NOT a Basenji!

You know, every time I go out to the dog park, or take Pepper somewhere, someone asks if she's a basenji. What? Shibas don't really look anything like a basenji... they look like foxes. Basenjis have much shorter hair, like a chihuahua; Shibas have longer, coarser hair. Also, their ears are a little bigger (compared to their heads), like a German Shepherd, whereas Shiba ears seem a little more proportionate to me. But I realize that this simple mistake is because a lot of people know nothing about Shibas, much less that their breed even exists. I don't think I've seen any other Shiba in the area - not at the parks, or driving around. I've only seen one other at a Pet Fest, whose owner was Asian. And I think that we need to get the word out to people about them: Shiba inus are intelligent, active, loyal, and beautiful dogs. And they are the perfect size! They hardly bark at all, yet are super cautious, and they can adapt extremely well to any environment. They are not basejis. So I take Pepper out even more now and encourage people to look up the breed and see if Shibas are a good fit for them.

For anyone interested, you can check out the shiba inu forum.

Also, here is a picture of a basenji (top), courtesy of www.justdogbreeds.com and a picture of Pepper, Shiba/Husky mix (bottom):

Basenji

Pepper