Shiba Inu Karakusa Bandanas

Back In Stock

How Much Do Shiba Inu Puppies Cost??

My first long-haired Shiba Inu puppy named Kenji

Before deciding on bringing a new Shiba Inu puppy into your home, you must consider other, more important factors besides the Shiba Inu price tag.

While we at My First Shiba Inu advocate for saving rescues whenever possible, we also understand that there are certain families who specifically search for Shiba Inu puppies.

This article is written to help these families find puppies in an ethical, responsible and safe manner.

 

Kenji, or Puppah striking the most adorable pose. He’s about 10 weeks here

Reputable and Ethical Breeding The most important aspect of bringing a new shiba inu puppy into your household is getting the puppy from a responsible and ethical breeder.

This breeder should be a breeder that ONLY breeds Shiba Inus of sound health, temperament, and lineage.

Be wary of breeders that breeder multiple breeds of dogs. This is usually a major red flag.

Reputable Shiba Inu breeders are normally endorsed by recognized associations like the AKC and the Shiba Inu Club of America.

These breeders typically show their dogs at dog shows and are keenly interested in the betterment of the breed.

Gorgeous example of a properly-bred Shiba Inu puppy

Avoid Never Purchase a Shiba Inu Puppy From a Puppy Mill, or Puppy “Stores”

At all costs, avoid getting a Shiba Inu puppy from online puppy sources, puppy stores, and backyard breeders.

If you purchase a Shiba puppy from an online puppy store you not only risk losing money by sending funds to an unknown source, but you also encourage puppies being born in “puppy mills”.

Buying a Shiba Inu puppy from an online puppy mill only keeps the cycle of animal cruelty going

Both online sources as well as brick and mortar puppy stores receive their puppies from puppy mills which is why you should never buy your puppies from these unscrupulous sources.

With awareness, we can stop puppy mills

“Unintentional” Backyard Breeders

Backyard breeders can sometimes be classified as puppy mills depending on how many dogs they breed and the purpose of the breeding.

Many times, backyard breeders are simply regular people who don’t know any better.

They think that because they have two purebred dogs, that it would be “a good idea” to have a few puppies they can give friends or relatives.

Backyard dog  breeders do not regularly produce purebred specimens in optimal physical form.

The main concern for poorly-bred Shiba Inu puppies is not looks but serious health issues in the future

They simply don’t have the knowledge and skills to understand correct breeding techniques that other skilled breeders take years and years to learn.

Finding a Well-Bred Shiba Inu Puppy – The Importance of Breed Standards

Often, you can easily tell if a Shiba Inu is from a backyard breeder or puppy mill simply by observing it’s physical form.

Shibas from puppy mills usually are incorrectly sized at adulthood – either too small, large, skinny, etc.

They may be disproportionate features in the head or body.

One of the most captivating physical features of the proberly bred Shiba Inu is their striking face, with full cheeks, almond eyes and proportionate muzzle.

My long-haired Shiba Inu puppy loves toys, even at six years of age now

You’ll rarely see a puppy mill Shiba that fits all of these standards.

Their coat colors and urajiro markings may also be out of standard.

Shiba Inu coat colors include red, black-and-tan, sesame, and cream – with red being the most popular and known coat color.

In the show ring, a cream colored Shiba is considered a fault so breeders will never knowingly breed a cream Shiba Inu.

Well-bred Shiba Inus feature full cheeks, almond-shaped eyes, and vibrant red coat

Health Issues of Poorly Bred Shiba Inu Puppies

Puppy mill Shiba Inu puppies normally suffer much more serious health issues than properly bred Shiba Inus.

The most common maladies that affect Shiba Inus include eye issues such as glaucoma and cataracts as well as hip dysplasia, gangliosidosis, and inflammation due to skin allergies.

Additionally, many puppy mill Shibas live shorter lives compared to properly bred dogs.

Puppy mill dogs all to often succumb to sometimes sudden diseases such as heart diseases, seizures, kidney issues.

How To Find a Reputable Shiba Inu Breeder

Reputable breeders ALWAYS health test their adults and will never breed pairs that have any known genetic deficiencies.

Reputable breeders also show their dogs in dog conformation events which is a great place to begin your search for a Shiba Inu breeder in your area. These events happen at various times throughout the year and can be found with a simple Internet search.

My oldest Shiba Inu Kitsune with 10-month-old puppy

Due to the fact there are not that many reputable Shibas Inu breeders in the U.S. in relation to the demand for Shiba Inu puppies, wait times for new puppies can be long at times.

On the other hand puppy mill Shiba Inu puppies are usually ample in supply and can be found on the Internet with ease and at a much lower price point compared to well-bred puppies.

So while it may be so tempting to get a Shiba Inu puppy at a lower cost, or even free it’s from friends or family, you should still avoid getting a puppy this route because the negatives will eventually outweigh any positives.

Don’t think that you can “go cheap” just because you don’t plan to go to dog shows or breed the Shiba.

That doesn’t matter.

Can anyone resist the adorable face of Shiba Inu puppies?

Because “going cheap” means that you’ll likelyy be getting a Shiba Inu puppy that could have serious health issues that will be very expensive to treat in the future.

You are also not supporting the betterment of the breed.

In fact, if your puppy comes from a puppy mill, you could actually be contributing to animal cruelty by giving money to puppy mills.

Please don’t choose that route.

It is better to save a life for free than pay to have many dogs suffer unnecessarily.

Finding a properly bred Shiba Inu puppy is very difficult and often very expensive – while finding a poorly-bred puppy mill Shiba is quite easy.

So take this fact into consideration when you begin searching for a Shiba Inu puppy.

If it’s seems to good to be true – well, you know how that goes…

The perky and point ears of Shiba Inus are one of their distinguishing characteristics

Other Factors Affecting Shiba Inu Puppy Initial Costs:

Female puppies are generally more expensive than male puppies.

Also, since Shiba Inu litters are usually very small, supply and demand could affect puppy pricing.

The typical litter size of Shiba Inu puppies is actually quite small at 2-3 on average

Shiba Inu Price Range:

In general Shiba Inu puppies with limited registration from reputable breeders cost between $1400 – $2200.

Full registration puppies cost between $2000 – $3500.

There are may other things to consider besides the just base Shiba Inu price.

If your breeder is in another state, you’ll also have to consider transportation costs.

If you are in Alaska or Hawaii, the costs of transportation is even higher, especially to Hawaii due to quarantine costs.

In Closing

By now, you probably realize bringing home a Shiba Inu puppy is much harder – and probably more expensive – than you initially thought.

It definitely is.

But if you’re serious about it, the initial research and preparation will be well worth the effort.

Step back and take your time when screening breeders.

Any rash, spur-of-the-moment decisions rarely end well in these scenarios.

Remember, you’re bring home a living being that will depend on you for rest of it’s life.

Are you properly prepared mentally, physically – and most of all – financially – for it?