I have had dogs all my life. Even in my youth I saw our dogs as more than just family pets, they were also part of the family. Part of the pack. Shortly after adopting my first Shiba Inu I traveled to the Chicagoland Pet Show at the Arlington Park Race track, mostly out of curiosity. I was fascinated with the wide range of activities available and I immediately knew that I needed to find the perfect activity for my dog. After expressing interest in several options, most of the feedback I received was: “You have a Shiba Inu; they can’t be trained” and “Shibas can’t be off leash” and “Shibas can’t be trusted”.
Regardless, I spent the next 20 years training all of my dogs (did I mention the two additional shibas I adopted during that time?). My dogs and I have competed professionally in Rally, Agility, and Nosework. We have been ambassadors of the breed though the Midwest Shiba Inu rescue for many years, showing the world that Shibas can compete in performance sports.
I competed in the AKC Agility Invitational with one of my Shibas, and in 2013, I started in Nosework training with my youngest. I soon found out that while he hated agility, he loved the game of Nosework.
From then on, we started Nosework with several fabulous instructors and began competing professionally shortly thereafter. Although injury and illness kept us from reaching the pinnacle of the Nosework world, I learned a lot during my journey and had a wonderful experience while competing.
As of 2022, I currently have a new Shiba puppy and I’m looking forward to finding what dog sports he enjoys and where our journey goes from here.
Kris Belardinelli
Kris Belardinelli