How Much Do Shiba Inu Puppies Cost??

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.

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.

Avoid Puppy Mills and 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”.

Puppy mills are run by people who have no care for the dogs they breed, but just the income coming from puppy sales.

A puppy mill operation is run like a high volume factory that aims to churn out as much “goods”as possible while spending the absolute least.

Mother dogs and pups are typically crammed into tiny cages that rarely gets cleaned on a regular basis.

Once a mother gives birth, she immediately is forced to mate again and the torture continues as a vicious cycle.

Please Don’t Support Dog Cruelty!

Puppy mills are normally crowded, dirty, and full of puppies and puppy parents that are in poor health. In many ways, this can be seen as torture.

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.

“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.

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

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.

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.

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

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 include eye issues such as glaucoma and cataracts as well as hip dysplasia, gangliosidosis, and inflammation due to 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.

Choose Reputable Shiba Inu Breeders

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

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.

First of all, you may be getting a Shiba Inu puppy that could have serious health issues that will be very expensive to treat in the future.

Secondly, you are 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 (no thanks Internet) – 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 – you know how that goes…

Cost of Shiba Inu Puppies From Reputable Breeders in the United States

There are a number of factors that will affect the cost of Shiba Inu puppies.

The main factor that determines the puppy cost is if the puppy is of show dog quality or normal pet home quality.

Show dog puppies cost considerably more because they come from an extremely good lineage and normally come with full AKC registration.

Other factors that affect Shiba Inu price include the sex of the puppy, and the coat colors.

The red Shiba Inu puppies cost the most, while the cream Shiba Inu puppies cost the least.

Pet home puppies are still of sound health but may not come from a winning show dog line.

These puppies cost less because they can be purchased with limited registration instead of full AKC registration.

What’s the Difference Between Limited and Full AKC Registration?

Full AKC registration entitles the dog’s owner to breed the dog and receive proper papers for the dog’s litters.

A limited registration is meant for dogs that are not intended to be bred, because the AKC will not give papers to any litters of the limited registration dog.

Limited registration is usually what most new Shiba Inu owners should get because it is more affordable and breeding subsequent Shiba Inu litters is not recommended for novices.

Other Factors Affecting 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.