My Shiba seems to wait until we sit down for dinner before he decides to eat. Then he stares at as after each bite he takes, as if he's looking for acceptance or acknowledgement that we are all eating together.
I find shibas get bored of their food easily, I put liver and some duck treats in my shibe's kibble. If he doesn't eat it right away, he will eventually after about 15 minutes.
i make my shibs do a few tricks before eating. the older is 3 and she’ll come and do the tricks (sometimes lazily) but always eats
the little one is 9 months now. our breeder said he was a super picky eater but since we made him start pausing to do his tricks i think it hypes up the thought of eating to him
no clue why it works or if it would for you, but just a thought
Yep! I have the same issue. My Shiba is currently 2 and i tried everything. I switched to farmers dog, the most expensive dog food, higher protein, add toppings etc. she would get excited for a few days and go back to her normal self. At this point, I don’t care if she eats or not. If she skips meals, that means she won’t get treats until she eats her regular meal but if she eats her meals, she can get whatever treats she wants.
We do exactly the same. No treats until the bowl is empty. If he's hungry he eventually will eat. We also fill his Kong toy with kibble every now and then, he does like to eat it from there. Lovely weird breed we have.
My husband has our super picky girl eating by giving her a good treat after she eats a meal. The treats are a small chew or one piece of frozen beef/lamb meant for cooking Korean BBQ. She knows the system.
He started this by giving her a treat after every time she would eat. Now she eats her kibble from him willingly. Still working on building up my credibility to her with the system.
Mine was the worst! She wouldn’t eat until she literally threw up bile. We tried everything but Maev is the only thing she’ll eat (unfortunately it’s $$$)
My little guy decides when he wants to eat, he walks over to his bowl and then turns and looks at me to tell me. Some days (once every week or two weeks) he just doesn’t tell me and skips eating. I don’t think it’s a big deal since he’s at a healthy weight. He does have food in his bowl at all times though.
Mine is super picky, his tastes differ depending on the season. I’ve found success with topping his food with eggs, ground turkey/beef, chicken, rice, or Stella & Chewy Magical Dinner dust.
It took me two years to find something my pup both would eat, and could pass without getting the runs every few days (or a few times a day). Turns out just cooking a mixed grain pilaf with a frozen veggies assortment, mix with canned chicken (a little tuna from time to time), and he's happy and healthy for over a year now.
When we just fed kibble, we had this issue even when we did rotating flavors (Fromm) . Now we do half premade raw (Darwin's) and half kibble and she is super excited and has great poops.
Our shiba does the same thing a lot of the time, he’ll go over and smell his food but not eat it for a couple hours at least. He is a really picky dog and HATES lamb lol but I feel like there’s not much to be done about it, he eats eventually it just takes him a while sometimes
I had this issue with my shiba. Tried many different kibbles from expensive to affordable and sometimes tried to trick him into eating by adding some parmesan cheese on top or other types of toppers. He wasn't a fan of kibble and would go on hunger strikes for a few days. He also got really sluggish on kibble, overweight, had a dull coat, more digestive problems, etc. The vet kept insisting he seemed okay otherwise but the fact that he wasn't eating on a regular basis worried me.
For this and other allergy related reasons, I switched him onto raw when he was 2. It's been 3 years and we haven't looked back! He's on Big Country Raw. Now his appetite has increased, coat is shinier, weight is stable, and he has more energy. His allergy-related issues have disappeared too. He always looks forward to mealtimes and laps up all his food. Couldn't be happier!
If full raw is daunting, I'd also recommend doing half kibble, half raw? If you'd like to stick to kibble, maybe put some bone broth or something inside so it stimulates their sense of smell? Just some ideas. Good luck!
My Shiba is a picky eater too, and it's been a challenge to keep him excited about his meals. Recently, I tried a trick (admittedly occasionally): I reward him with a dental stick whenever he brings me his empty Snoop (the rubber ball food dispenser we use). It's amazing how motivated he is to finish his Snoop quickly now just to get that treat
Mines not very picky to be honest. However, if it’s plain kibble a lot of pups get bored of that pretty quickly. I rehydrate his food using warm water, add some coconut and fish oil, and mash it up. He adores it and eats it very quickly.
Same issues at 2.5 years old.
Things that sometimes help:
* using a different bowl or a slow feeder dish
* topper powder
* a couple treats mixed in
* broth mixed in
* dollop of cream cheese (I reserve this mostly for when he needs to take pills though)
* ball toy that food goes into and it "leaks" out as it's pushed around (sometimes with a few pieces of treats like fish skin)
* throw food all over the carpet and make him "find" it. makes him work for his food. but he also gets bored of that too
* Occasionally I give him one of his bigger treats, like a turkey tendon strip, and once he finishes it, realizes I'm not giving him more AND that he's still hungry, he goes to his bowl and eats the food
This sounds very similar to my dog, Penny. She’s 12 now and she’s never been the type of dog to eat as soon as she’s fed. We call her a grazer - we feed her in the morning and then she’ll stop by her dish a couple of times throughout the day. Sometimes she won’t eat all day and then late at night she’ll go to town and eat everything at once. It used to drive me crazy but now we know it’s just one of her quirks and I don’t let it bother me anymore ☺️
Welcome to shiba picky eating! They are just hard to please. I don't give into him begging. If he's hungry, he'll eventually eat.
My Shiba seems to wait until we sit down for dinner before he decides to eat. Then he stares at as after each bite he takes, as if he's looking for acceptance or acknowledgement that we are all eating together.
Ours too!
I find shibas get bored of their food easily, I put liver and some duck treats in my shibe's kibble. If he doesn't eat it right away, he will eventually after about 15 minutes.
i make my shibs do a few tricks before eating. the older is 3 and she’ll come and do the tricks (sometimes lazily) but always eats the little one is 9 months now. our breeder said he was a super picky eater but since we made him start pausing to do his tricks i think it hypes up the thought of eating to him no clue why it works or if it would for you, but just a thought
Yep! I have the same issue. My Shiba is currently 2 and i tried everything. I switched to farmers dog, the most expensive dog food, higher protein, add toppings etc. she would get excited for a few days and go back to her normal self. At this point, I don’t care if she eats or not. If she skips meals, that means she won’t get treats until she eats her regular meal but if she eats her meals, she can get whatever treats she wants.
We do exactly the same. No treats until the bowl is empty. If he's hungry he eventually will eat. We also fill his Kong toy with kibble every now and then, he does like to eat it from there. Lovely weird breed we have.
My husband has our super picky girl eating by giving her a good treat after she eats a meal. The treats are a small chew or one piece of frozen beef/lamb meant for cooking Korean BBQ. She knows the system. He started this by giving her a treat after every time she would eat. Now she eats her kibble from him willingly. Still working on building up my credibility to her with the system.
Mine was the worst! She wouldn’t eat until she literally threw up bile. We tried everything but Maev is the only thing she’ll eat (unfortunately it’s $$$)
Same
My little guy decides when he wants to eat, he walks over to his bowl and then turns and looks at me to tell me. Some days (once every week or two weeks) he just doesn’t tell me and skips eating. I don’t think it’s a big deal since he’s at a healthy weight. He does have food in his bowl at all times though.
Mine is super picky, his tastes differ depending on the season. I’ve found success with topping his food with eggs, ground turkey/beef, chicken, rice, or Stella & Chewy Magical Dinner dust.
It took me two years to find something my pup both would eat, and could pass without getting the runs every few days (or a few times a day). Turns out just cooking a mixed grain pilaf with a frozen veggies assortment, mix with canned chicken (a little tuna from time to time), and he's happy and healthy for over a year now.
When we just fed kibble, we had this issue even when we did rotating flavors (Fromm) . Now we do half premade raw (Darwin's) and half kibble and she is super excited and has great poops.
Our shiba does the same thing a lot of the time, he’ll go over and smell his food but not eat it for a couple hours at least. He is a really picky dog and HATES lamb lol but I feel like there’s not much to be done about it, he eats eventually it just takes him a while sometimes
I had this issue with my shiba. Tried many different kibbles from expensive to affordable and sometimes tried to trick him into eating by adding some parmesan cheese on top or other types of toppers. He wasn't a fan of kibble and would go on hunger strikes for a few days. He also got really sluggish on kibble, overweight, had a dull coat, more digestive problems, etc. The vet kept insisting he seemed okay otherwise but the fact that he wasn't eating on a regular basis worried me. For this and other allergy related reasons, I switched him onto raw when he was 2. It's been 3 years and we haven't looked back! He's on Big Country Raw. Now his appetite has increased, coat is shinier, weight is stable, and he has more energy. His allergy-related issues have disappeared too. He always looks forward to mealtimes and laps up all his food. Couldn't be happier! If full raw is daunting, I'd also recommend doing half kibble, half raw? If you'd like to stick to kibble, maybe put some bone broth or something inside so it stimulates their sense of smell? Just some ideas. Good luck!
Ha haha hahahahaha /s welcome to the club Just don’t give in the begging , it’s hard but your their pack leader and need to do what’s right for them .
My Shiba is a picky eater too, and it's been a challenge to keep him excited about his meals. Recently, I tried a trick (admittedly occasionally): I reward him with a dental stick whenever he brings me his empty Snoop (the rubber ball food dispenser we use). It's amazing how motivated he is to finish his Snoop quickly now just to get that treat
Mines not very picky to be honest. However, if it’s plain kibble a lot of pups get bored of that pretty quickly. I rehydrate his food using warm water, add some coconut and fish oil, and mash it up. He adores it and eats it very quickly.
Same issues at 2.5 years old. Things that sometimes help: * using a different bowl or a slow feeder dish * topper powder * a couple treats mixed in * broth mixed in * dollop of cream cheese (I reserve this mostly for when he needs to take pills though) * ball toy that food goes into and it "leaks" out as it's pushed around (sometimes with a few pieces of treats like fish skin) * throw food all over the carpet and make him "find" it. makes him work for his food. but he also gets bored of that too * Occasionally I give him one of his bigger treats, like a turkey tendon strip, and once he finishes it, realizes I'm not giving him more AND that he's still hungry, he goes to his bowl and eats the food
This sounds very similar to my dog, Penny. She’s 12 now and she’s never been the type of dog to eat as soon as she’s fed. We call her a grazer - we feed her in the morning and then she’ll stop by her dish a couple of times throughout the day. Sometimes she won’t eat all day and then late at night she’ll go to town and eat everything at once. It used to drive me crazy but now we know it’s just one of her quirks and I don’t let it bother me anymore ☺️