weird, endearing kinship with cats. Quite a bit of the Shiba Inu's behaviors is similar to that of the cat.
A Shiba Inu will tend to play and get along well with other cats. Their small sizes make them compatible playmates to he cat. He will oftentimes sun bathe much the same a cat would. The Shiba Inu dislikes being dirty in any way therefore he will lick himself clean the way a cat can be seen doing. He also may purr or do the "Shiba Scream", which sounds something like a baby lion cub trying his roar out for the first time. And they don't like to walk on leashes, not unlike his feline counterparts.
The Shiba Inu is very independent minded, agile, and has near perfect balance-all characteristic of the cat. Scratching and biting on the furniture is a given with the Shiba Inu in the beginning stages of disciplining training. Furthermore, and not to say dogs are not smart, but the Shiba Inu has the equal intelligence and cunning of the average cat.
The skittishness that Shiba Inus exhibit is a quality of many types of cats. It is a behavior that can be eliminated in time, but it may not be a behavior to expose children to. The Shiba Inu is not an overly aggressive or violent dog, but he is reactionary. A child's playful action might get misconstrued. Thus, much the way cats should not be left with children unsupervised, the Shiba should not be left alone with them either.
Agility and hunting are part of the Shiba Inu's ancestry, making them further like cats. The rough terrain that the Shiba Inu ancestors had to trek gives him nimble feet. The Shiba Inu will give chase to small birds much like his feral wolf ancestor did and like his cat counterpart will. The Shiba Inu possesses the center if gravity a cat odes as well as a cat's ability to sense when something or someone is within in vicinity. The skill lends itself to the cautiousness that a Shiba Inu sometimes exhibits.
The standoffish, independent behavior of the Shiba Inu makes him seem like a cat while his physical appearance furthers the comparison. Physically, the Shiba Inu resembles the cat, with a head shaped like a wedge, pointed nose square body, and, slanted upturned eyes, and pointed ears. And although they have double coats, with a straight outer coat and a soft, heavy undercoat, the coat is comparable to the texture of cats. Even the richness of the red coat a Shiba Inu sometimes carries could be compared to that of a red tabby.
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