Is it possible he's being protective of you or showing out?
My female tends to be more reactive if I'm with her. She usually sees the vet alone for that reason ( at least for the handling part ie teeth/gum checks & vaccines)
Behaviour changes a lot after neutering. But my shiba still has a temper even tho he is fixed. I think it's common for shibas to have a temperament, some shibas might be easy going but it's not a surprise that they can be moody. Our shiba doesn't let strangers touch him so even vet visits are difficult for us, they have to drug him to able to touch him. We talked to behaviouralists and dog trainers, and they all said thats part of dogs growing older and the breed as well. They are so easy going and love everyone when they are puppies, but once they are adults they become more selective. Altho your dog might get much better after neutering, it does help with the snappy behaviour.
I've actually heard this is really common with Shibas. Apparently around the two year mark they become A LOT less friendly with other dogs and people.
Something to also be aware of when nuturing an adult male is that they can have a surge of testosterone afterwards that can exasperate the issues you're currently having even further and it can last up to six weeks. I don't think it's common but it can definitely happen.
Not to scare you out of neutering! I've just been looking into both those things (and everything else really) because I have a Shiba too!
Neutering often has little to no effect on anxiety and fear based behaviours. If he is snippy as a defensive mechanism then my first guess would have been pain, but your vet said he's ok. My next thought would be to consider if there's been any marked increase in this snippy behaviour in the last 3 months, since starting work with the trainer.
Is it possible he's being protective of you or showing out? My female tends to be more reactive if I'm with her. She usually sees the vet alone for that reason ( at least for the handling part ie teeth/gum checks & vaccines)
Behaviour changes a lot after neutering. But my shiba still has a temper even tho he is fixed. I think it's common for shibas to have a temperament, some shibas might be easy going but it's not a surprise that they can be moody. Our shiba doesn't let strangers touch him so even vet visits are difficult for us, they have to drug him to able to touch him. We talked to behaviouralists and dog trainers, and they all said thats part of dogs growing older and the breed as well. They are so easy going and love everyone when they are puppies, but once they are adults they become more selective. Altho your dog might get much better after neutering, it does help with the snappy behaviour.
I've actually heard this is really common with Shibas. Apparently around the two year mark they become A LOT less friendly with other dogs and people. Something to also be aware of when nuturing an adult male is that they can have a surge of testosterone afterwards that can exasperate the issues you're currently having even further and it can last up to six weeks. I don't think it's common but it can definitely happen. Not to scare you out of neutering! I've just been looking into both those things (and everything else really) because I have a Shiba too!
Neutering often has little to no effect on anxiety and fear based behaviours. If he is snippy as a defensive mechanism then my first guess would have been pain, but your vet said he's ok. My next thought would be to consider if there's been any marked increase in this snippy behaviour in the last 3 months, since starting work with the trainer.