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.
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 some types of fish.
Here are some good kibble brands that are well-reviewed by many dog owners:
- Wellness CORE – My dogs are currently on Wellness CORE. They seem to really love the kibble and are doing well with it.
- Orijen – This was actually my first choice during our kibble switch-over. However, my Sibes are allergic to some types of fish and all their kibble formula contains fish.
- Blue Wilderness – Very well reviewed and the chicken formula has a similar ingredient list to Wellness CORE.
- Nature’s Variety Instinct – This kibble has a simpler ingredient list with two main components – chicken meal and tapioca. It also has a 42% protein content which looks good.
- Taste of the Wild – I have never tried Taste of the Wild, but they also have a well reviewed grain-free kibble with good ingredients. I love their cover art.
- Innova EVO – On March 2013 there was a voluntary recall of EVO products. As a result, we decided to switch over to 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:
Canidae is often recommended as a good, medium-cost quality kibble. I have never tried Canidae, but their ingredient list looks sound.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, check out this wonderfully researched article by Alisa, or refer to the links below:
- Wikipedia: Raw Feeding.
- SPCA International: Understanding Homemade Diets and the Pros/Cons of a Raw Food (BARF) Diet.
Useful Dog Feeding Sites
Hi again 🙂
Little Sammi has decided to be picky with his kibble. We’re currently feeding him EaglePack puppy as that is what the breeder has recommended. He used to love it, literally span in every direction when he saw his bowl being filled but now he pushes the kibble around.
With his dinner though we generally mix it in with some wet food but even now he just eats the wet food and eats the kibble later when he probably knows that he’s not going to get anything better.
So now we’re putting a bit of cheese and melted peanut butter in with his breakfast but keeping his dinner the same.
Is there anything you can recommend that would encourage him to continue eating his kibble? I’m apprehensive to move him over to wet food as he’s still a puppy and requires all the nutrients and protein from the kibble.
As always, your response is greatly appreciated.
Frances 🙂
Always good to hear from you and Sammi!
Haha, yeah Sephy went through this phase as well. We also started adding wet food, and he liked that for a bit. Then, like Sammi, he would only eat the wet food. If we added cheese or anything else, he would only pick those out or just lick it off. So we ground up his kibble and mixed it into the wet food. He liked that for a bit, and then decided that was not good enough.
Oh Shiba! 😀
Some things that helped with Sephy-
1. I switched to using a grain free kibble. Sephy liked that a lot better.
2. I switched to a fixed feeding routine. I would only give him his food at very fixed times. If he does not eat during that time, I would just take his food away.
3. I made him work for all of his food – through grooming sessions, obedience sessions, etc. Whatever is left over, he gets from interactive food toys.
Sephy skipped a few meals, but then he got hungry and started eating and even working for his kibble. He will still skip meals sometimes (e.g. when he does not want to have his teeth brushed), but very infrequently.
Hugs to Sammi! Let us know how it goes.
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Many thanks
It depends on how much flexibility and customization you want for your blog. Many people use Blogger which is easy to set up and has some nice options. However, the number of things that you can do is limited. The same goes for hosting blogs on wordpress.com. Blogger and WordPress.com offer free hosting. There are many other free hosting options but each has their own limitations.
People who want more flexibility get paid hosting, and use blogging software. There are several free public domain options. I use WordPress. There are instructions on the WordPress site on how to set up your own site-
http://wordpress.org/
To properly manage my WordPress blog, I find it useful to have knowledge of CSS, PHP, and also a bit of Javascript.
My wordpress articles are posted here-
http://shibashake.com/wordpress-theme/
If you have more questions, please post it on my wordpress blog.
Hi! I am getting a lab puppy in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on something. I was told to feed the pup large breed puppy food. Orijen makes a large breed puppy food and you gave Orijen the thumbs up so I thought this would be a good choice. However, there are several people who have said that this food is too rich for their dogs and upsets their stomachs. Do you think there is any merit to this? Would you recommend Orijen large breed puppy food for a lab?
Thanks!
Hello Jennifer,
When it comes to food, each dog is a bit different. Each of my dogs is allergic to slightly different things, and my most recent puppy Lara seems to have a more sensitive stomach than my other two.
I am currently feeding them all Innova EVO and they do well on it. However, my Sibes will occasionally get upset tummies from hunting rodents in the backyard. When they get tummy issues, I always switch them over to a bland diet (boiled chicken and white rice only). During these times, kibble is too rich for their digestive system.
I tried Orijen briefly with my first two dogs several years ago and they were also fine on it. I only got a smaller bag. However, they seemed to prefer EVO so I decided to stick with that.
Both Orijen and EVO have good ingredient lists and are grain free. However, some dogs may be allergic to poultry, or herring, or may have a more sensitive stomach. With a new puppy, there is usually an initial testing period to see what food suits him best. I try to follow the kibble guidelines above, and stay away from kibble with wheat, corn, and soy.
In the beginning I get some of the food that puppy is used to from her breeder. Then I start with 3/4 of the old food and 1/4 of the new food for a few days. If all goes well, then I go 1/2, 1/2 and so on.
Congratulations on your upcoming new puppy! Give us a picture album link when you have the time! 😀
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! 😀
I just recently got a husky he’s about ten weeks old I had two questions… First when should I take him off puppy food? Second my vet tells me I doyle only feed him lamb because of the sensitive stomach they havebut blue wilderness salmon, or turkey caught my eye would it be ok to feed him that
Hello Javier,
I usually keep my Sibes on puppy food until they are about 8 months old. My breeder says that she keeps hers on puppy food until they are about 1 year old.
Sibes do have pretty sensitive stomachs. It depends on the individual Sibe what ingredients they may be allergic to. In general, I would stay away from grains such as wheat, corn, and soy. I haven’t used Blue Wilderness myself but I have heard good things about it. Their listed ingredient list also looks good and it is grain free.
Is your puppy currently on the Blue Wilderness puppy food? How is he doing on it?
The Blue Wilderness puppy food mostly contains Chicken and Turkey, so if puppy is doing well on it, I would go with one of those two when switching to the adult formula.
One of my Sibes, Shania, is allergic to salmon. However, each Sibe is different. 🙂
He is on regular blue buffalo puppy not wilderness. And I don’t plan on taking him off for a while just my breeder and vet says lamb is the best for them and normally huskies have problems on other meals but blue wilderness doesn’t make a lamb. So I guess but your comment it depends?
Ah, now I see.
Yeah, when it comes to food allergies, each dog is slightly different. Both my Siberians do well on chicken and turkey (Innova EVO), but I know there are dogs who are allergic to poultry.
You could try switching brands, but I think it is better to try out Blue Wilderness first and see how it goes. Solid Gold has a Lamb adult formula, but frankly, I like the Blue Wilderness ingredient list much better.
well i don’t know what to do since I got him he has had diarrhea. The very and the breeder say to keep him on lamb but I’m starting to doubt them both because he has been on two different lamb brands and thediarrhea has always been there. The reason I haven’t changed him food is because the very have him some meds for it (which I’m almost done with) but it’s only gotten worse
My puppy Lara also had some problems with diarrhea.
One thing that helped with her is switching over to a totally bland diet. In her case, I only gave her boiled/microwave plain chicken and plain white rice. I did that for a few days and the diarrhea stopped. If the dog is allergic to poultry, then a different type of meat can also be used.
Then I slowly reintroduced back her regular food in quarters. e.g. 3/4 bland diet, 1/4 kibble for 3-4 days. If everything is ok, then 1/2,1/2 and so on. This helped me determine what exactly caused her diarrhea, which turned out to be the wet food we were feeding her.
Another thing I discovered that was causing her problems was feeding her too much in a short amount of time. Overfeeding can also cause puppies to get diarrhea.
Hi Shibashake!!
I switched my Shiba Sasha’s food to Wellness brand natural dog food, she loves it and her coat is shinier, less scratching and allergies etc. But recently she hasn’t been eating as much, I like to put food out, have her eat it and take it away, but her eating patterns are so erratic it forces me to leave food for her to eat at her convenience. I’m wondering if she is doing some kind of shiba mind trick on me where she is demanding treats in lieu of real food?? Should i move her treats where she cant see them? should i scold her when she begs? i try and reward her randomly and always have her work for her special treats but she still seems to demand them and i do not want to reward begging or make her think she can skip eating puppy kibble and only survive on treats! any help appreicated!!! Thanks!
Hello Cynthia,
Sorry for the late reply. I just got a Sibe puppy last weekend and have been busy keeping the little ball of nuclear energy in check. 😀
LOL Shiba mind trick – I like that! Yeah Sephy definitely did Shiba mind tricks on me when he was younger. He still tries today, but I have now developed a good resistance to it. Like Sasha, puppy Sephy would refuse to eat his kibble, and only eat the good stuff. When mixed together, he would pick out the good stuff and refuse to eat the kibble. I did all sorts of things to get him to eat, including grinding up his kibble and then mixing it into some wet food. That worked for a while but invariably, he went back to playing hard to get.
Switching to fixed meal times really helps. Shibas are stubborn but they will eat if they are really hungry. With fixed meal times, Sephy now works for his kibble. Sometimes he will start playing his Shiba tricks again and not eat for 1 day or so, but I just stick to the meal plan and he starts to eat once he realizes that he ain’t getting more of the good stuff.
Once eating kibble becomes a routine, Shiba will be less likely to try this particular mind game.
That may help. I know that Sephy becomes more obsessive when he can see something. I usually move stuff so that Sephy is not tempted to try and jump up on counters. However, it will likely not have too much of an effect on begging.
Different owners have different beg rules and restrictions. For example, I am fine with begging, as long as they do it nicely, e.g. Sit, no jumping, no biting, etc. Also no temper tantrums if I choose to ignore them. I also discourage begging when I am having dinner. Usually I will tell Sephy to go to his mat/bed, and reward him for doing that. Nowadays, he just goes to his bed on his own during meal-times.
I have found that a good way to get Sephy to do what I want is not only to tell him “No”, but also to tell him what to do instead. For example, just telling him not to beg didn’t work out well with him, whereas telling him to go to his mat instead lets him work and allows him to get rewarded.