Just wondering, does your shiba actually take the time to chew their kibble? Or do they chew some and swallow others?
I noticed that Leo doesn't seem like he is chewing his kibble thoroughly. He will chew some of it and other times he simply swallows. It has been this way since I got him and he's around 5 months now.
The food seems to be digesting properly though... He's pooping normally and is gaining weight each week.
Thoughts or concerns?
Leo "JD" Hu | Cream Shiba Inu | DOB: 8/19/2011 | Southern California - LA/OC
Conker does, and doesn't chew things. Not Shibas but... Sasha doesn't hardly ever chew anything. Juneau chews everything. It depends on the dog and how high value the food item is if they chew it or not.
When Saya was on kibble she would chew each piece of kibble, and now on raw she is good about chewing bone in items, pork shoulder roasts, whole quail, fish, but organs, boneless items she eats very fast! lol
I got a video of her eating thawed out ground lamb and thawed lamb tongue and she ate it pretty fast.. I usually feed organs and boneless frozen due to how fast she eat. plus in spring and summer time she likes the cold food.
Maybe add some wet dog food to it to slow pup down or soak it in water? That seemed to help with Bella and gives her bit extra moisture. Some dogs chew well other inhale. kibble isn't really for chewing unless your feeding big kibble like for large breads? I dunno..
Hammond used to pull one kibble at a time out of his bowl and daintily chew it to tiny bits. Now he scarfs his food, sometimes chewing but most often just swallowing it.
I've had to put the food and water up a bit higher because he'd do that then gulp down water until he regurgitated all the solid kibbles.
With treats it's the same, but a bit more evenly split between chewing/swallowing.
Larger treats, cookies, etc he will chew and chew and chew and chew, though. At the pet supply store we visit regularly (every single employee who works there knows him by name now, haha) he'll get cookies from the cashiers, which are normal-sized dog cookies (maybe like 1.5" in diameter?) and it will take him like 5+ minutes to eat it. Long enough that he will lay down in the middle of the store as soon as he gets it, haha.
Maya never chews her kibbles, just swallows it whole and eats very fast, so we've started soaking it for a few minutes before we give it to her. Even when she just swallows it, it doesn't seem to bother her- she never throws it up, and goes #2 just fine. We thought she might outgrow it, and we've only had her a few months so maybe she still will.
