Whether you brought home a puppy, adopted from a rescue, or took in a Shiba Inu that needed rehoming, the first month matters. This is the part most people skip: the quiet, boring, protective phase where safety is built before expectations are raised.
Decompression is not a technique to control a dog. It is a strategy to lower stress, reduce surprises, and create a predictable routine so your Shiba can stop scanning and start settling. In primitive breeds, safety and autonomy are not luxuries. They are the foundation.
The first few days are about orientation. A Shiba Inu may appear confident, shut down, hyper, or oddly calm. None of that is a full personality reveal. It is a stress snapshot. Your job is to keep the world small.
In this window you start seeing the real dog. Energy increases. Opinions appear. Boundaries get tested. This is where people panic and start pushing. Do the opposite. Keep structure. Increase freedom slowly and only when the dog is succeeding.
Puppies need exposure, but exposure is not chaos. Socialization should be controlled and paired with safety. Think "see the world" not "meet the world." You can socialize with distance, from a car, from a bench, or behind a gate. The goal is neutral confidence, not forced friendliness.
Adult Shibas may come with habits, trauma, or learned distrust of handling. Go slower. If the dog is quiet, do not assume comfort. Watch body language, appetite, sleep, and willingness to engage. Build cooperation through routines and consent-based handling instead of "getting it over with."
Appetite changes are common during decompression. Some Shibas skip meals, eat only at night, or become picky. Do not turn food into a power struggle. Offer the meal for a set time, pick it up, and try again later. Use a portion of daily food for calm training, gentle bonding, and reinforcing check-ins. If the dog refuses food entirely or shows vomiting, diarrhea, or lethargy, consult a vet.
Decompression feels slow because it is quiet. That is the point. If you build safety and predictability first, you get more cooperation later. If you rush trust, you end up training stress.
