what does your shiba eat?

coralinecoraline
edited September 2009 in Food, Nutrition, & Health
i was wondering if you shiba owners feed your shiba dry dog food or if you guys sometimes cook for them (:

i feed romi canidae but sometimes she won't eat it. she'l only eat it with her Jerky Treats. Is she losing interest in her food because she smells human food?
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Comments

  • miss_mallinsonmiss_mallinson
    edited November -1
    This is an Akita not a Shiba I'm talking about but me and John feed dry food in the morning followed by either chicken/fish with rice at night.

    I was told when I first joined this community that sometimes these breeds choose not to eat, for a number of different reasons and that unless it continues for a while that it's nothing to worry about and you should avoid changing her diet to try and entice her. I'm sure someone else will comment eventually that may be more help to you.

    I can't comment on Canidae as I have no idea what it is. Sorry. Good luck :)
  • shimaurashibalover92shimaurashibalover92
    edited November -1
    We feed mostly dry. A 50/50 mixture of Wellness Puppy and Evo Small Red Meat Bites. We put a squirt of Grizzly's Salmon oil in, and latel I've been putting some water in to make it all a little moist. Ocassionally we'll throw some boiled chicken breast, steak, or cooked chop meat in. Katsu is a pretty picky eater though. She'll always eat any special treats, but sometimes waits on her regular food.

    We also bought this green treatball, that we fill with her dry food and she''ll always eat it out of there for some reason.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Check out the threads on rotating foods, that might be an option if you want to maintain a dry dog food regimen.
  • xremiixremii
    edited November -1
    the couch, paper, cardboard, oh wait, you mean like real food? Hehe. They are on Orijen Fish, but it seems to make them itchy.. so I have some Call of the Wild and may switch them to that if the itchy continues.
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Been feeding my guys Wellness with salmon oil and brewers yeast w/garlic. Every once in a while I'll mix in some eggs or steam them up some chicken, veggies and rice to change up their diet.

    Tetsu has always been a bit of a light eater. I wouldn't necessarily call it picky, but it may look like it. How I see it is that if I give him something special every time he doesn't want to eat, I'm rewarding him for snubbing his meals. Then he'll learn that if he holds out long enough, he'll get something special. So if he doesn't eat his kibble when I put it out for him, then I just take it away after the allotted time and he'll have to wait time next meal time to eat. Unless a dog is sick, they will not allow themselves to starve and will eventually eat what you put in front of them.
  • Two SocksTwo Socks
    edited November -1
    I feed Orijen fish, just under a cup in the morning & a healthy no grain biscut around 4pm. Oh yeah and a small squirt of salmon oil on top of their food.
  • AkiraleShibaAkiraleShiba
    edited November -1
    We were feeding Orijen 6 Fish, when we started having problems (allergy + excessive weight loss) we switched to a kind of RAW, he's eating chicken, vegetable and a bit of rice because our vet recommended it.
  • coralinecoraline
    edited November -1
    oooo thanks. i put a little salmon oil on her food too! so i should probably stick with the kibble and give her chicken breasts occasionally when shes eating the kibble?
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    Salmon oil is great for their coat. She will shine and look beautiful. I use Grizzly oil.

    Do you mind me asking how much kibble you are feeding her and how much she weighs?
  • coralinecoraline
    edited November -1
    well i feed her 1/2 cup of canidae kibble, about 5 drops of nutri-vet's salmon oil. i also put 4 small pieces of Jerky Treats, and one milk bone two times a day.
    am i feeding her okay? and she weighs about 16 pounds.
  • Two SocksTwo Socks
    edited November -1
    It sounds like your in the right area & maybe right on. You really have to gauge your specific shibas appearance no so much her actual weight. Shibas vary greatly in size so ideal weights can really vary.I'm not very savvy technically speaking but I'm sure someone on here can post a diagram that will show you ideal body form as it relates to proper weight.Once you 've determined she appears to be the ideal shape you can then weigh her & use that as a guide for keeping her in top condition!
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    Sounds like you're feeding a good amount. Little Shibas don't need much. Koda gets picky about dry food too. Sometimes when feeding dry, I mix in a little bit of wet food like 1 T. With jerky, she can pick out those pieces but with wet food she'll be forced to eat everything.

    oh and btw, we need some pics. How are you two doing? :)
  • TengaiTengai
    edited November -1
    I feed raw, about 95% of their diet. Not only it is healthier for them, I won't go into the whys, but it also gives them some variety(I switch off between beef, chicken,turket lamb, fish, eggs etc. I'm sure they can get tired of the same tastes given every day. I also give salmon oil daily. I feed a small amount of dry at bedtime(orijen fish). I do this because we travel alot with them camping and such and can't always store raw for long periods.
    I don't measure food. If a dog /pup looks too thin feed more, if they start gaining weight feed less. At any given time the amounts being fed change based on time of year, activity levels etc. Not an exact science but works well for us.

    Phil
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Phil - that is awesome that you feed raw!

    We do as well, and we always have a supply of either Honest Kitchen or Wellness Core Ocean dry kibble just in case. I've stopped measuring as well, its easier to watch your dog and gauge via activity level and intake how s/he is doing. I was a measuring fanatic when I started raw though... then I learned to listen to my dogs.

    Do you measure for your pups? Or gestating/lactating females?
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Phil, your pups look wonderful, that is awesome you do raw with them. Glad you 2 brought this up- since I am in the beginnings with raw, I was wondering if I should have purchased a small kitchen scale to measure portions, ect. I'm beginning to think it isn't needed-the dogs are telling me/showing me when they need more or less. I finally donated all my kibble last week, it was REALLY HARD to do that after always having had kibbles in the house for my whole life. I have some Honest Kitchen instead, and all the raw stuffs-lots of variety. It seems to work better for Mr.Picky.
  • TengaiTengai
    edited November -1
    Raw is best!
    Yes I used to get crazy in the beginning, measuring, worrying if I was feeding correctly. Now I just feed and don't worry.
    With pups I also don't measure. Pregnant girls I increase slightly towards the end of gestation, After birth/while nursing I feed as much as they will eat. With more bone than usual(for the calcium). I start pups on ground raw at 4 weeks. Usually by the fifth week or so they are finally getting the hang of solid food,with whole meat pieces/chicken necks etc. By six weeks they are on 3 meals a day still with unlimited access to mom. I then start slowly decreasing her food back to pre pregnancy amounts over the next few weeks. I let the mom decide when to stop nursing totally. Usually by 8-9 weeks she is only nursing 2-3 times a day for only 2 minutes or so at a time. By the time the pups leave at around 10 weeks, she is pretty much done nursing. I don't believe in seperating bitches from pups at all, unless she decides she wants nothing to do with them which has never the case. The pups benefit from having mom to disipline them. I introduce pups to the other dogs at around 5 weeks, so they learn proper social behavior with other dogs besides mom. Also mom usually starts to regurgitate food for them starting at around 5 weeks of age.The funny thing about them regurgitating is in the few litters I have had it almost always only happens once a day. Once or twice it happened twice in one day. I go to two feedings a day fairly early(16 weeks). I don't think they need more than 3 feedings a day, like many breeders veterinarians recommend for very young pups. So far this system has worked for us. No stressed out mom or pups with "forced" weaning or trying to dry up milk. It happens naturally and gradually over time.
    The way it was meant to happen!

    Phil
  • NekopanNekopan
    edited November -1
    Great info, Phil! Thanks so much for sharing.
  • coralinecoraline
    edited November -1
    well here's a picture of her. I guess she's in her teenager phase where animals are really skinny and when their faces are long (like german shepherds and huskies). Unfortunately her tail is still down ): but at night when everybody's asleep but me, she starts walking around and occasionally her tail curls up like a regular shiba and i would give her some tissue for her to tear up. (usually during the day time if i give her some tissue, she wouldn't even touch the tissue).

    Shes scared of a lot of things though. Is it because she didn't really social a lot when she was little? She's scared of approaching people, bikes, cars, loud noises, plastic bag sounds, etc. So when I'm outside with her, I would need to hold her.


    Should I start on raw food too or should i stick with her kibble and occasionally give her some chicken to go with it?
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Only consider RAW if you do the research and feel comfortable with the benefits vs. any related risks (because in everything, there is risk).
    Its actually easier to start raw with one dog - lots less to buy! Nature's Variety makes premade raw to start in premeasured medallions.. other companies are Darwins, Primal, Oma's
    Check them out!
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the AWESOME info, Phil!!!!!!
  • TengaiTengai
    edited November -1
    There is so much info out there about raw feeding. Just google raw dog food and you can read for weeks! I do a combo of premade(oma's) and just going to the supermarket and buying what's on sale. The key is making sure you have the correct ratio of bone/meat/organs. The goal is 80%meat, 10%bone 10% organs. Some say a slightly different ratio, but thats a good start. Look at the entire week in achieving the goal of 80/10/10, not the one feeding or one day.
    "They" say its cheaper than kibble, but I haven't been able to see that!

    Phil
  • yukidomariyukidomari
    edited November -1
    If you're going to stick with the kibble for a bit, just remember that kibble by concentration has very high protein when compared to meat with water weight. For this reason, we never gave the dogs straight up kibble (when they were on kibble)- it was always soaked. You could, of course, use plain warm water, but ours cleaned the bowl everytime if we soaked it in plain boiled-meat broth. If you are boiling chicken or anything else, save the "soup".. the dogs love it.. especially plain beef stock. I'd caution against the supermarket variety meat broth though - tons of salt, and usually the inclusion of onions and garlic.
  • miss_mallinsonmiss_mallinson
    edited November -1
    yukidomari, I'm going to bare that information in mind! Thank you :D
  • HeidiHeidi
    edited November -1
    Here's what I do - Acana kibble most of the time, and once/week or so, I give them a meal of raw meat/bones. Whatever's available at the grocery store, really. Sometimes they have meat half price because it's about to go bad, or they'll have pig's feet, chicken feet, "soup/marrow bones", or pork neck... whatever people don't want to eat, the pups love it. Generally, if they start to have doggie breath, I know it's time to increase the raw. When I keep up the raw, their breath doesn't smell like anything.
  • sailfloesailfloe
    edited November -1
    Violet gets Wellness Puppy (at about a cup per day), which she seems to like. (Hopefully once we get a bigger fridge/freezer we'll be able to switch her to raw, but for now she seems happy).
  • coralinecoraline
    edited November -1
    oooo okay thanks you guys! i guess im going to stick with kibble and probably mixed with chicken broth (that i boiled the chicken breast in) and feed her little portions of the chicken breast for now. And probably switch to raw when shes 1 yrs old or something. She doesn't really eat all her food. :/
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Try feeding her after exercise. That can help work up a better appetite. Anxious dogs also tend not to eat as well
    due to stress.
  • coralinecoraline
    edited November -1
    ooo okay thanks (: well we switched a flavor for her kibble and she ate more than usual. i guess she got tired of her old one.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    If you aren't considering raw or homecooking just yet, maybe consider rotation of kibble?

    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3463
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=586
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3769
  • KatieTKatieT
    edited November -1
    We've started Godric on the B.A.R.F diet - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. We rotate the Combination, Lamb, Chicken, and Beef patties - half a patty in the morning and half at night. With each feeding, we add two pumps of Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil and a teaspoon of the B.A.R.F supplement - various pesticide-free greens and enzymes. So far, Godric LOVES his diet.

    We took the total cost of the raw diet, feeding for 48 days (12 patties per case x 4 cases), and it broke down to $2.20 per day. Sure, buying the regular kibble may be slightly cheaper overall, but we spend more on OURSELVES per day for food, and the raw diet is much better for him. I actually blogged about that exact topic at http://pursuitofgodric.blogspot.com - it may not be others' cup of tea, but it works for us, so that's what we're sticking with for now =)
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