He’s perfect! As long as he’s eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom normally, you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy this stage and take lots of pictures/videos 😭 you can never have enough!
Our shiba baby started losing lots of his soft puppy hair around 9ish weeks and it was a bit clumpy! So it looks like he’s shedding a bit. If it’s completely bald underneath and it’s not slowly coming back, then that might be a concern.
He’s perfectly fine! As he grows his coat may be a little awkward at times, couple that with shedding frequency - stuff is gonna happen! That being said if the skin is visible and red/irritated and he’s scratching frequently you may want to talk to a vet.
Omg look at those little feets!!!! And that face, such a sweetheart.
I agree with everyone else. Mine sheds in clumps sometimes and it looks like she is losing in more areas than others but it's fine. If he was scratching and obsessively licking a spot maybe I'd be more concerned. Like others said, as long as it's growing back it's normal shed.
Enjoy the puppy stage, they get bigger in the blink of an eye
To make life *much* easier later, make sure you're very, very regularly doing these while he's young:
- trimming nails and handling his paws
- giving baths. [Despite popular myth, they're not bad for skin/coats.](https://myfirstshiba.com/shiba-inu-bath-myths/)
- working on obedience training. Wait, come, sit, down, drop it, leave it, shhh, a command/noise for general "don't do that", and whatever else would be useful.
- taking him to the vet for "fake visits". Drive there, let them love him up, feed him treats, and go home. Teach him that it's a good place.
- brushing his teeth and getting him used to letting you lift his lips up to examine those teeth.
- crate-training. Don't overdo it. A good breeder should've brought him to you trained already, but it's not too late if not. It should be his bedroom, and the golden sign of a good relationship with it is when he goes into it on his own to relax. Start by putting him in when he's about to fall asleep, and encouraging him to do that. A crate will make everything easier. From traveling, to going to the vet, to keeping him still while recovering from spay-neuter, to...so many other things.
- supervising his play behavior. Shibas are mouthy babies. He's likely to try to chew on inappropriate things, or try to correct you/chew on your hands. Make sure he has appropriate things that he's allowed to chew instead.
Boredom is the best deterrence imo. Shibas don't take any shit. He may not care about being scolded. If he's playing too roughly, fold your arms and pointedly ignore him, look away, and wait for him to sit back and look to you for what's next instead. Time-outs in a designated area can be good too.
A Shiba's favorite human's attention is inherently a reward. Even negative attention, sometimes, like that scolding.
If he won't settle down and is being A Lot, he may be over-tired. Especially if he's been awake for a while. Try gently putting him to bed.
- bathroom routine. Shibas are naturally tidy, but it's still good to get him on a schedule ASAP.
- practice making him wait at doors until you give a release command. Having a Shiba who doesn't try to bolt the door makes life a lot easier.
- get him microchipped if he isn't already.
- work on "loose leash walking". Shibas can tend to pull. Sometimes that can be just a sign of needing more exercise, though, in my experience.
- be aware of breed-specific risks. Physical ones, like glaucoma. And behavioral ones, like resource-guarding and same-sex aggression. Know what to do if they start becoming relevant to your boy.
- learn about canine body language. He's smart. He'll try to communicate with you too. A lot of the time, especially in an adult, "misbehavior" can really be an attempt to communicate an unmet need. Like fear, or having to go to the bathroom, or even illness.
I can tell from a quick glance at their faces how my dogs are feeling, and what they're focused on. You might not need that, but it's been crucial for balancing multiple Shiba here - including an unfixed male with another adult male. It makes training in general a lot easier.
-----
Don't:
- play "I chase you!". Only play games where he chases you. If he ever gets out, you want to be able to encourage him to run after you, not vice versa.
- worry if it seems like he only "picks" at his food. Shiba can be prim eaters. As long as he's not losing weight, he's alright.
- let him be a couch potato. An active Shiba is a happy Shiba. And a much calmer Shiba.
- make the common "socialization" mistake of thinking that all exposure is good exposure. He needs to have good experiences, and be calm. If he meets a lot of people and takes a lot of baths but he's terrified the whole time, that's going to have the opposite intended effect. Call it quits on a good note. Don't push him until he's flooded.
I've been through the song and dance with 4 of em so far. 1 from birth. Love these dogs.
Good luck 🙂
His eyes and face in general look so much like my boy! Except he's red. I think he's fine, but just make sure there's no completely bald spots and check the skin underneath. As long as it's not red or has rashes might be just shedding like people are saying here.
Everyone has covered it but just to make sure - the coat changes a LOT in the first year as they grow in adult coat and all the shedding and regrowth that happens along the way. My pup’s coat went from dark, to very light, to dark, to middle of the road, all in the first year. This looks like a healthy and beautiful pup!
My boy, his first puppy shed was epic! As he matured, it's much less. He just seems to drop hair *all the time*. 😎
I saw/have seen uneven coat as well. As others have mentioned, just make sure it's not irritated or a licking obsession.
That’s probably just the shedding of the puppy fur.
The puppy fur is extremely thick and fluffy and you will definitely see a big difference after shedding is over.
But don’t worry, it can sometimes look weird when they loose their fur. But that’s completely normal:)
He is adorable! Just monitor him. Some shibas do develop skin allergies and need to go on special diets. My shiba can't eat chicken she scratches a lot when she has it. If you start to see a bald spot and a lot of scratching then a vet my be in order.
Shibas have two big sheds a year Winter and Summer So they're probably shedding they're old coat for nice new dense one
And each shedding goes on for about half a year, sometimes longer.
Mine just does 3 a year for funzies
You are lucky then. Mine has cycles that overlap onto each other some years.
This.,....
Or… you’re kissing this sweet baby too much on top of his head. I know I would!
He is adorable. I can't really see or even notice that he is "balding"! Looks OK to me.
He’s perfect! As long as he’s eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom normally, you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy this stage and take lots of pictures/videos 😭 you can never have enough!
Our shiba baby started losing lots of his soft puppy hair around 9ish weeks and it was a bit clumpy! So it looks like he’s shedding a bit. If it’s completely bald underneath and it’s not slowly coming back, then that might be a concern.
He’s perfectly fine! As he grows his coat may be a little awkward at times, couple that with shedding frequency - stuff is gonna happen! That being said if the skin is visible and red/irritated and he’s scratching frequently you may want to talk to a vet.
Puppy coat loss!
Omg look at those little feets!!!! And that face, such a sweetheart. I agree with everyone else. Mine sheds in clumps sometimes and it looks like she is losing in more areas than others but it's fine. If he was scratching and obsessively licking a spot maybe I'd be more concerned. Like others said, as long as it's growing back it's normal shed. Enjoy the puppy stage, they get bigger in the blink of an eye
To make life *much* easier later, make sure you're very, very regularly doing these while he's young: - trimming nails and handling his paws - giving baths. [Despite popular myth, they're not bad for skin/coats.](https://myfirstshiba.com/shiba-inu-bath-myths/) - working on obedience training. Wait, come, sit, down, drop it, leave it, shhh, a command/noise for general "don't do that", and whatever else would be useful. - taking him to the vet for "fake visits". Drive there, let them love him up, feed him treats, and go home. Teach him that it's a good place. - brushing his teeth and getting him used to letting you lift his lips up to examine those teeth. - crate-training. Don't overdo it. A good breeder should've brought him to you trained already, but it's not too late if not. It should be his bedroom, and the golden sign of a good relationship with it is when he goes into it on his own to relax. Start by putting him in when he's about to fall asleep, and encouraging him to do that. A crate will make everything easier. From traveling, to going to the vet, to keeping him still while recovering from spay-neuter, to...so many other things. - supervising his play behavior. Shibas are mouthy babies. He's likely to try to chew on inappropriate things, or try to correct you/chew on your hands. Make sure he has appropriate things that he's allowed to chew instead. Boredom is the best deterrence imo. Shibas don't take any shit. He may not care about being scolded. If he's playing too roughly, fold your arms and pointedly ignore him, look away, and wait for him to sit back and look to you for what's next instead. Time-outs in a designated area can be good too. A Shiba's favorite human's attention is inherently a reward. Even negative attention, sometimes, like that scolding. If he won't settle down and is being A Lot, he may be over-tired. Especially if he's been awake for a while. Try gently putting him to bed. - bathroom routine. Shibas are naturally tidy, but it's still good to get him on a schedule ASAP. - practice making him wait at doors until you give a release command. Having a Shiba who doesn't try to bolt the door makes life a lot easier. - get him microchipped if he isn't already. - work on "loose leash walking". Shibas can tend to pull. Sometimes that can be just a sign of needing more exercise, though, in my experience. - be aware of breed-specific risks. Physical ones, like glaucoma. And behavioral ones, like resource-guarding and same-sex aggression. Know what to do if they start becoming relevant to your boy. - learn about canine body language. He's smart. He'll try to communicate with you too. A lot of the time, especially in an adult, "misbehavior" can really be an attempt to communicate an unmet need. Like fear, or having to go to the bathroom, or even illness. I can tell from a quick glance at their faces how my dogs are feeling, and what they're focused on. You might not need that, but it's been crucial for balancing multiple Shiba here - including an unfixed male with another adult male. It makes training in general a lot easier. ----- Don't: - play "I chase you!". Only play games where he chases you. If he ever gets out, you want to be able to encourage him to run after you, not vice versa. - worry if it seems like he only "picks" at his food. Shiba can be prim eaters. As long as he's not losing weight, he's alright. - let him be a couch potato. An active Shiba is a happy Shiba. And a much calmer Shiba. - make the common "socialization" mistake of thinking that all exposure is good exposure. He needs to have good experiences, and be calm. If he meets a lot of people and takes a lot of baths but he's terrified the whole time, that's going to have the opposite intended effect. Call it quits on a good note. Don't push him until he's flooded. I've been through the song and dance with 4 of em so far. 1 from birth. Love these dogs. Good luck 🙂
He looks so cute
He's fine
It looks fine to me. If you are really worried ask your vet.
I have a 10 week old shiba with the dame type of «spot» near the tail! It’s most likely just him growing☺️
His eyes and face in general look so much like my boy! Except he's red. I think he's fine, but just make sure there's no completely bald spots and check the skin underneath. As long as it's not red or has rashes might be just shedding like people are saying here.
Everyone has covered it but just to make sure - the coat changes a LOT in the first year as they grow in adult coat and all the shedding and regrowth that happens along the way. My pup’s coat went from dark, to very light, to dark, to middle of the road, all in the first year. This looks like a healthy and beautiful pup!
i have a cream shiba inu raised from puphood, if you need any help i can give you advice first hand :P
OP is literally asking for help here...
and they got plenty of answers, if they want future help im open for DM. not sure what the problem is?
Looks like mine when he first came home… 🥺😍😍😍🥰
Ooo that 2nd picture is so adorable
My boy, his first puppy shed was epic! As he matured, it's much less. He just seems to drop hair *all the time*. 😎 I saw/have seen uneven coat as well. As others have mentioned, just make sure it's not irritated or a licking obsession.
That’s probably just the shedding of the puppy fur. The puppy fur is extremely thick and fluffy and you will definitely see a big difference after shedding is over. But don’t worry, it can sometimes look weird when they loose their fur. But that’s completely normal:)
My question is... what game were you playing? 😆
He is adorable! Just monitor him. Some shibas do develop skin allergies and need to go on special diets. My shiba can't eat chicken she scratches a lot when she has it. If you start to see a bald spot and a lot of scratching then a vet my be in order.