New Shiba Inu Puppy! Meet Zuka!

Phew, this website is a labor of love and largely a one-woman show so unless indicated, all articles written by J.Tsukamoto

Hey Shiba family! It’s been a minute since I had a chance to add content - partially due to this little dude. Meet Bazooka, or Zuka for short.

Born, partially as a “surprise” on June 15th, 2024 - Zuka entered the world, feet first, which instantly threw me into a state of temporary panic of course.

Thankfully with a gentle tug and a final push from his momma, Zuka entered the world healthy and oh so hungry

First-time Shiba Mom - Anzu’s “Surprise” Pregnancy

Zuka’s mother, Anzu is an 2.5 year-old import from Japan. After over almost 15 years of owning Shiba Inus, I finally decided that I’d start a small preservation breeding program under the help and mentorship of experienced Shiba Inu breeders.

The father of Zuka is Kinai - a gorgeous 8-year-old male with the greatest temperament from Nippo Hauoli Shibas.

Zuka’s arrival was a bit of a surprise due to the fact that I gave Anzu an at-home pregnancy test from Belly Labs that showed negative.

Anzu was showing some subtle signs of pregnancy though I mainly attributed that to a “false” pregnancy occurrence.

However during the final few days, I was thinking that she could be pregnant (despite not detecting movement from feeling her belly) after all and began preparing for a possible whelping.

Zuka’s Birth and First Few Weeks

Zuka was born just around midnight and he arrived already out of his embryonic sac. 

I carefully cut off the umbilical cord and wasting no time, Zuka hurried over to his momma for his first meal out of the womb! And boy did he go at it! 

I got a towel and gave him a good drying. 

The three of us spent the rest of the night together with me ensuring momma and son were ok. 

This routine stuck for the first five weeks and frankly the quality of my sleep was shot. But the outcome of course made all the sacrifices worth it.

Where’s The Poop? Where’s The Pee?

Did you know that the mother of pups eat their puppies pee and poop for the first few weeks of life?

So at least I was off the hook for starting potty training until later. 

On occasion when momma did miss some poopies, I’d find a tiny nurdle of skinny orange poop on the floor that was honestly the cutest turd I’ve seen in my life so far.

Little Shiba Pup Opening His Eyes

At exactly two weeks of age, little Zuka began opening his eyes.

It was a monumental moment for me despite knowing that puppies can’t really see for another few weeks.  

With his beautiful eyes opened I sort of felt a sense of relief that he made it this far with no blips. He also seemed a lot less vulnerable then when he was navigating his new world completely blind. 

A Shiba Pup’s Developing Personality

Zuka began developing his “big” little personality early on. 

His willingness to explore away from mom showed his confidence and his protests when something annoys him showed his spunk.

Zuka definitely is the most confident Shiba puppy I ever raised. He is almost scared of nothing and no one. 

This is mostly a good thing though it’s important that I teach him that not all dogs will put up with his antics peacefully. 

Zuka also has a very sweet side and loves to greet you with loads of puppy kisses.

However, I’m still working on the “cuddly” component as Zuka has too much energy to simply cuddle when he is awake.

I can get away with it when he is half asleep though - and it’s the best thing!

Hungry Shiba Pup - Zuka Loves To Eat! / And SLEEP!

Zuka has a huge appetite and thankfully his mother was able to provide him with all the milk he needed. 

I was a bit concerned that he’d get too fat for his little legs to handle but due to his constant movement or “exercise” when he was awake, that didn’t happen. 

What did happen was due to the fact that Zuka fed so voraciously and quickly, he often got milk coming out of his nose.

We used a little suction pump to clear it out every time it happened.

I was worried at first but he never exhibited signs of illness and eventually grew out of it.

Weaning Zuka Off Anzu

I began offering some soft solid food at around six weeks and boy did he enjoy that! 

Starting out with softened top-shelf puppy food and adding a bit of puppy milk formula, I then began adding some fresh proteins like very lightly cooked sirloin, lean chicken, wild salmon, and eggs. 

Zuka absolutely loves fresh meat and devours it every time he’s offered it. 

Additionally, I also offer Zuka fresh fruit and vegetables which he accepts with no hesitation. Some of his favorite fruits include tropical mango and papaya! 

Introducing a variety of foods early in life is not only beneficial health-wise but also will help your pup be accustomed to all types of flavors.

Zuka definitely has a preference for fresh and healthy food over any type of kibble - even if it’s fresh vegetables.

Zuka simply gravitates toward fresh, natural foods over processed foods. It’s cool to observe natural, deeply-ingrained instincts at work.

Introducing Obedience / Socialization To Zuka

One of the benefits of being there from day one is my ability to begin introducing obedience, socialization, and handling to Zuka at an early age.

When Zuka’s hearing and sight were mostly developed I began introducing novel noises such as vacuuming, and blow-drying in small doses accompanied by positive praise.  

Zuka was an easy case though and didn’t mind the vacuum the least bit. He actually enjoyed chasing it around and attempting to bite it. 

Socializing your Shiba to loud noises at a young age is very important due to the fact that many dogs, including Shibas, develop noise fear as adults.  

And in many cases, the fear is severe enough to cause issues that are detrimental to your Shibas and even your own well-being.

Grooming Starts as Well!

Zuka is a natural at grooming. He observed me brushing my other Shiba’s teeth with an electric toothbrush and was instantly mesmerized.

I wasn’t planning to start with an electric toothbrush but decided to take advantage of his interest. I put a smudge of tasty toothpaste, turned the toothbrush on, and voila he had no problem with it.

Score one for team #early socialization! 

Nail trimming was also a breeze. I started handling his cute little paws when he was only a few weeks old. His first clip was at three weeks. And by 6 weeks I could also use a nail grinder with no issues. The key is and always has been, to start early and in small positive doses. 

Bathing Zuka was just a tad bit trickier as he I didn’t give him his first real bath until two months ago.

He already loves water though so I knew it wouldn’t be too hard. He was a little nervous about the experience at first but using positive words of encouragement as well as gentle movements, he was fine by the end of the bath.

It was great seeing him “shake” for the first time!

Zuka is Sweet, Smart, Rambunctions - and a BULLY!

Personality-wise, Zuka is naturally outgoing so introducing him to my other Shibas was easy.

I just had to monitor Zuka around my older Shiba as he can be overly rambunctious and rough as expected of a young male puppy. 

Zuka can also be quite the bully. Especially if it involves food. He doesn't mind sharing at all but expects every single one of my Shiba to share back.

And if one of the Shibas growl at him when he invades their meal - he'll growl back. With avengance! 

I'll need to work on this to ensure that he doesn't develop any resource guarding habits in the future.

Then there’s Yae. She’s my 11-year-old adopted Shiba that has deep-seated aggression issues. Although mostly managed through years of training, I still need to be extra cautious to keep her away from both Zuka as well as my geriatric Shiba female. She can and will bite if provoked. 

With other humans, Zuka is a natural ham. He loves everybody. 

Then there’s the puppy biting. Biting objects he shouldn’t as well as human and dog appendages. 

We try our best to keep Zuka in managed spaces at all times. But it’s life and there’s times when he may accidentally wander where he shouldn't and that can be dangerous if he picks up something in his mouth that is unsafe.

This is why I do my best to puppy-proof all the spaces Zuka will be in. And even in spaces where he’s not allowed. You can never be safe enough with young puppies as they are fast and love to explore everything with their mouths. 

Especially our hands.

Zuka is still only nine-weeks-old, so he still is quite mouthy. I discourage this habit by saying “ouch” loudly, “no”, and then sometimes ignoring / stopping play if the nipping continues. 

He’s slowly understanding the concept. Anzu is a great momma and teaches him bite control during their rough and tumble play sessions.

What’s Next?

Now at a little past 10-weeks-old, we’ll continue to work on socializing Zuka as well as starting some basic obedience training lessons. 

Currently, he already knows sit, down, and speak! I want to teach him the stay command soon as it’s the most important to teach a dog.

Zuka still has potty accidents here and there but that’s to be expected with young puppies and full bladders.

Harness and leash training introduction is also on the near horizon and actually a bit overdue. 

He’ll get his first visit with a veterinarian soon for his first set of puppy shots. Hopefully the poke won’t traumatize him.

Okay guys that’s all the Zuka updates for now! I’ll do my best to add more Zuka content shortly. And in the meantime much love to my Shiba fam and thanks for all the years of continuous support. Shiba kisses to all! 

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