Lets start the weekend off with some spam!
Took some random pics this week, some are cute and I figured I would share them with all of you:
Devil dog:
Looks mean but reall its play:
Lani & Kaia hanging out:
Action:
Kona sleeping with the broom (he was really sleeping like this for about an hour):
Very rare shot of Kaia and Ahi snuggling (must be the pain meds):
Kona (came out slightly blured so they look better small):
Yummy yummy tripe!
Kaia (she need to be put on a diet, but she only gets a cup of food a day!):
Sunset:
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Devil dog:
Looks mean but reall its play:
Lani & Kaia hanging out:
Action:
Kona sleeping with the broom (he was really sleeping like this for about an hour):
Very rare shot of Kaia and Ahi snuggling (must be the pain meds):
Kona (came out slightly blured so they look better small):
Yummy yummy tripe!
Kaia (she need to be put on a diet, but she only gets a cup of food a day!):
Sunset:
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Comments
The more I see of Kona the more I am convinced that Kai Ken is going to be our first breeder dog sometime in the future!!
Is Kona about full grown?
And the play pics! Nihon Ken just play harder/rougher, don't they? People at the dog park are always like "your dogs are fighting". I'm all no, they are just shibas.
and LOVE the sunset.
I love the ones of Lani and Kaia, Kaia and Ahi, and the Kaia diet pic. Lucy has started gaining weight recently, although in her case it could be the steroids she's on. Lucy gets 1.5 cups a day and use to be very skinny on it.
Great sunset pics too! I'm still envious of where you live. :-P
BTW, is Lani getting bigger? The second one of her with Loa and the rope toy makes her look bigger to me.
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Dave - You give Lucy 1.5 cups a day? She is pretty small right? I'm just starting to worry about Kaia... she really doesn't eat that much [she has a good appetite we just don't give her much] but she keeps getting a little more heavier. They went to the vet last week and she was 19lb!!! She should be like 14lb! We really don't feed her much and we close her off so she can't eat other dog's food. Seems like if we cut her food back even more we will be starving her.
Does anyone have experience with Thyroid issues in Shiba? Could that cause this type of weight gain in her?
She is getting older, and slower, so maybe she just needs less food.
Oh, and yes, Lani has grown - she is kinda lanky right now. She was so thin when we got her... but we got her weight back up and looking more healthy... and now she is thin again, so she must have grown! She too has been going through a fear stage, so that may have been a sign that she is growing.
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It's nice to see all the action at feeding time at your place, it's kind of a riot, I bet.
Jazz gets 1 cup a day and sometimes doesn't finish - it just depends on her mood.
I still want to move in. Will you accept 2 more dogs and a Chad?
Niko gets 1/2-2/3 a day. She weighs 19 pounds and has a great figure but the vet wants her underweight because of her knees. I cant cut her back anymore...she will be eating air!
Perhaps Kaia needs to get a bit more exercise?
Brad, I love Lani! So pretty. The expression on her face in the pic with Kaia is just too cute for words. I also adore the look on Hilo's face licking the spoon. VERY masculine and majestic. Hmmm....do you think I love Akita's or what? Every comment I make about the dogs is typically about Hilo and Lani. LOL. Beautiful Sunsets too!!!
As for Kaia - exactly, we can't exercise her to much due to her back... but she does get at least a 30 minute walk a day. I think it may just be age and we may need to just reduce he food a bit more.
For the record tho, that pic does make her look a lot more "sausagey" than she really is... This is from the same group of pics and you can tell she is not totally a sausage:
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I hope you get Kaia's weight sorted out soon. Is it high impact exercise that's bad for her? Or just exercise in general?
It’s wonderful how supportive you all are of each other and helping with great info.
I will try to check in from time to time but have a hectic schedule.
Sf
About Kayia……
We had an overweight rescue and had to work to get the weight off with diet and exercise. I would first make an appointment with your vet to make sure she does not have an under active thyroid.
In our case thyroid was not a factor for our foster. However, the animal was 26.5 lbs and should have been 18 lbs. (Doesn’t sound like much I know but for a very little dog every pound counts.) The dog was a cannon ball because the previous owners filled a huge bowel of kibble and left for the day and we suspect the dog ate out of boredom.
Here is what we did for her to take off the lbs and keep it off. 1/4 cup of kibble . Timberwolf ocean blue twice a day with a small amount of salmon oil (dinner only). Every other day we replaced one dry feeding with 1 or 2 rabbit medallions along with green beans. Also we got a giant 9” tennis ball (basket ball sized) and had play sessions where we would play soccer and teach the dog to push the ball with her nose. We used a clicker to teach her to push the ball and learn some fun tricks with the ball. She had a blast and the weight dropped off in about 6 months. Note, any calorie reduction plan should allow weight loss that occurs gradually.
Currently for our older Shibas 6 & 7 yrs. Each dog get 1/3 cup of food twice a day Canidae in the morning with hot water to make a slight gravy and in the evening 1/3 cup Timberwolf. Rabbit medallions are given on occasion for variety. If one runs agility there is an increase of food & calories for the day.
Here is a link to the medallions.
http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?page=1507&-session=naturesvariety:42F942B40ccb82CC3BykwK9D10DF
Here is a link to the toy which you could by at petco or sitstay.com. Currently it seems only available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Penn-Jumbo-Tennis-Ball-Basketball/dp/B000LECJAO
Just a few rounds with the ball may do it and maybe strengthen her back or at least keep in from being too stiff. Talk to your vet about that part though, I would say don't do it if it will cause further damage.
Attached are before and after diet images. I think you can see the difference (LOL). The dog was so much happier at a lighter weight and was far less grumpy with the other fosters when thinner.
SnF
I really appreciate the input... we do give Kaia walks, 30 minutes a day... but she really can't do much exercise. The other day we played a little chase/fetch with her and that night she was "Shiba Screaming" from the pain in her back.
Having said all that, it sounds like we should be feeding her less! I think Taj is close to the same size as Kaia, and Kaia gets about half the food Taj gets... so we may just be feeding her to much!
We feed her Orijen and RAW... but we had been feeding Kaia the reduced fat EVO, but it made her fur look really bad... so maybe we need to go back to that and just add some more supplements to help her coat.
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Actually, just chatted with Jen, we have a plan - we will get her checked by the vet and then we will start giving her 1/2 cup of Orijen/RAW a day and see if that helps. If we don't see a change in a month we will switch her to the reduced fat EVO.
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answered my own question: http://www.shibas.org/health.html
Sorry to put you on the spot but...
Everyone, StaticNfuzz, is the person we adopted Kaia from... if it wasn't for Patrice I wouldn't have my favorite little pup [don't tell the other pups I said that].
Anyway, welcome Patrice!!!
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Did Fiona get adopted?
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: (
I am so glad we gave the Jindo pups a chance, cause no one else was going to that's for sure.
Snf
Nice to see you on the forum.
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A) She is still kick'n, she has not starved to death! She really doesn't even seem hungrier.
Thanx for all of your input!
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