How many times have you wondered what is the best food for a Shiba Inu? As a responsible dog owner, you certainly want to choose a diet of the highest quality. A well-balanced diet leaves beneficial effects on your dog’s health and reflects through his overall appearance. In other words, a Shiba Inu who eats quality food will have a shiny coat, properly developed muscles, and strong bones and joints.
What diet to choose for a Shiba Inu?
As we all know, Shiba Inus are highly active dogs that require plenty of activity during the day. Due to this fact, they have to eat a diet with a high percentage of proteins. However, are you sure that you can find a dry kibble or canned food that contains real meat? Unfortunately, people often stay confused after reading labels on commercial dog foods. Words and phrases such as natural, wholegrain, free of additives, real meat, and healthy are only some of the inscriptions we can read on dry kibble and canned dog food.
Looking back to the history of dogs, we can say that they haven’t eaten such diets earlier. However, living fast lives and a discovery that human food leftovers can be used in dog food production can bring profits- the commercial dog food industry was born. At the same time, dry kibble and canned dog food became practical and easy solutions to feed pets.
The benefits of the BARF diet for Shiba Inus
If we take a look at the history of Shiba Inus, their diet consisted of fish, waterfowl, other small game, veggies, and rice. These small hunting dogs are best suited to eat raw meat because that’s how they used to strengthen their jaws and teeth. And, for hunting dogs, having strong and powerful jaws is something very important.
One of the most important benefits of feeding a Shiba Inu with the BARF diet is the freshness of ingredients. You’ll be the only one who will tailor your dog’s diet and make sure he gets all the nutrients.
The BARF diet for dogs consists of raw meat, veggies, and fruits. It is high in protein, low in carbohydrates, moderate in fat, and consists of:
- Raw meaty bones
- Supplements
- Veggies
- Fruits (occasionally as treats due to high amount of sugar)
- Muscle and organ meat
When feeding a Shiba Inu with a raw diet, it’s important to consider its age and energy level. Not every dog is the same, even they belong to the same breed. There are numerous benefits of feeding a dog with this type of diet and some of them are:
- Shiny and healthy coat
- Healthy and tartar-free teeth
- Less odor
- Calm and confident energy
- Leaner and muscular body built
Homemade diet for Shiba Inu
Cooking meals for your Shiba Inu offers many benefits, especially if you live with a picky eater, an allergy sufferer, or a dog intolerant to specific ingredients. It also gains you control over your dog’s diet and brings lots of moments of fun. Since creating a balance is extremely important, we suggest you consult your vet or a breeder before you switch your furry friend to this diet. By cooking meals for your Shiba, you’ll be able to create an individual diet that will suit his age, weight, and energy level. Note that growing puppies, pregnant bitches, and highly active dogs need lots of proteins to stay healthy.
At the same time, the bad side of both homemade and the BARF diet is selecting ingredients. Some food can be toxic to your furry friend, so it’s essential to first check with your vet whether your dog can or cannot eat something. Potentially toxic ingredients for your Shiba Inu are: onion, garlic, avocado, grapes, chocolate, raisins, macadamia nuts.
Dry kibble or canned diet for Shiba Inu
Commercial food is not always a smart choice for your dog. Note that some dogs can be intolerant to certain ingredients and even show symptoms of allergy. By reading labels on dry kibble or canned food we often get confused. Unfortunately, dog food producers often want to trick us with different phrases such as ‘real meat’, ‘beef dinner’, or ‘chicken flavor’. So, here is what they mean:
- Chicken (or some other meat) flavor – It means there is only 3 % of meat in the dry kibble food.
- Phrases such as ‘beef dinner, platter, entrée mean there is only 10 % of meat.
- The terms chicken, beef, fish mean there is approximately 70 % of meat in the diet.
To properly choose a diet for your Shiba Inu, we recommend you to look for a food that is formulated for your dog’s age, size, nutritional needs, and activity level. Dry kibble and canned food can be smart choices only if you carefully read the labels and find a formula that will best suit your Shiba’s digestive system. Avoid food that is rich in corn, soy, by-products, artificial flavors, additives, and other harmful elements. Every dog has different nutritional needs at different points in their lives. Therefore, buying a dry kibble that is formulated for his life stage is an important way to make sure your pet gets all the benefits.
