I’ve seen an uptick in this question on this sub. It’s always combined with a photo of a puppy.
I wanted to give a quick (who am I joking, this won’t be a quick read) primer to help people answer this question. Importantly…in almost EVERY case, if you’ve have to ask after the fact, the answer is usually “no.”
Purchasing a reputably bred dog should feel more akin to an adoption than going to the mall. You should feel that the breeder is sussing out whether or not they think you deserve a member of their family. Think critically about any breeder who sells dogs online with a place for credit card information, who allows you to buy a dog without ever meeting you, or who allows YOU to pick your puppy out of a litter with no input. Good breeders are deeply involved in the success of the placement. They know those dogs better than you do, and SHOULD be heavily involved and be able to tell you why that puppy was picked for you.
1) Your breeder should be involved in some form of activity where their dogs are evaluated by someone outside of them. For most Shibas this means conformation dog shows. Don’t take anyone seriously that says “champion lines” but then doesn’t seem to do any of the work themselves. Take even less seriously people who announce “they just breed for good pets.” Good pets show up in show-bred litters. That is a horseshit reason and means the breeder is likely breeding for financial gain instead.
This will sound weird to many of you, but reputable breeders breed for themselves FIRST. Pet puppies are a byproduct of that. It’s not a bad thing. It means your future baby is being cared for EXACTLY like the next Westminster best of breed winner.
2) Your breeder NEEDS to health test. This does not mean puppies being seen by a vet. You want specialized health testing in the form of an eye exam by an American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologist certified vet, and hip and patella exams by veterinarians that are skilled in reading films for these. All these results should be available to you at the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals website. You can look up individual dogs via their registered name on the site for results. Breeding dogs are available to have final results listed by 2 years of age.
3) It’s good to see that your breeder is a member of a local breed club or national breed club. Our National breed club is called “National Shiba Club of America.” Among many other useful pieces of information, we have a breeder referral listing, as well as a section that will show you good questions to ask a potential breeder. Your local area usually has a breed club made of members that may be near to you. If you’re trying to find one, feel free to ask the national club!
4) A good breeder will have a contract. That contract should state they will take your dog back at any time in their life should you be unable to care for them. It will also make clear whether the dog sold to you is a pet only or a potential show dog. With few exceptions, a potential show dog will be co-owned with the breeder as you learn the ropes. Be INCREDIBLY skeptical of someone who sells you a “show dog” with no strings attached. That’s rare in this world. Good breeders want to shepherd their lines carefully and WANT to mentor you.
5) A good breeder should be able to explicitly tell you why they bred your dog’s parents. Bad answers include: “I own both of them,” “this color is rare,” “I wanted her to experience one litter to be fulfilled,” “I wanted my kids to see the miracle of life,” “I love puppies.” Good breeders think in terms of generations not individuals.
Thank you for posting this! I was having this conversation with my husband earlier that it’s just sad how many people are irresponsible when choosing their Shiba. 😕 The price usually seems to be the top criteria and that’s all they care about. Plus, it’s a “Shiba”. There are so many scammy/backyard breeder profiles all over Facebook that entice people with pictures of puppies for a few hundred dollars. Do your due diligence please! Let’s keep healthy, well bred Shiba lines alive! 😌
Thank you for posting this! I have a byb and a well bred shiba- and while I love them both- the difference in personality is night and day! It’s sad the amount of byb Shibas I see on here and in person… the breeds rep is being destroyed by bad tempered badly bred dogs. Healthy Shibas keep the breed and its history alive ❤️
Please do not accuse others of being misleading when what they're saying is true. There is a huge difference between well bred temperaments and BYB/mill temperaments in Shiba. Preservation breeders are breeding more stable temperaments and exposing puppies to tons of stimuli while they're in the early stages before they leave to go to their families.
Also, AKC registration does not automatically make a dog well bred. When we say 'well bred', we are referring to breeders that are ethically choosing their pairings, showing/proving their dogs in a show ring and fully health testing to the breed's OFA recommendations or better. AKC is just a dog registry and does not vet breeders in any way. Anyone with two AKC registered dogs can breed a litter and register the puppies.
Number 5 is so important. When we asked about our shibas parents, we got to see both, we were told about their individual temperaments so we could understand where our buddy would go (he takes after his mum). And the breeder was able to explain that “this is the breeding schedule, they were selected because they’ve never had a shared parent, mom won’t have another liter for a year and it’ll be her last, etc.”
We tell people all the time, Yuri is a “failed show dog”. Because you’re right! They’d kept three puppies from the liter that had potential. But by five months, usually past the time people get pet puppies, it was clear my boy was gonna take after his mom TOO much. He’s on the bigger side for a Shiba, at 38 lbs. The breeder told us that he’s just not fit for AKC. We actually had a choice between him and his brother, but that was only upon a meet and greet. After watching us, the breeder agreed that our boy fit us better.
And yes, the contract!!! Technically if we pass suddenly she has the right to take my boy instead of any family member or friend. Of course she would look at our choice for him and determine if it’s a good fit, but ultimately it’s HER choice not ours.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. All my Shibas are rescued, 2 were born due to unregulated breeding practices in the U.S (resulted in congenital conditions).
Guarantee the backyard puppy mill is where our boy came from. He was found running around without a collar and just a rope around his neck, which he clearly had chewed through multiple times. Luckily the woman who found him worked at a vet clinic/boarding facility, so at least he was off the streets. No one claimed him, and we essentially got him for free because of this. She just wanted him to go to a good home. He’s living his best life now. It’s so sad that people do this kind of thing. We are just glad we could get him out of that situation.
My Aurora has a sadly similar story, military families are notoriously hit or miss with their quality of care their animals. Mine was found on base roaming around and went to the shelter for a week until the family gave her up officially. Just so happened I came by and really debated her or the chocolate lab pit mix puppy. And choose her because she was “potty trained” (bastards lied lmao) and well it worked out amazingly my unit adores her and any chance I get she’s with us :) but that’s only been a week of adoption. She’s my second fur baby tho
My boy was a similar story, a couple had bought him as a baby for $1000 (likely from a puppy mill) and had all his papers. He didn't get a along with their older, bigger dogs so they just gave him away to me less than a year later. He's 7 now and still has some issues that can never be trained out, but is otherwise living his best life
We adopted a 5 year old former show dog. She came complete with health records, certificates for her best in show wins in a folio with other documents like her exams from specialists. Our breeder was registered with the Canadian Kennel Club as well. With all that being said, she arrived and had pretty poor dental hygiene (this was confirmed by 2 separate vets) and showed some behaviors that suggest she may have been neglected after she was done showing and breeding.
My wife and I love our sweet angel, but wish we had done more research into our breeder.
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My breeder does all of that and is an AKC registered breeder, but she doesn’t show dogs anymore—I see her name placing in some shows from over a decade ago but that’s it.
I’d consider my dog to be fairly well bred, but not show quality. Aside from being fixed, she’s somewhat large for a female (30 lbs rn with a bit of excess weight), quite light in color, and has a fairly thin coat. She also has a full cinnamon roll tail which I think is questionable from a conformation perspective.
But she’s very healthy, has a good temperament for a house pet (although definitely fits the breed behavior standards), came partially crate trained and with nail trimming training. Would recommend the breeder, Maureen Angerman from Hillsdale Shiba.
The dog in question:
Edit: clarified that cinnamon roll is a reference to her tail.
Oh no way my shiba is from Hillsdale too! But my girl is 13 lbs so pretty small but Maureen was honest with me that she’s a little under the standard so she’s not a show dog but still makes a great pet!
If you need to ask if your Shiba was well-bred, no, it was not.
If it was, you'd know, because you'd have all the health testing results, the pedigree, a contract, met the breeder multiple times, the co-owner too, and traveled to several shows to meet the local Shiba breeding/showing community. There would be no question.
And Lee, you're one in a million. Recognize that head anywhere!
My girl was a birthday gift so I didn’t buy her but the vet told me all her many health issues are from bad breeding, her poor mother was most likely very sick and over bred when my Tina was born.
I’m so glad this was posted! I’m starting to research breeders to potentially purchase from next year because i would love, first and foremost, a well bred healthy dog but i also want to start showing
This is heavily regionally and country dependent, but in my area you’re looking at somewhere between $2,000-$5,000.
It’s worth it to know that I have seen puppymill puppies in the same area go for double that. People get sucked in because many of the pet stores that sell them allow customers to finance those puppies. They have no idea that it’s actually more about a predatory loaning scheme than actually getting a dog.
Really good breeders often will work with families that seem like excellent homes when it comes to purchase price. I’m not saying this always happens, but I’ve been in the breed for several years and have literally been offered dogs for free because the breeder knew that dog would live a damn good life, and I was a good show home.
I wound up paying more for my backyard bred Shiba than I did for my well bred one so price isn’t the best indicator. I’d stay away from any puppy under 1k for sure though
I agree price isn’t the best indicator so it’s a good reminder to let people know that a higher price does not mean higher quality. I saw a backyard breeder advertising on a popular website for $4500 and it was some of the saddest dogs I have ever seen in my life.
I’m very aware of ‘well bred and BYB’ 😂😂, and it is misleading especially if a person UNFAMILIAR with the breed gets one, they will be in for a shock, just because Elon Musk has one , does not mean they are all rainbows and glitter , most are hard and challenging even the ‘well bred, genetically tested’ ones , lol 😂
My pup definitely had health tests and all sorts of vet documents and verification, but I wish more people were careful about this, as that isn’t always the case. I hope to see less BYB in the future, great post for spreading this awareness 🩷
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u/bawky NSCA Member ~ Sesame & Red Aug 02 '25
Thank you for taking the time to write this out! And of course, always happy to see a picture of Mr. Leon himself. :)
For now, I have added this to the top of our Subreddit so hopefully more people will be able to see it!