By Curious Tails · AVS licensed pet shop
Shiba Inu Singapore: you know the Doge, meet the dog
Looking for a Shiba Inu in Singapore? Ours are locally bred, from $2,888, all-in, placed by an AVS licensed shop at Balestier. The internet’s most-memed dog is also one of the hardest to actually live with, and our first job is to tell you the truth about that before we talk price.
Shiba Inu puppies
From $2,888, all-in
This month’s Shiba Inu puppies
These are representative of the locally-bred Shiba Inu puppies Singapore families take home from us, across every colour we place: 50+ shiba inu placed so far, and the same families are behind our 45 five-star Google reviews. Availability moves weekly, so message us with a colour and we will tell you exactly what is in the shop right now, male or female, and the age in weeks.
What is a Shiba Inu?
The Shiba Inu is a small-to-medium Japanese spitz breed, known in Japanese as 柴犬, originally bred to hunt in the mountains of Japan. It stands about 37 to 40 cm and weighs roughly 8 to 11 kg, with erect ears, a fox-like face and a tightly curled tail. Expect an alert, aloof, cat-like temperament, a Nordic double coat that sheds heavily twice a year, and a strong independent streak. Our full breed guide covers the lot.
45
Five-star Google reviews
50+
Shiba Inu placed
AS24J00046
AVS pet shop licence
$2,888
From, all-in
You know the Doge. Meet the dog. The honest Shiba, by Curious Tails
The meme sold you a dog that does not exist
The Doge, the Cheems edits, the coin: the internet turned the Shiba Inu into the friendliest, most agreeable face online. The real dog is different, and the gap is the single most common reason a Shiba ends up in the wrong home. Shiba owners and breed experts widely describe the breed as aloof, independent and cat-like: dignified, self-contained, and frequently not interested in being hugged.
That is not a fault. It is the breed, and for the right person it is exactly the appeal: a beautiful, clean, characterful dog that loves you on its own terms. But if you came for the cuddly meme, you are our most important conversation, because we would rather reset the expectation now than sell you a mismatch. Start with the honest temperament page before anything else.
Meme vs reality
- Meme: a cuddly, agreeable internet dog
- Reality: aloof, independent, cat-like (widely reported)
- The Shiba scream: a loud, dramatic protest vocalisation
- High prey drive + poor recall: never off-leash
- A Nordic double coat that blows twice a year
First question: private property or HDB?
This is the question we ask before colour, before price, before anything. The Shiba Inu is a medium breed of roughly 8 to 11 kg, which puts it above HDB’s small-breed threshold, so it is not on the approved list and is private property by default. There is a case-by-case approval conversation circulating online, but some of it is folklore, so we point you to the accurate current rule rather than repeat it.
If you are in a flat, this shapes everything, and it is the honest fork in the road, not a technicality to wave away. The full picture, including the real approval path and the documents involved, is on our Shiba Inu and HDB guide.
The housing reality
- Medium breed: about 8 to 11 kg
- Not on the HDB approved small-breed list
- Private property by default
- One approved dog per flat; fine up to $4,000
- AVS licence mandatory; we handle it at purchase
In a flat and set on a Shiba?
Message us before you commit. We will walk you through the honest options first.
Ask us honestlyThe scream, the prey drive, and the one rule we will not soften
Two things every honest Shiba conversation has to include. First, the Shiba scream: a loud, high, dramatic vocalisation the breed produces when it strongly objects to something, a nail trim, a harness, a bath. It is widely documented by owners and breed communities, and in a flat with close neighbours it is worth understanding before you buy, not after.
Second, and non-negotiable: never off-leash. Breed authorities and owner communities are near-unanimous that the Shiba’s combination of unreliable recall and a high prey drive makes an off-leash Shiba a lost or injured Shiba. We treat it as a secure-harness, on-leash breed, always, and we say so before the sale. None of this makes the Shiba a bad dog. It makes it a dog for someone who knows what they are taking on. The full, sourced picture is on the temperament page.
A Shiba is, more or less, a cat the internet decided was a dog. We love that about it, and we tell you before you commit.
The colours we place
We place all four standard Shiba colours: red, sesame, black and tan, and cream. Cream is genuinely rarer and we sell it as a premium colour, from $3,888. One honest note that saves confusion: a solid, pure-black Shiba is not a standard colour, and searches for a black Shiba almost always mean the striking black-and-tan. The full breakdown, including the urajiro (the cream markings every Shiba carries), is on our colours guide.
Colour changes nothing about temperament or care. Choose the face you fall for; the coat, behaviour and health are the same underneath in every one of the four.
What from $2,888 all-in actually includes
Ask most sellers a Shiba Inu price question and you get "it depends". Ours is published: locally bred from $2,888 all-in, cream from $3,888. All-in means the number already contains everything below, where much of the market quotes a lower headline and sells the extras separately, or quotes $7,000 to $10,000 for the same dog. The line-by-line maths lives on the price page.
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| The puppy itself | Purebred and locally bred, vet-checked, vaccinated on the weeks 6, 8 and 12 schedule, dewormed at every visit, microchipped, with breed identification |
| 30-item starter kit | $533 itemised value: food, playpen, pee tray, and everything else you need for the first week |
| Free home delivery + setup | We deliver to your home and set up the playpen before the puppy explores it |
| Free training lesson | One session with an AVS-certified trainer, aimed squarely at the Shiba’s stubborn streak |
| Licensing at purchase | AVS dog licence paperwork completed by us; the first licence tier is $13.50 |
| Aftercare | 5-day bring-back-if-sick support, free boarding up to 1 month after deposit, ongoing care advice |
Locally bred, and you can check every claim
Most of the Shiba SERP in Singapore is padded with foreign aggregators and vague sourcing language. We are different in a concrete way: every Shiba we place is locally bred, and you can stand in the shop at Balestier and meet the actual puppy before anything is agreed. There is no waiting list for a dog in another country and no paperwork you cannot see.
For a companion Shiba, what matters most is a healthy, correctly-raised, properly-licensed dog. Every one of ours is purebred, vet-checked, vaccinated, dewormed and microchipped, and goes home with its health records and its AVS licence completed. If a listing you are comparing us against will not tell you where the puppy came from, that is the answer. Our full checklist is on how to spot a scam Shiba Inu.
What locally bred means here
- From $2,888 all-in, cream from $3,888
- Meet the actual puppy in the shop first
- Purebred, vet-checked and microchipped
- Health records handed over at collection
- AVS licence AS24J00046, on the public registry
A suspiciously cheap Shiba is a warning, not a bargain
When our own floor is $2,888 all-in, a Shiba advertised far below that should make you cautious, not excited. The cheapest listings on Carousell and Telegram are often smuggled puppies brought across the Causeway without proper veterinary care, and parvovirus is the common outcome. NParks has fined a buyer $7,000 for purchasing a smuggled dog, the buyer, not just the seller.
The safe way to buy takes one extra minute: check any shop on the public registry of AVS licensed pet shops before you pay anyone. We are on it as Curious Tails, licence AS24J00046, and we would rather you verify us than trust us. More on this in how to spot a scam or smuggled Shiba.
$2,888
Our honest, published floor
$5k–10k
One parvovirus treatment
$7,000
NParks fine paid by a buyer
1 min
To verify a licence on the AVS registry
How it works: from message to homecoming
- 1
WhatsApp us
Tell us your housing and whether you have researched the scream, the prey drive and the shedding. The honesty gate comes before any price talk.
- 2
Meet at Balestier
2 Balestier Road #01-701, weekdays 12pm to 6pm or weekends 10am to 6pm. Meet the puppies in person before deciding anything.
- 3
Vaccinations run on schedule
Core puppy vaccinations at weeks 6, 8 and 12, with deworming at every visit, all recorded before handover.
- 4
Home at about week 9
Roughly a week after the second vaccination. We deliver free, set up the playpen, and the starter kit covers your first week.
- 5
Licence done at purchase
We complete the AVS dog licence paperwork for you; the first licence tier is $13.50. First-time owners also take the short AVS pet ownership course.
- 6
Settle in, with backup
Escape-proof the space, keep introductions calm, and lean on 5-day bring-back-if-sick support, free boarding up to 1 month after deposit, and ongoing advice.
Who a Shiba Inu is NOT for
The kindest thing a pet shop can do is say no early. After 2+ years matching puppies to Singapore families and 50+ Shibas placed, we would rather talk you out of the wrong breed than sell you the wrong dog, and the Shiba is honestly wrong for some homes.
If any line in the checklist sounds like you, message us anyway; we will point you to a breed that fits better, generically and without a sales pitch. That is not lost business to us, it is the reason families trust the shop.
Reconsider the Shiba if you...
- Want a cuddly, velcro lapdog (the Shiba is aloof)
- Need an off-leash dog, or cannot commit to secure containment
- Have free-roaming cats or small pets (high prey drive)
- Cannot tolerate heavy seasonal shedding, twice a year
- Are in an HDB flat and unwilling to work through the housing reality
Explore the full Shiba Inu guide library
Still researching? Good; that is the buyer we built this site for. Every honesty pillar has its own deep guide, from the HDB reality to the temperament truth to the honest price, and the puppies will still be here when the numbers and the expectations line up.
What is a Shiba Inu?The complete breed guide: origin, size, coat, temperament and price in one place.
Available puppiesThis week’s locally-bred Shiba Inu puppies, vet-checked and ready to meet.
Price in SingaporeThe published from-$2,888 floor, itemised, against a $7k–$10k market.
Shiba Inu and HDBNot on the approved list. The honest housing answer, and the real approval path.
The honest temperamentAloof, the scream, prey drive, never off-leash. What living with one is like.
Shedding & the double coatIt blows twice a year, and you never shave it. Coat care in the tropics.
Colours we placeRed, sesame, black and tan, and cream. Cream is a premium colour.
Health & lifespanPatella, allergies, eyes and hips, and a commonly long life, no spin.Frequently asked questions
How much is a Shiba Inu in Singapore?
From an AVS licensed shop like ours, locally-bred Shibas start at $2,888 all-in and cream from $3,888. That all-in floor sits deliberately below a market that often quotes $7,000 to $10,000, and it includes vaccinations, microchip, starter kit, delivery, a training lesson and licensing.
Are Shiba Inus allowed in HDB flats?
The Shiba Inu is a medium breed of about 8 to 11 kg and is not on HDB’s approved small-breed list, so it is private property by default. There is a case-by-case approval conversation online, but the accurate current rule matters more than the folklore, and we walk you through it honestly before anything else.
Do Shiba Inus bark a lot?
They are not constant barkers, but they are famously vocal in another way: the Shiba scream, a loud, dramatic protest at things like nail trims or the harness. Owners and breed experts widely report it, and it is worth understanding before you commit, especially with close neighbours.
Are Shiba Inus affectionate or aloof?
Aloof, mostly. The breed is widely described as cat-like: independent, dignified and often not keen on being hugged. It bonds deeply with its people on its own terms. If you want a velcro lapdog, the Shiba will disappoint you, and we would rather say so now.
Can you let a Shiba Inu off-leash?
No, and this is the one rule we will not soften. Breed authorities and owner communities are near-unanimous: unreliable recall plus a high prey drive means an off-leash Shiba is a lost or injured Shiba. Ours is a secure-harness, on-leash breed, always.
Is a mame or mini Shiba Inu a real thing?
Mame means bean in Japanese; it is a size label, not a separate breed. We will source a smaller Shiba on request at standard price, we do not charge a premium for the word, and we are straight about the health risks of deliberately breeding for undersize.
Where do your Shiba Inu puppies come from?
Every Shiba we place is locally bred here in Singapore, so you can meet the actual puppy at our Balestier shop before anything is agreed. Every one is purebred, vet-checked, vaccinated, dewormed and microchipped, and goes home with its health records.
How do I know your shop is legitimate?
Check us on the AVS public registry of licensed pet shops: licence AS24J00046, under Curious Tails at 2 Balestier Road. Any seller who cannot show a registry listing is not licensed to sell, and a suspiciously cheap Shiba is often a smuggled one.
Meet your Shiba Inu
Come say hello at Balestier
2 Balestier Road #01-701, Singapore 320002 · Weekdays 12pm–6pm · Weekends 10am–6pm. Or message us first: tell us about your home and whether you have researched the scream, the prey drive and the shedding, and we will tell you honestly if a Shiba fits.
Still deciding?
Start with the breed guide: size, coat, temperament and honest price, all in one place.
Read the breed guide