Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
50 free Shiba Inu trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Shiba Inu is the smallest of Japan's six native breeds, a brushwood hunting dog that came within a few bloodlines of vanishing in the 20th century and then, improbably, became the face of the internet. Between the Meiji craze for Western crosses, wartime food shortages, distemper and a fire in Tottori, every modern Shiba descends from just three surviving strains. These 50 questions cover the breed itself first: the standard colours and the urajiro markings, the temperament terms kan'i, ryōsei and soboku, the Shiba scream, Nippo and Natural Monument status in 1936, the first American litter and the AKC Non-Sporting Group. Then the famous individuals: Kabosu, the kindergarten teacher's rescue dog behind Doge and the Dogecoin logo; Balltze from Hong Kong, better known as Cheems; Suki in her shrunken scarf; Kika and the Shiba Six of the 2008 Puppy Cam. There are questions on Dogecoin's Jamaican bobsled fundraiser and the SHIB token too. Easy questions stick to colours, hunting and Comic Sans; the expert tier asks about the Sekishu Inu, Masumi Ozaki and the Nippo founder. Every answer is cited to a page we checked.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many original native Japanese dog breeds are there, of which the Shiba is the smallest?
Six
The others are the Akita, Hokkaido, Kai Ken, Kishu and Shikoku.
Q 02What does the breed's name literally mean in Japanese?
Brushwood dog
The name refers to the brush the dogs were used to flush game from.
Q 03For what purpose was the breed originally developed?
Flushing game while hunting
Small game such as birds and rabbits were the usual quarry.
Q 04Which of these is NOT a standard coat colour for the breed?
Blue merle
Cream exists too, but the big kennel clubs in Japan and the US treat it as a major fault.
Q 05What is the Japanese term for the cream-to-white markings on the underside?
Urajiro
It literally means 'underside white' and is required on the muzzle, cheeks, chest and belly.
Q 06A cream coat is a 'major fault' in Japan and the US but accepted by which body's standard?
The British KC
Judges dislike cream because the required white markings cannot be made out against it.
Q 07Which Japanese breed term translates as 'spirited boldness'?
Kan'i
Ryōsei means good nature and soboku means artlessness; all three are debated endlessly by breeders.
Q 08What nickname is given to the breed's dramatic vocalisation when anxious or handled?
Shiba scream
Under-exercised dogs are the most likely to produce it.
Q 09A survey of experts rated the breed high in aggression and reactivity and what in trainability?
Medium
One theory is that the breed is genetically closer to the wolf than most Western dogs.
Q 10Dogs resembling the breed appear in dogū figurines from which prehistoric Japanese period?
Jōmon
The breed is classed as basal, predating the modern breeds of the 19th century.
Q 11The breed traditionally lived in the mountains of which Japanese region?
Chūbu
The region sits in central Honshu and includes Nagano, the home of the Shinshu line.
Q 12During which era were Western breeds imported and crossed with native Japanese dogs?
Meiji Restoration
The fashion for crosses nearly wiped out the pure Shiba by the 1920s.
Q 13What was true of the breed between 1912 and 1926?
Almost no pure dogs remained
Hunters and intellectuals only began protecting the survivors from around 1928.
Q 21Who brought the first Shiba to the United States in 1954?
A military family
The first recorded American litter did not arrive for another 25 years.
Q 22In which year did the American Kennel Club recognise the breed?
1992
It joined the Non-Sporting Group the following year.
Q 23To which American Kennel Club group does the breed belong?
Non-Sporting
It was placed there in 1993, a year after recognition.
Q 24According to the American Kennel Club, what is the breed's status in Japan?
Q 14All modern Shibas descend from how many surviving bloodlines?
Three
War, distemper and a fire in Tottori had wiped out the rest.
Q 15Which founding bloodline came from Nagano Prefecture?
Shinshu Shiba
Shinshu dogs were small and red with a dense undercoat.
Q 16Which bloodline tended to have a sickle tail rather than the usual curl?
Mino Shiba
It came from the old Mino Province in what is now southern Gifu.
Q 17In which year was the first Japanese breed standard, the Nippo Standard, published?
1934
Natural Monument status followed two years later.
Q 18In which year was the breed declared a Natural Monument of Japan?
1936
The Akita had received the same status in 1931.
Q 19The group known as Nippo, which won the breed its monument status, is formally called what?
Nihon Ken Hozonkai
It keeps the registries for all six native Japanese breeds.
Q 20Who founded Nippo in 1928 and served as its first president?
Hirokichi Saito
Saito was also instrumental in making the loyal Akita Hachikō famous.
Number one companion dog
Abroad it is less common, ranking 42nd in US registrations for 2024.
Q 25To which skin condition is the breed predisposed?
Canine atopic dermatitis
The breed also carries three genes linked to glaucoma.
Q 26What life expectancy did Japanese cemetery data give the breed, the highest of any?
15.5 years
A 2024 UK study put it at 14.6 years against a purebred average of 12.7.
Q 27Outbreaks of which disease in the 1950s and 60s threatened the breed's survival?
Distemper
Wartime food shortages had already brought the breed close to extinction.
Q 28Which disaster discouraged preservation efforts for the breed?
Great Tottori Fire
Tottori Prefecture was home to the San'in bloodline.
Q 29Who began preservation breeding of local Tottori dogs in the early Shōwa period?
Masumi Ozaki
His family carried on protecting the dogs after the war.
Q 30In which year did the Doge meme become popular?
2013
Know Your Meme named it the top meme of that year.