There are four primary dog feeding strategies:
There is no definitive answer as to which dog feeding method is best.
This article summarizes each method, and presents their pros and cons. Based on this, we can decide what to feed our dog, based on his lifestyle and preferences.
What to Feed a Dog 1
Dry Dog Food (Kibble)
When considering which kibble to feed our dog, it is important to keep these things in mind -
- Note what the main ingredients are.
- Look for a kibble with meat as its primary source of protein.
- Avoid kibble with wheat, corn, or soy as its main ingredients. For sources of carbohydrates, potatoes and rice are easier to digest. Many dogs are allergic to wheat and corn.
- Avoid any food with wheat or corn gluten. Here’s why.
- Avoid kibble with too many “by-products” in their ingredient list.
- Avoid kibble with many generic ingredients, for example poultry meal or fish meal. Instead, look for chicken meal or salmon meal.
- Avoid kibble with artificial coloring and preservatives, for example BHA or BHT.
- Avoid kibble with too much filler material, such as corn hull.
A good rule of thumb to distinguish the major components of a food is to look for the first named source of fat in the ingredient list. Anything listed before that, and including it, make up the main portion of the food, other items are present in much smaller amounts to add flavor, function as preservatives or because of their dietary benefits (e.g. probiotics, vitamins and minerals).
~~ [ Excerpt from the Dog Food Project ]
I have done a fair amount of research into dry dog food, because both my dogs have sensitive digestive systems. My Shiba Inu is allergic to wheat, and my Siberian Husky is allergic to most types of grains (wheat, corn, oats), as well as fish.
Here are some good kibble brands that I have tried, and that are highly recommended by many dog owners:
- Innova EVO,
- Orijen,
- Nature’s Variety Instinct, and
- Wellness CORE.
** Note that all of the above brands are grain-free, high-protein kibble. There may be some concern over high-protein dog food causing kidney disease, but this is a myth that has been debunked .
Just be careful not to give high protein food to large breed puppies as it may cause overly rapid growth, which will stress bones and joints.
Other dry dog food brands:
Solid Gold: I did not include Solid Gold because their high protein kibble, Barking to the Moon, contains generic fish meal as its primary ingredient. Instead, we want to look for salmon meal, herring meal, or whitefish meal which is in Orijen 6, and Wellness CORE Ocean.
Blue Wilderness: This kibble has gotten some great reviews by dog owners. My dogs are currently happy with EVO, but if something changes and I have to switch brands, this one would be at the top of my list.
Timberwolf Organics: I have never tried Timberwolf Organics, but they also have a well reviewed grain-free kibble.
Canidae is often recommended as a good, medium-cost quality kibble. I have never tried Canidae, but their ingredient list looks sound.
Pros
- Better for dental health because it is less likely to stick on, and stain teeth.
- Easy to transport and use in dog obedience training, handling, and dog grooming.
- Easy to stuff in dog toys.
- Balanced nutrition for our dog.
- Has good fiber content, resulting in more regular stools.
Cons
- Does not smell or taste as good as the other dog foods.
- Our dog may not want to eat kibble, and instead try to hold-out for something better.
- May make our dog thirsty. Therefore, provide free access to water all day long.
- Cannot be sure about quality of ingredients. There have been a fair number of dog food recalls on kibble.
What to Feed a Dog 2
Wet Dog Food
Once we have finished our research on dry dog food, we can just get the wet or canned versions of our favorite kibble brands. Doing this will ensure the same high quality ingredients, and packing process.
I only give my dogs a small amount of wet food everyday. They get their wet dog food in the form of frozen Kongs, which they work on at night while in their crate.
Pros
- Tastes good.
- Will not dehydrate our dog.
- Balanced nutrition for our dog.
Cons
- Difficult to handle and stuff in toys, unless frozen.
- Difficult to use for training, handling, or grooming.
- Not as good for dental health.
- Cannot be sure about quality of ingredients. There have also been some wet food recalls.
- Expensive.
What to Feed a Dog 3
Homemade Dog Food
The most difficult part of feeding our dog homemade food, is ensuring that it has the proper nutritional balance.
The American Veterinary Medical Association warns against feeding our dogs table scraps. Table scraps tend to be too rich, and may contain foods that are poisonous to dogs. The AVMA also discourages using homemade food as our dog’s primary feeding method.
The AVMA does not recommend that people attempt to prepare home-cooked meals for their pets because pet nutrition is very complicated and unique to species and individual animals.
~~ [ Excerpt from Tips On Cooking Your Pet A Home-Cooked Meal, AVMA ]
If we absolutely want to try this dog feeding method, the AVMA recommends the book Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative
by Dr. Donald Strombeck, or the www.petdiets.com website.
I will sometimes microwave some simple people food for my dogs, but only as a supplement to their mostly dry dog diet. In particular, my dogs really like melted cheese, boiled chicken, microwave sausage, and bacon.
When I need my dogs to endure an unpleasant dog grooming session, e.g. nail grinding or teeth brushing, I will sometimes microwave them a mix of salad greens (lettuce, and carrots), boiled chicken, vienna sausage, cheese, and a very small amount of bacon bits.
Pros
- Very tasty.
- Our dog will probably work hard for homemade food.
- High quality, human grade ingredients.
Cons
- May not have balanced nutrition for our dog.
- Difficult and dirty to stuff in toys.
- May be time-consuming to prepare.
- Expensive.
What to Feed a Dog 4
Raw Diet (BARF)
A raw diet consists primarily of uncooked meat, edible bones, and organs. Sometimes eggs, vegetables, fruits, and vitamin supplements are added to create a more balanced meal.
Whether to feed our dogs a raw food diet, is a hot debate with strong proponents and opponents.
Pros
- Very tasty.
- Bones help to clean teeth.
- Nutrients are not destroyed by cooking.
- May lead to better health.
Cons
- May not have balanced nutrition for our dog.
- Bones can splinter and become a choking hazard or cause intestinal perforations.
- Raw food may carry bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli.
- Difficult to use in training, or to stuff in food toys.
For a more comprehensive discussion on the pros and cons of a raw diet, refer to the links below:
- Wikipedia: Raw Feeding.
- SPCA International: Understanding Homemade Diets and the Pros/Cons of a Raw Food (BARF) Diet.
- DoggieNews: BARF – the Raw Food Diet for Dogs.
Useful Dog Feeding Sites
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I have two questions about food.
1) I actually live in Japan and am planning on buying what is known as a mame shiba inu puppy here. Mame means “bean” in English, and this dog is affectively a toy shiba inu. It was actually recently recognized as an official breed here in Japan, but I think it has yet to make its way over to America. Anyways, Japanese dog food is absolutely horrible (dogs have only been kept as pets here for a few decades, until recently any dog would just get leftovers and rice and broth). Anyways, my plan is to bring bag dog food with me when I go home over the summer in July (I am gonna get the puppy in August). I go back twice a year, so I can just bring enough food for a half a year each time. Here estimate final weight will be between 6~8 pounds. My plan at this point was to go with Orijen puppy food. I originally wanted to go with Innova EVO, but they don’t seem to have a puppy specific formula, and I am worried about feeding a 8 weeks old puppy adult dog food.
2) In addition, I am wondering if wet food is necessary for my dog, and what brand and type is good (if any) for a puppy. One of the breeders I talked to here in Japan actually told me that he doesn’t recommend wet food for Shiba Inu because they tend to get fat rolls or something on their back haha
Thanks for any help!
Hello Paul,
That is cool. I have heard of mame Shibas but do not know anybody who owns one. Would love to hear more about them and please share pictures as well.
In terms of the food, I think your reasoning is sound. I didn’t give Sephy adult food until he was about 1 year old. I talked to my vet and called up the EVO people before switching over. According to my vet, the high protein content is more of an issue with larger breed dogs. Still though, I figure it is best to use puppy food for puppies.
Some dogs can have sensitive tummies though, and even be allergic to fish or poultry. My Sibes, for example, are allergic to most fish including salmon, mackerel, and tuna. It may help to chat with your breeder about puppy’s parents, whether they have allergies, and what she will feed her puppies.
I mostly use wet food for frozen Kongs, which can be useful for keeping a puppy busy. My Sibes love frozen Kongs, but Shiba Sephy is less interested. My Sibes do much better on dry food though. The wet food can sometimes upset their stomachs, even though I don’t see anything they are allergic to in the ingredient list. I was using the EVO wet food, but it did not agree with my new Sibe puppy, so I am now using Wellness CORE. Each brand usually also has a puppy formula in wet food format.
I only give them about 1 or 2 frozen Kongs per day, which is not very much based on their weight. I make about 8 regular Kongs per can of food. In general, the bulk of their food comes from dry kibble.
Congratulations on your upcoming Mame Shiba. When you have the time, please share pictures and temperament information with us!
Awesome blog – and your puppies are beautiful! My dogs are sensitive too – we found Alpha grain-free by Natural Balance to work best for us – the first ingredient is chicken and it’s not too overloaded with protein like some of the other brands that gave my sheltie diarrhea. Thank goodness there are great foods out there for our sensitive babies!
Thanks LM!
Yeah, Natural Balance is a good brand. My Shiba used to love their food rolls, but unfortunately he is allergic to wheat. Hugs to your pups!
I am about to bring home my very first Shiba Puppy and this sight has been so helpful!!!! Thank you for all the information and tips
Congratulations on your soon to be new addition!
One thing I really regret with Shiba Sephy is not taking enough pictures during his puppy days. They grow up really quickly, so take many many pictures. One can never have too many puppy pictures!
Your blog is so informative and helpful!! I really like your dogs, they look so healthy and beautiful. I just bought a 3 months old Shiba recently and she is my first dog!! OMG~~ she is doing really good so far, no teething and no biting on my stuff. However, she scratch everyday more than 3 times. She is taking Natural Choice as meal and I’m very concerned about her allergy skin. Her groomer told me it may be because of the food. I saw your recommendation but I’m still not sure which kibble is suitable for my little DingDing. It would be great if you able to suggest me a few types of kibble that suitable for little Shiba.
Also, DingDing eats poop sometime when I’m not around. Do you know how to solve this problem? I told her firmly many times, but once I’m not around, she will eats her poop.
Thank you so much and I really appreciate your help and suggestion.^^
Hello Angeline,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy!
In terms of kibble, I am currently feeding all my dogs Innova EVO. It is high protein and grain free. However,each dog is different in terms of what they may be allergic to. Many dogs are allergic to grains such as wheat and corn, which is why many people use grain free kibble. Other well rated kibble brands include – Orijen, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness.
Dog itchiness can also result from a variety of other sources. If I suspect that the source is dietary in nature, I usually switch my dog onto a bland diet. If the issue goes away, then I know that it is a dietary allergy.
In terms of poop eating, here are some reasons why dogs eat poop and some ways on how to stop poop eating.
This is my second visit to this blog. I am thinking about starting a brand new blog in the same category. This blog gave me some information to work with. (Don’t worry, I won’t be copying you
) You have done a good job.
Thanks Mary!
Good luck with your new blog!
Thanks for the info! I’m going to give that a shot! Hopefully he gets the hint quickly that he needs to eat the food when I give it to him. It’s hard watching him not eat as it is, let alone if I have to take it away from him! I’m a sucker for those Shiba eyes. Guess I have to be strong!
Thanks again!!
So recently Reptar decided that he’s too good to eat. The only way he seems to voluntarily eat is if I throw a couple pieces of kibble on the floor and start of pseudo game of fetch. We’ve been transitioning him to his new adult food for a while now and he seemed like he really liked it in the beginning”. This concerns me because I know he is not getting enough nutrients and he’s already eating (when he does eat it) really healthy and good dog food (Blue Buffalo). This is new, very new maybe a week or so.
I have even tried putting them in toys and making it more fun since he likes the “throwing food” game but he’ll just empty it all out of the toys and leave it on the floor.
Could it be cause it’s summer time and he’s just “too hot”? Any tips or advice or ideas? Thanks as always!
I went through the same thing with Sephy. Oh Shiba! – LOL.
After I had him a couple of months, he decided he didn’t want kibble anymore.
I started by adding in wet food – which worked for a while, then he would just pick out the wet food. Then I ground up the kibble and mixed it in with the wet food – which worked for a while, then he stopped eating the whole wet/dry food mix. I tried adding cheese, bacon, etc. – but he would just pick out the good stuff.
Finally, I switched to a high protein kibble brand and just set up a strict schedule for him. I would put the kibble out for him. If he didn’t want to eat it after a while, I took the kibble away and set it out next meal time. He didn’t eat the first few times but then he got hungry, so he started eating his kibble again.
As you say, I have also observed that Sephy doesn’t like eating as much when it is really hot. Even now, he will sometimes skip a day of eating to clear his system. Based on my observations, a day is the most time he will go without eating.
Finally, when Sephy is hungry (because he scorned his kibble), he will sometimes come over to beg from me with his little Shiba whining. I ignore him when he does that – he only gets dessert after he finishes his regular meal.
That’s a great one-stop hub of pros and cons for all the different diets! We feed our dogs home-cooked – I’ve always wondered about switching to raw but I’ve been worried about infections.
Lovely pictures of your dogs!
Glad you solved your dog’s allergy problems Brunettemom. My dogs give you two paws up!
i just want to comment on anyone that was asking about what to feed your pets that have food allergies, i can tell you from experience about 4yrs at least that my dog had reocurring ear infections, pain. odor til we switched his food/treats the past 2months it is completly gone and vet was so impressed with the results she asked for the name of his foods/treats, am happy to share the information with anyone that wants it, here ya go http://www.ourlifeofriley.com thats my dogs name
ok thanx hope this helps you
For a fantastic low mess, low worry raw diet try Natures Variety. It is a pre-formulated raw diet offered in proteins such as organic chicken, beef, lamb, venison, and rabbit.
Her is the ingredients list for Chicken:
INGREDIENTS: Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseed, Chicken Eggs, Broccoli, Lettuce, Spinach, Dried Kelp, Apple Cider Vinegar, Parsley, Honey, Salmon Oil, Olive Oil, Blueberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Persimmons, Duck Eggs, Pheasant Eggs, Quail Eggs, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove
>taken from:
http://www.naturesvariety.com
It comes in many convienant sizes and is already in pre-formed patties. Just cleanse your utensils and bowls afterward and theres no worry, no fuss. I defrost 2-3 days worth at a time by putting frozen patties into glass tupperware and put it in the fridge, pulling out what I need at that feeding. I have been incorporating this diet with EVO or Orijen, and green tripe(greentripe.com) plus a weekly raw meaty bone or turkey neck. I have a 14 year old 65 lb girl thats doing fantastic and all 6 of my dogs have never had to have their teeth cleaned! Do your research, give it a shot. Your dogs will be as close to possible to their ancestral diet, their body will function beautifully and they will be happy.
Yeah I stopped feeding rice to my dogs because it was too sticky and may be bad for their dental health.
Thanks for the article Toni. It has a lot of good information about dog nutrition. The Dog Food Project is also a great place to get good information on dog feeding.
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main
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I guess I was wrong about feeding rice to my dog. I read this interesting article on http://www.englishbulldogpuppyblog.com/uncategoriz
Yea, most regular vets aren’t as up-to-date on holistic and raw diets and medicines. You should check out my hubs.
“Everything that I read said that the chicken bones are much more pliable and easier to eat and digest when raw, which makes them much safe for the dogs to eat.”
I have read similar things, but several vets have told me not to give them any bones, especially chicken bones because they have sharp edges. Maybe the vets have to be more careful about what they say, in case something happens; but it still makes me very hesitant.
Interesting about the salmonella; although it is still something that I would worry about. Guess I am a worry wort too
I’ll have to check out Jerry’s site on the BARF thing. Thanks!
When I composed my B.A.R.F diet hubs I saw that it can be very nutritious for dogs to have a raw diet. Now, I would never do sole raw. I’d like to do maybe once or twice a week raw with some dry kibble.
Everything that I read said that the chicken bones are much more pliable and easier to eat and digest when raw, which makes them much safe for the dogs to eat. It also says that it’s rare for dogs/cats to get salmonella and other illnesses from raw bc their stomachs are much stronger than ours.
I would just like to add variety to my dog’s diet so that she gets the best nutrition, I can provide.
Have you seen where Jerry with tripawds is on the BARF diet? That’s what really got me doing my research.
I did consider raw as well, but I am concerned about the bones and possibility of contamination. I currently boil or microwave chicken for my pups, and they seem to really enjoy that. It seems to be a good compromise, and I worry less
Still I am always thinking about it.
I would be very interested to know, what are your reasons for, and your parents’ reasons against the raw diet. Thanks!
I love EVO. Mia gets dry food mixed with can every other day. Some days just can, and others just dry. I’d love to introduce a little raw in her diet, but I just can’t convince my parents of it. Although, she is my dog, she’s still a family dog.
Royal Canin is horrible. I wouldn’t feed it to any dog. I’d go with EVO if I were you, or Wellness CORE.
Thank you for recommending both of those as I may have to check those out, but then again you are probably correct I should leave it as is, as I spent thousands of dollars on gettnig him straightened out., thanks for the info.:)
If your dogs are doing well with a particular kibble, it is usually best not to rock the boat, especially if they are susceptible to food allergies.
Both my dogs have food allergies. My Sibe, especially, is allergic to most grains, and also to fish. I feed both my dogs Innova EVO kibble. It is grain free, and is high in protein which is good for active dogs. Orijen is another good brand.
We feed our dogs Royal Canine as my male Cocker has allergies, is there any other types of dogs foods that you would recommend for dogs with allergies?
LOL. I think all dogs will always beg for food even when they are not hungry. Your dogs are lovely! Thank you, Sheba, for the interesting resources for pet owners.