Couple of questions to help with puppy fever

Esperchan

Sorry this isn't a specific question, it's more an accumulation of questions I've had lately. Ill be getting a pup from Yamabushi in the future, but I've had such bad puppy fever lately that I've been throwing it all into research. So far for food in like Taste of the Wild, but given the time I have ill probably look into every food I can find. The bags seem pretty expensive, 45-50 for thirty pounds. How long does this typically last for you guys? I assume a month, maybe a little under? And I've also seen some of you talk about samples of the food. How do you get these? Email the company through the website?
Also, while I want a high caliber food, I'm leading more towards vegetarian snacks if at all possible. Meat admittedly makes me a fair bit squeamish, so while I understand raw feeding, I could never do it. Not to say I'd never use meat snacks, I intend to have them on me at all times, for recall practice, reinforcing ignoring the cats and in case disaster strikes and I really really need coming back to be worth it. But for everyday use, training, tricks and what not, I would prefer to use nonmeat treats. I've seen some online, I especially like shaded oaks, but I was wondering if any of you have any ideas that your dogs particularly like? I know every dog is different, just trying to get some ideas besides cheese and peanut butter
And last but not least(for now anyways), for those of you who hire dogwalkers, how do you find them? I know there are websites like Care.com to help find people, but how do you trust them? Do you just know? Obviously I would never leave my dog with anyone I don't trust, but finding someone you do is hard. I'll be moving before I get my pup, so ill see about neighbors, but it is a reality I may have to have some one come let out my puppy once a day while I'm at work.
Thanks for taking the time to read that jumble. If any of these issues have been addressed in other threads, I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to clutter.

brennamwk

I'm a DogVacay dog sitter and dog watcher, I use the site myself as well! In order for me to trust someone, I tend to look at the reviews, their pictures, their descriptions and their profile as whole. I also like to visit the home my dogs will be at and do meet n greets with their dogs if they have any. You can definitely tell a person who cares and a person who just wants to make extra money. I always try my best to make sure dogs leave my care happy and healthy and with a fun experience. I suggest DogVacay or Rover if you can find a person with good reviews and a great profile in your area.
As far as vegetarian treats go, my sister in law has transitioned her dogs both to being full vegan despite the family not all agreeing with it. Her dog's treats and what not are usually just raw vegetables like frozen blueberries, whole carrots, whole cucumbers, and stuff like that. She feeds her dogs V-Dog dog food as well so maybe you could buy a bag and use them as treats here and there. She taught her dogs to use the treadmill using just frozen blueberries to encourage them.

WrylyBrindle

I'l bite on the TOTW part- a 30 lb bag lasts us about a month. That's feeding two very active Kai Ken- (probably two of the most-exercised NK on this forum, for reference) My spayed female (28 lbs) eats 1/2 c 2x a day. My intact male (45lbs) eats a cup 2x a day. We feed the Pacific Stream and Pine Forest versions of TOTW, but to be honest, I tried the Pine Forest (venison) because my dog's name is Matsumori, meaning "pine forest." We also rotate other foods- Merrick, Fromm, Zignature, etc- as well as change up the proteins often.

So if you have 1 Kai female, for example, you will take a lot longer to chow through a 30 lb bag and should probably buy the smaller bags to keep fresh.

MBeats

One thing I've learnt with food. No matter how much you research. If they don't want ot eat it they won't. Lucky for us we found a pet store that allowed us to return bags of food or have sample bags. It took us a while to find one she will actually eat. So I would research places to get food and their return policy on food and how far will the go to help you and a store that you enjoy, because you may find the best food ever but if they don't want to eat it, your shit outta luck.

omgtain

I like taste of the wild as food-- my kaigirl is 24lb and eats about 1 cup of food a day. we rotate food though and are eating wellness right now.

we do feed.. partial (?) raw. tavi ate only raw for the first 2 years but i ended up moving and just haven't found a feasible way to continue. we do feed occasional raw meals though and supplement with treats like bully sticks, chicken/duck/rabbit feet, etc. tavi reeeeaallly likes sweet potatoes. she would eat them raw if i let her.

i personally do not agree with vegan or vegetarian diets. but you gotta do what you gotta do. it makes me happy when my dogs enjoy their meals, and i just don't see them eat kibble with the enthusiasm that they do with raw. i just started giving tavi rabbit feet as treats, and i've been trying them to the end of a flirt pole and making her catch them.

personally, my dogs do not like any reward treats as much as they like hot dogs, string cheese, and cooked meats and organs.
they sell hot dog slicers at walmart that look like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251798722833?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

if you cut a hot dog or string cheese length-wise and then put it in there you have 40 treats. takes like 10 seconds.

i also do not like dog walkers. i've known too many kai who have slipped collars / harnesses and bolted. i'm not willing to take the chance.

Esperchan

Thanks for all the input you guys. First and foremost, I want my future dog to be happy. Whether that's be living off carrots and blueberries( @brennamwk thanks for the idea, I'll keep that in mind!), or munching on deer antlers, I intend to make that happen. In theory, vegan food would be awesome and something I could fully get behind. In practice, I understand that dogs bodies are set up to digest meat. While I would love to feed vegan, I don't think it would be for the dogs benefit as much as mine. I just thought I'd look for suggestions as I greatly respect many of your guys' opinions on here. And hey, I've got time, might as well explore all options beforehand anyhow.
@omgtain those were kind of my feelings on the dog walker idea as well. I wouldn't want to lose my dog because who ever was taking care of them wasn't as invested as I was
@WrylyBrindle oh cool!! That's much better than I had in mind. And admittedly, we won't be trekking through the woods everyday. Though I do plan to do a lot of hiking!! And btw, I've totally been stalking Juno and Matsu on here for years they are beautiful and I love reading about all of the cool stuff you guys do!!!

Lilikoi

I feed taste of the wild in the morning and raw in the evening. My guy is a shiba haha, so he only gets like half a cup of kibble each day (plus 4 oz raw for dinner), so even the small bag of TOTW lasts us about a month. And they're only like $10 where I live, which doesn't seem any pricier than even low quality kibble. I get it either from a natural grocery store or CAL ranch. I live in a pretty small town so I was surprised I found it here! I also use his kibble as treats, cus he looooves kibble haha. He'd choose it over anything else except meat. Ozzy doesn't really like veggies as treats. He likes to nibble on them and pick them apart, then spit them out haha. He does like sweet potato a lot though, and he'll accept frozen blueberries occasionally lol.

The puppy fever is a pretty cruel stage!! I remember it well lol. Good luck, you're constantly getting closer to having your pup and the day will come soon!

zandrame

TOTW is one of the cheaper options out there. From the same manufacturer (Diamond Pet Foods) is Costco's Nature's Domain, which gives you more bang for your buck, nearly $1 per lb. But if you get into the premium kibbles you are approaching $100 for the same amount.

You can try giving meatless treats, but I've found even with my food motivated dogs, that low value "treats" and kibble aren't enough to overcome the distractions and excitement of training classes, other dogs, or trading up for the nasty things they find outside. Even the training treats (like Zuke's) that contain meat are mostly vegetable and aren't very tempting when I need them to be. We get the best response from hot dogs and shredded mozzarella for classes, and freeze dried or dehydrated meat and lamb lung for general motivation. And we keep a stash of bacon for emergencies (thanks @jigzzor!).

For snacks, fruits and veggies are good novelties. My oldest likes baby carrots, while my younger just shreds them. Dehydrated sweet potato is a great chew, you can make your own or get them in french-fry size or whole slices. They also like plain greek yogurt, coconut slivers and coconut oil.

brennamwk

Its good to know some vegetables work out for some people. But, your dog may not like vegetables at all as treats. I know Kuma, our shiba boy, just turns his nose up while Nanook, our klee kai boy, just shreds them up for fun and leaves a mess without eating them. So its all very dependent on what your dog likes. I also don't really agree with dogs going vegan but so far her dogs have been relatively healthy despite her younger dog having to go on a diet from getting fat oddly enough. So at the moment I don't press the issue and kindly decline trying veganism on my dogs myself. I too have been afraid of losing our dogs which is why I suggest the webmaster harness when walking if your dog is slippery. Its made by Ruffwear and so far Nanook can't slip out of it at all despite being what I assume to be 90% snake and 10% dog. He goes crazy when he sees another dog behind a fence barking at him while on a walk and would always immediately try to slip out and luckily now he can't! So whenever your puppy becomes her adult size, I highly suggest Ruffwear harnesses.

TreySmith417

Be careful with feeding vegetarian type foods solely to your pup. Dogs/wolves traditionally only consumed vegetables from whatever was in their prey's stomach. Carbs are tough on a dog's liver and aren't evolutionary required for a canine diet.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/canine-nutrition/dog-food-carbohydrates/

Soy should also be avoided as it is really hard on the pup's liver.

There's a lot research and articles explaining why meat is what a dog needs to be healthy. I get that it might not be your cup of tea, but just be careful with changing your dog's evolutionary diet. I know it would suck and hurt a lot to experience some future health problems with your little buddy down the road.

Best of luck!