Shikoku Growth

Shikoku

Trying to get an Idea, I asked the breeder and she said she is doing fine. But currently Athena weighed in at 9lbs and she is 11 going on 12 weeks. She was the biggest of the litter but I can help but think she may be under weight.

I mostly blame you @Dragonfly lol (not really)- who commented that Kiyoshi was much bigger at her age @ the time 8.5-9wks.

What was everyone's Shikoku's weights at the time?

Crispy

Isn't Kiyoshi male? In my experience, male Shikoku are MUCH larger than female.

TK's sister (Peggy's Suki) is like, half his size. All of the female Shikoku - except maybe @Calia's Miyu - have been drastically smaller than the males I've met.

To be fair, though, the only males I've seen are a young puppy, my TK, and then Yamato (who's like, a super-sized Shikoku and made TK look like a pipsqueak). I have never seen a Shikoku as large as Yamato. I don't think his size is very common at all.

I didn't have TK as a pup, but Peggy remarked he was rather large for a Shikoku (tall?). He weighs 40.7 pounds at 7 years old (he'll be 8 at the end of the year).

Peggy is probably right, though.

Shikoku

Ok good to know, suki is pretty small but Athena's Dad, was pretty large. Just wondering if she isn't gaining weight like she should. Its funny tho because she eats like a freaking monster.

@crispy- peggy asked me to post here because she wasn't sure, but athena has been rejecting her entire meal (thrown up unthawed pieces of kibble) at random times, have you experienced this. She is on wilderness blue, but not by my choice (what she was on @ peggys) but I'm thinking i should switch her food. Any input? Has this happened to you?

Dragonfly

@Shikoku - LOL I didn't mean to get you all paranoid. I was just in wonder at how tiny the females were in comparrison. Sorry! Didn't mean to insinuate that she was underweight, she looked perfectly healthy and adorable At 12 weeks Kiyoshi was about 13 lbs. When I got him at almost 10 weeks he was about 10 lbs. He NEVER seemed as small as Athena...she would fit in a purse and you could smuggle her anywhere! Kiyoshi never fit in my purse LOL

When I first started the raw Kiyoshi would throw up bile sometimes because he wasn't use to an empty stomach, kibble normally takes 10x longer to digeset so there wasn't kibble sitting in his stomach and the raw digested quickly so that takes some getting use to. He does get car sick sometimes...that's the only time he might actually throw up food.

This past week he's been eating like a champ!!! He eats all his meals And he's STILL hungry. I think it's a good sign. His little phase where he refused most meals didn't start until about a month ago.

What are you thinking of switching her to?

Crispy

Haha, I always think of Shikoku as tiny dogs anyway. My Malamute is my "normal" sized dog. He was 23 pounds at 9 weeks - he gained a lot of weight within the first couple months I had him but started to slow down in weight gain and speed up in height growth after that. Comparing a medium sized breed to a large dog is silly, though.

@Shikoku - TK will sometimes vomit if he's very anxious, but it doesn't happen often. I experience it more often with water than with food. I feed Earthborn Coastal Catch and sometimes, he gets Acana Pacifica. He does well on both. No illness or vomiting.

I personally do not like Blue. I did not have good results on Blue with my past dog and with my Malamute. London (Malamute) DID used to vomit it up - especially the Wilderness variety.

How many times a day are you feeding her and how much is she getting? If you are feeding large meals, you could try to split them up into smaller, more frequent meals. That may help cut down on rejecting food or vomiting.

TK is not a growing puppy, but I only give him 2/3rds a cup at meal times. He eats twice a day. I was feeding him 1 cup twice a day when I got him - he was a little underweight (32lbs) - but he quickly appeared to become overweight, so I started scaling him back until I found a happy place.

TheWalrus

Average Shikoku weights (personal experience):
8 weeks: 7-9lb (my Kishu x Shikoku litter weighed 10-13lb, Shikoku litter 8-11)
12 weeks: 12-15lb
Adult: male @44-50lb female 33-40lb

Just averages, so doesn't mean a dog is unhealthy if outside these weights. It all depends on the dog's size and type.

Calia

An older thread that may help: http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/5423/what-did-your-shikoku-weigh-at-3-months

Miyu's adult weight ended up being 37lbs, so she's pretty much at the mid range. She seems to be of average height, just generally a little stockier and thicker boned than many of the other shikoku I've seen.

Crispy

Oh yeah-- Peggy said Yamato was about 60 pounds.

He was just... seriously massive. It wasn't really his height, though. He was just really THICK. He couldn't have been too much taller than TK, but his skull was huge (wide), his legs were thick, and his coat was very nice/plushy. He truly was "awesome".

TK, by comparison, is very slender and lightly built. Comparing the two seems like apples and oranges.

Shikoku

@Dragonfly - Glad to see he is doing well. What helped? As for kibble taking longer to digest that is probably it. But its zoo freakin nasty. Im familiar with the bile. but this is here entire meal being put right back up with whole pieces. Im thinking because she inst chewing- Eats like a freakin monster. I'll take a pic of it if it happens again. It just looks extra gross + my weak stomach= no no lol.

Oh, and thinking of switching to :
http://www.chewy.com/dog/dr-tims-kinesis-grain-free-formula/dp/37814

Thoughts?

@Crispy- I feed her 2times a day. a little over 1/4 a cup each. I think Im just gonna switch, i told peggy i hated blue and now with your past exp. this just confirms it. Peggy was cool with it, and even suggested it. YES TK is Massive (and not overweight)! If she ever needs to place him. Im first in line!! lol

@TheWalrus - Thanks, this is very reassuring. She seems to be at the right weight.

@Calia- Thanks for the thread. So it seems as though some weigh a lot when young some weigh little but most seem to hit the 30lb mark on or before 1yr of age. Im happy again lol

Thanks You ALL!!

Saya

I never fed Dr.Tim's kibble so can't help much it seems pretty good. Has 5 stars on the dog food review site.

If no one here has tried this food can ask on the review site.

The review is for different variety the grain inclusive kind, but I'm sure someone on the discussion part can answer if they used the kinesis formula and their experience on it.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dr-tims-dog-food/

Shikoku

Thanks @saya I guess Ill see how it goes. Blue is DEF OUT. She eats it too fast its small enoght for her not to chew.

cdenney

If she is eating too fast put it in a long our puzzle

Shikoku

I have now scratched out wellness- I can't take the gas lol also they are pooping too often at the DP. She hasn't thrown up wilderness in a while. But ill only feed it as a treat. Switching them to merrick she eats it slower. Which is odd because the pieces are waaaay smaller. Oh well so now in rotation:

Merrick
Dr. Tim's
Blue (as treats)

cdenney

Try anamet. I really like their aqualuk version but it's a pretty awesome food

Calia

You may also want to try giving the food more than a few days before giving up on it. It takes time for the body to adjust to the change, sometimes with unpleasant results for a week or two especially when not transitioned. In order to really see how a your pup is handling a brand of kibble, you should be giving it to her for at least 2-3 months before switching to something else.

Shikoku

You may also want to try giving the food more than a few days before giving up on it. It takes time for the body to adjust to the change, sometimes with unpleasant results for a week or two especially when not transitioned. In order to really see how a your pup is handling a brand of kibble, you should be giving it to her for at least 2-3 months before switching to something else.

Agreed but with wellness my Shiba poos have never been consistently solid so I'm just phasing it out all together to save the budget. Also read on dog food advisor that others have had same issue... well stick with this rotation for a while since it seems to work