Shibas have lived in Japan for more than 2000 years. The word "shiba" means small, that is "small dog". Their habitat was the mountains near the Japanese Sea. They were used for hunting, flushing birds and small animals. In the begining there were subtle differences according to the area were dogs lived.

When Japan opened to the West, hunting became a popular sport and dogs such as English Setters and Pointers were imported from England between 1868 and 1912 and some of these dogs were bred to shibas. Because of this, by 1928, pure bred shibas were hard to come by.

Some hunters and educated Japanese Citizens began taking steps to protect the purity of the shiba breed and finally in 1934 unified the criteria and wrotethe first shiba inu standard.

In 1937, the Shiba Inu was named "Natural Monument of Japan". This helped to improve and develop the breed as we know it today.

After the second world war, there were so few shibas left that dogs from three regions were interbred so that shibas could survive and the dog that we know today was happily born.

The number of Shibas in the world is limited, and more so in Argentina, which makes it important to look after the quality and health of each dog.