I met a lady yesterday with a 5month old shiba inu pup. He was georgeous, I have heard of them but never met one. Does anybody have an experience of the breed  their behavoiur health prpblems and tempermant as a family pet.
I am not looking to have another dog just now my 2 are great and very young. Its always nice to learn about other breeds. 

Hi
I am the pround owner of 2 shiba inus.I have a 5 year old speyed bitch and a 12 week old male.
They are a very head strong breed,very independant and a breed that needs firm handling despite their size.They can be very dog dominant and it is not usually recommended that they are kept with smaller dogs than themselves esp if the other dog is the same sex.
They need huge amounts of socialisation and are not recommended to be off lead due to a very high prey drive.
Now having got the bad things out of the way ...they are loving,intelligent and will make you LAUGH!!!!They are clowns in dogs clothing and love to be with their human pets!You really do need a sense of humour to keep these dogs and you need to be prepared to be stopped wherever you go with one!They are not compatible with small furries but can be ok with cats if socialised properly.They are the 'marmite' of the dog breed...you will love them or hate them.....to me they are the dogs dangly bits LOL!!
As for health they can suffer from Glaucom and slipping patellas.However in general they seem to be a pretty healthy breed.
Nikki

Thanks Nikki they sound lovely, I ma going to discover dogs so perhaps will meet some there would love to see some more and get a feel for them. Think our female pom/chi may count as a small furrie and we hve to cats atm and for a long time I hope. Like the idea of the clowns and needing a sense of humour can deff go with that.  The not off lead thing would be ok and having got and had gsd think I could deal with the firm handling.
Certainly not right for my circumstances now but will keep watching the breed and learn more there is always a future and dogs will be in it.
I can see my husband groaning already he says he only toerates my animals but I am not so sure I caught him cuddling the pom/chi (lol)

What part of the uk are you ?

Hi again
I'm just north of manchester! My 6ft hairy tatooed biker OH was always of the attitude that small dogs were annoying little ankle snappers who were only to be owned by women!
He now would own a shiba above any other breed...and often shares his dinner and bed with our girlie!
Nikki

I too love Shiba Inu's - beautiful dogs! The description of them sounds similar to that of the husky (independent, head strong, high prey drive, not off lead, clowns etc) of which I am the proud owner of two! They are enough for the moment but I would definately consider a shiba inu at some point in the future!

I like it !! shame we are so far away I would love to meet some.

hi there i have 3 shiba inus and they are lovely dogs to have though not for the novice dog owner.I do show my male.The shiba inu is a big dog in a little body and can be challenging so have to have socalising form a young age they can get on with other dogs though bigger dogs are best suited in my opinion as mine get on fantastic with my akita they can also be same sex aggresion.After all that they are loveing, loyal i have found great with children and funny they do things you would expect.Also i have been around the breed for about 12 yrs and they are so addicted once you get one another will surly follow

I agree with what everyone else has said. They are amazing little dogs with huge characters. We have a bitch at the moment who lives quite happily with our 12 Siberian Huskies - she copes with them easily as she is convinced she is a 10 stone Akita.