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Shiba Inu — BetterBred Breed Page – BetterBred.com
BetterBred Breed Profile

Shiba Inu

Temperament: Independent and feisty with strong prey drive, the Shiba Inu is intelligent and loyal to family while aloof with strangers. Known for their cleanliness, they can easy to housebreak and are long lived, sturdy, beautiful dogs, and the most popular companion dog in Japan.
Height: Male: 38 - 41 cm (15 to 16 in) Female: 35 to38 cm (14 to 15 in)
Weight: Male: 10-13 kg (22 - 23 lb) Female: 8-10 kg (20 - 22 lb)
Life Span: 12-15 years
Outlier Index ?
0.36
Born before 2016: 0.35 Born after 2024: 0.36
Avg Genetic Rel. ?
0.00
Born before 2016: 0.00 Born after 2024: 0.01
Internal Relatedness ?
0.00
Born before 2016: 0.00 Born after 2024: 0.00
Shiba Inu
#NameGender OIAGRIR
1 Shizen no Tamashii Miharu no Tsukiakari F 0.30 0.09 -0.12
2 Redstory Filadelfia F 0.44 -0.04 0.00
3 Donten ni Warau go Yukiko Kensha F 0.42 -0.01 -0.15
4 Choshi no Hebihime Go Tamashii to Hokori F 0.35 -0.02 0.11
5 Chiisana Gacho Go Tamashii to Hokori M 0.47 -0.01 -0.07
6 Grumpy Lion Le Rendez-Vous M 0.35 0.00 -0.01
7 Shizen No Tamashii Kyouka Suigetsu F 0.31 -0.02 0.07
8 Densetsu No Odoroki Go Ukiyo Sou F 0.21 0.07 -0.13
9 Entaku No Kishi Go Yukiko Kensha M 0.44 -0.01 -0.13
10 Vivi Nami la Vallee des Loges F 0.29 0.02 0.11
The smallest of the original six native Japanese spitz breeds, the ancient Shiba Inu was original bred for hunting small game in the mountains of Japan. Long the subject of interest from breed conservationists, the breed almost died out in World War II. Three distinct lines remained and from these, all Shiba Inu today descend.
View Official Breed Standard →
Overall, the Shiba Inu is an overall healthy breed, and the longest living dog, who died at 26, was a Shiba Inu. The most common health problems in Shiba Inu seem to be ocular genetic disorders and allergies. Hip dysplasia is uncommon and appears before age two. Shiba Inu can have some typical small dog problems like luxating patella and dental issues.

Average metrics by birth year for dogs with recorded birthdates in the BetterBred database.

A 3D genetic map of enrolled Shiba Inu dogs in the BetterBred database, based on allele-sharing distance across 33 STR loci. This is not a complete picture of the breed — it reflects only dogs whose owners have enrolled them. Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · hover for dog names (public profiles only).

Historical founders — oldest 25% of enrolled dogs     Current gene pool — most recent 50% of enrolled dogs
Building plot… this may take a minute for larger breeds.

The Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) region controls immune function and is the most polymorphic portion of the canine genome. Every dog carries two sets of DLA haplotypes — one from each parent — which almost never recombine across generations. Frequency percentages reflect how often each haplotype appears across all allele copies in the breed, not the percentage of dogs carrying it.

Class I Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
1054
33.9%
1191
26.0%
1091
22.5%
1198
5.4%
1109
2.5%
1195
2.2%
1192
1.9%
1197
1.3%
1160
1.3%
1194
0.6%
1196
0.6%
1133
0.6%
1193
0.3%
1081
0.3%
1281
0.3%
1019
0.3%

Class II Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
2106
34.5%
2018
25.6%
2067
21.5%
2015
5.4%
2109
2.5%
2108
2.2%
2111
1.9%
2098
1.3%
2001
1.3%
2097
0.6%
2105
0.6%
2110
0.6%
2032
0.3%
2016
0.3%
2071
0.3%
2083
0.3%
2107
0.3%
2129
0.3%

Class I & II Combinations

Class IClass IIFrequency
1054 2106
33.9%
1191 2018
25.6%
1091 2067
21.5%
1198 2015
5.4%
1109 2109
2.5%
1195 2108
2.2%
1192 2111
1.9%
1197 2001
1.3%
1160 2098
1.3%
1133 2110
0.6%
1196 2105
0.6%
1194 2097
0.6%
1281 2071
0.3%
1081 2032
0.3%
1193 2106
0.3%
1191 2083
0.3%
1019 2016
0.3%
1091 2129
0.3%
1091 2107
0.3%
1091 2106
0.3%

The Canine Diversity Test from UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is the foundation of BetterBred’s breed management tools. Testing your dog adds to the breed database and gives you access to the full suite of breeding analysis tools.

Order from UC Davis VGL →
OI
Outlier Index

The Outlier Index (OI) measures how unusual a dog’s allele combination is relative to the tested population of its breed. A higher OI means the dog carries alleles at lower frequencies across the breed — genetic variants that are underrepresented in the population as a whole.

Dogs with high OI are genetically valuable because they carry diversity that most other tested dogs don’t share. Breeding them thoughtfully into the broader population helps redistribute lower-frequency alleles rather than allowing them to become even rarer over generations.

The breed average shown here reflects all dogs tested in the BetterBred database. The senior and youngster comparisons show whether diversity is trending up or down in recent generations.
AGR
Average Genetic Relatedness

Average Genetic Relatedness (AGR) measures how similar a dog’s DNA is, on average, to every other tested dog in the breed. It reflects the dog’s mean kinship — how closely related it is to the population as a whole.

A lower AGR means the dog is more genetically distinct from the majority of the breed. Dogs with low AGR carry alleles at lower frequencies across the tested population, making them higher-priority candidates for inclusion in a well-managed breeding program.

AGR is conceptually related to mean kinship used in conservation genetics for managed species populations. A declining AGR average in younger dogs suggests the breed is successfully redistributing genetic diversity across generations.
IR
Internal Relatedness

Internal Relatedness (IR) measures how much identical genetic material an individual dog inherited from both parents. IR is a useful indicator of inbreeding: lower IR generally reflects lower inbreeding, and it is widely used and reported in the scientific literature.

A high IR is not the cause for alarm it might appear. Elevated IR can often be resolved in a single generation by pairing with a dog whose ancestry is less represented in the breed. It is a signpost, not a sentence.

BetterBred reports IR for reference, but it is not our primary breeding guidance tool. OI and AGR together give a more complete and actionable picture of a dog’s genetic value to the population.

AGR tells you which dogs are genetically unusual relative to the population. OI tells you which dogs are most valuable to preserve. OI specifically weights mid-frequency alleles, identifying dogs whose ancestry is underrepresented in a way most likely to benefit the breed.