Adoption status: Adopted!
Hokusai is a 2.5 yr old male Shiba Inu.

Hello everyone, my new Japanese name is Hokusai after a famous Japanese artist. I am a 2.5 year old male red Shiba Inu and I weigh about 14lbs. I was purchased from a breeder in Florida and brought back to the DC area. Unfortunately, I was so fearful that my owner didn’t know what to do with me. So he dropped me off at a DC shelter. Thankfully, the shelter has amazing behaviorists working with them and they realized that I needed special care in order to be adopted in to an appropriate home. DC SIR has a lot of experience with fearful dogs from puppy mills, so I was lucky to have one of their experienced foster homes volunteer to foster me. When the volunteer arrived at the shelter, she needed to carry me to the car. I was so scared that I peed on her. But she didn’t mind and understood I was super-scared. I peed a couple more times; I am just so scared of the world. When I arrived at my foster home, I got to explore their back yard and meet their friendly dogs. One dog is a DC SIR alum and a Shiba Inu like me! I did really well meeting them and actually take comfort in being around other dogs, another reason DC SIR picked this foster family. Unfortunately, I was super dirty and smelled really bad so my foster family had to get me wet so that I could be clean. I’m so tiny that my fosters bathed me in the sink. I didn’t protest but don’t think that I liked it one bit. They also noticed my nails were really long and had to trim those too. They promised me they won’t make me do any more stressful things like baths and nail trims for some time. I hope not! DC SIR said they look forward to helping me build confidence and get better. They say they’ve done well with a lot of dogs like me. I probably won’t be ready for adoption for a little bit but I will probably need to go to a home with another friendly dog and a fenced back yard so that I won’t be stressed out by people trying to touch me all the time. Please follow my story and tell DC SIR if you think I would be a good fit for your family!

Location: Extended (SC/NC/VA/DC/MD/PA/DE/WV)
Dogs: Yes
Cats: Yes
Kids: 12+
Weight: 14lbs
Intake Date: 1/26/17
Fearful dog: Hokusi will have special requirements, including fenced back yard and online fearful dog class with Train Your Best Friend, LLC Jeni Grant or an acceptable equivalent. Video on identifying the basics.

Follow Hokusai’s progress on Facebook in his album!