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Welcome to Yokiko Shiba Inu

Yokiko Shiba Inu is a small, home-based Shiba Inu breeding program in Melbourne, Victoria, dedicated to preserving the health, temperament, and traditional qualities of the Japanese Shiba Inu. We raise a limited number of puppies in our home, with a focus on responsible breeding, early socialisation, and matching each puppy to the right family.

Whether you are searching for Shiba Inu puppies in Melbourne, Shiba Inu puppies in Victoria, or an ethical Shiba Inu breeder in Australia, our goal is to help you make an informed decision before joining our waitlist. This page explains our upcoming litter plans, what each puppy goes home with, how interstate collection works, and how we approach puppy placement.

Upcoming Litter Timeline

This is an intended breeding window, not a pregnancy, birth or collection date. Families on our waitlist receive updates as plans progress; later dates will only be shared when they are established.

How Our Waitlist Works

We do not operate on a simple first-come, first-served basis. When a litter is born, we spend the first eight weeks observing each puppy's temperament, confidence, energy level, and behaviour. From there, we match each puppy with the family whose lifestyle and household best suits that puppy. This approach takes longer than queue-based booking, but it helps us place Shiba Inu puppies into homes where they can thrive for life.

What Each Yokiko Puppy Goes Home With

Every Yokiko puppy is raised in our home and leaves with the records, support, and practical guidance a new owner needs for a confident transition into family life. Our intended package includes practical guidance for the transition home, and we welcome contact from Yokiko families throughout their dog's life for personal, general breeder guidance.

• Microchipping before collection
• First and second vaccinations, administered in line with veterinary advice and the puppy's age
• Worming before collection
• A puppy care guide
• A Yokiko puppy pack
• An introduction to crate and toilet training before leaving us

Our puppies begin crate and toilet training before leaving us. Previous Yokiko puppies have gone home toilet trained, although individual progress varies and continued consistency in the new home is important. Vaccination records and next steps should always be reviewed with your veterinarian.

Parent health testing details are covered further in our Shiba Inu Health Testing guide. For full details of how our application and selection process works, see Our Process.

Interstate and Collection

We are based in Melbourne, Victoria, and local collection is preferred wherever possible. This gives approved families the chance to meet our dogs, see where their puppy has been raised, and ask final questions before heading home.

Where transport is arranged, obtain a current quote for the route and provider. You pay the provider's actual cost, and we do not add a markup. Flying in to collect in person is always an option, and many interstate families choose to do this so they can meet our dogs and the wider litter before taking their puppy home.

Our Breeding History

We are a small and developing Shiba Inu breeding program, and we believe transparency matters. Every litter we raise is planned carefully, raised in our home, and placed with families we believe are suited to the breed.

First Litter: Panda × Peanut, 2025

Four puppies, all placed in carefully matched homes:

• Pirate (male, red), placed in Victoria
• Miso (female, red), placed in Queensland
• Pink (female, sesame), placed in New South Wales
• Blue (female, sesame), placed in Victoria

We welcome contact from puppy families throughout their dog's life about settling, training, behaviour, feeding and day-to-day care. This personal guidance does not replace veterinary or professional behavioural care. If you would like to see updates from our dogs and previous puppies, our TikTok is the best place to follow along.

Next Planned Litter: Early-to-mid 2027

We are planning our next breeding for early-to-mid 2027, with Bao Bao as the intended dam. Pregnancy, birth and collection dates are not confirmed. If this plan suits your household, we encourage you to apply to the waitlist now. Applying early gives us more time to learn about your lifestyle, answer your questions, and determine whether one of our future Shiba Inu puppies would be the right fit for your family.

Before You Apply: Is Now the Right Time?

Not every household is suited to a Shiba Inu, and we are comfortable saying that. Our responsibility is to place puppies in homes where they will thrive, not simply to sell puppies. A Shiba Inu is a 12 to 15-year commitment to an independent, intelligent, and strong-willed dog, so we ask every applicant to consider the breed honestly before joining our waitlist.

Although we do not currently have Shiba Inu puppies available, we would love to get to know suitable families before our next planned litter. If you are looking for a Shiba Inu breeder in Melbourne who prioritises health, temperament, and lifetime support, we would love to hear from you.