# Ziwipeak Questions



## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Hello ziwipeak experts! 

We've recently switched from Acana Ranchlands to Ziwipeak Venison, and Odie LOVES it! We're still doing a few raw meals per week as well. My questions are about the amount to feed and how long to leave the food out. 

The feeding calculator on ZP's website says that she should be eating around .7 scoops per day. She's eating more than that. She's a fairly active little girl, but she certainly doesn't have the activity level of a working dog by any means. She's eating about a full scoop, as well as a few all meat treats per day AND a kibble snack during the night. 

We would basically free feed her kibble, replacing the food twice daily. If her tummy is empty, she will start throwing up bile so we like for there to always be something available for her to snack on, which is why she has gets some kibble in a bowl during the night on our footboard. I've been adding a little bit of water to the ZP as we did with her kibble. I would always know when to replace the kibble because it would get mushy and gross, but the ZP always looks the same to me. How long do you leave ZP out for your dogs? She'll usually only eat a few squares first thing in the morning and she spends 5 or 6 hours home alone during the day so I want to make sure she has something there for lunch.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Hiya Krystal, I found that because mine don't eat anything straight up, especially their ZP which they only eat because they're not going to get anything else, is served as breakfast and I leave it down t/out the day.

You'll find that once puppies get to 6+ months they will start to ignore lunch and only eat, or graze rather, if there's something there for them to pick up, but lunch becomes redundant.

ZP left down for days (not that we would) is safe because of the nature of the product, it won't get fly blown, just very dry. At the end of one day, 12 hours, mine treat it like a kid eating brussel sprouts.

Because of the nature of ZP I find it perfectly ok to leave down until they finish it t/out the course of the day. Then at night I give them their raw dinner because it's less problems with the great Aussie flies in the evening. Because it's been winter I've been able to leave that down for ages but coming into summer it'll be the old 15 minute finish or it's gone in the fridge trick.


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## elaina (Jul 1, 2008)

i feed my girls twice a day. i cant leave the food out cause if i did , Tootsie and Latte would gobble it all up and Minnie and Peyton wouldnt get any.

But ... if i were leaving it out i wouldnt worry too much about the time i left the Ziwipeak out if it were not moistened. if your putting water on it , then i wouldnt leave it out too long ... 

i know you said you put water but can you just leave it without the water.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

AussieLass said:


> Hiya Krystal, I found that because mine don't eat anything straight up, especially their ZP which they only eat because they're not going to get anything else, is served as breakfast and I leave it down t/out the day.
> 
> You'll find that once puppies get to 6+ months they will start to ignore lunch and only eat, or graze rather, if there's something there for them to pick up, but lunch becomes redundant.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input! She's getting closer to 2 years and has already started skipping one meal, but for whatever reason it seems to be breakfast. Thankfully she finishes her raw meals quickly, but she's such a grazer with anything else. I'm glad that it does well all day for you! That makes me feel better about leaving it out. 



elaina said:


> i feed my girls twice a day. i cant leave the food out cause if i did , Tootsie and Latte would gobble it all up and Minnie and Peyton wouldnt get any.
> 
> But ... if i were leaving it out i wouldnt worry too much about the time i left the Ziwipeak out if it were not moistened. if your putting water on it , then i wouldnt leave it out too long ...
> 
> i know you said you put water but can you just leave it without the water.


Thanks! I think that I will maybe leave it without water in the morning, and then add water in the evening when it's not out for as long.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Also wanted to ask you ladies, do your dogs eat the recommended amount, or more/less?


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

KrystalLeigh said:


> Also wanted to ask you ladies, do your dogs eat the recommended amount, or more/less?


Toby eats a bit less than the recommended amount. I tried to give him the recommended amount but he get loose stools, so I lowered it. 


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


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## elaina (Jul 1, 2008)

i never even looked at the recomended amount of food .... i just go by how my girls look. if they look like they are too thin ( like Minnie sometimes does) , then they can have as much as they want to eat. If they look like they are getting too chubby ( like Tootsie is ) , then limit the amount they eat .


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

Ziwipeak can hang out in a dish all day for grazing?

Are you kidding??

Granted, my girls do not get that as an option. They get their dishes put down on a placemat, each gets the same spot at the mat and each waits until her name is called and her dish is down to eat. 

Once someone has walked away from their dish, "clean up" is fair game. Believe it or not, but no one eats from someone else's dish. 

They go to their own spot as I carry the dishes over. This video is after I have said each name and sat each dish down. See how fast it disappears??


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

jesuschick said:


> Ziwipeak can hang out in a dish all day for grazing?
> 
> Are you kidding??
> 
> Granted, my girls do not get that as an option.


Oh Karen, I wish I was joking, sadly I'm not. I watched a little of your video but had to stop because it frustrated me so much. That's exactly how all my dogs have ever eaten, including my current Mastiffs.

I should video mine for you when I call them up, "Nom noms, who wants nom noms" ... they all come galloping like a herd of turtles. They're all sitting, I put the bowls down, say, "Eat it" they go up to the bowls, sniff and walk away, a couple may take a square away, lay down and slowly think about eating it, the others couldn't care less.

Exactly the same reaction regardles of whether it's raw dinner, a fresh chicken wing or a fresher lamb rib i.e. I just put out 4 x ribs, only ONE of them has bothered to chew it, the others just look at it and wander away, so there they sit attracting flies until I throw them away or the dogs will decide to get them within the hour or so, otherwise in the bin or to the Mastiffs they go, sigh.

I tried the down for 15 minutes & take it away, but they'd starve!

Mine just aren't turned on by food, any food whatsoever is just boring to them, except my own dehydrated treats (liver, kidney, chicken fillet). Even Bully Sticks only get chewed on for a couple of minutes before being forgotten.


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## CHITheresa (Apr 30, 2011)

Amberleah get ZP for brunch (She not am eater) and then for dinner she gets Weruva canned. She has lots of herbs and supplement sin her food so I don't leave out long. If I did cat eat it anyway. She eats all her food so cat can not get it. She gets just little over what bags says to feed. sometime Ill give few PC as treats.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Karen that video was the cutest!!!! What a trio of beauties you have.  and they are so well behaved!


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Just wanted to update to say that I did decide to switch back to Acana/raw for the time being, and the diarrhea disappeared within a day. However, I haven't given up hope! I did email Ziwipeak in September with Odie's info and how much she was eating, etc. and asked for their recommendations. I just received an email back the other day and they just asked how she was doing. Do you think it would be worth a shot to feed Acana for one meal and Ziwipeak venison for the other?


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

P.S. Karen they're so adorable when they're eating!


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

I think you'll find firm stools with lamb, I did. In fact, over here when starting out on ZiwiPeak, the importer will always tell buyers to start with lamb and then try the others, not the other way around.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

AussieLass said:


> I think you'll find firm stools with lamb, I did. In fact, over here when starting out on ZiwiPeak, the importer will always tell buyers to start with lamb and then try the others, not the other way around.


Just ordered the lamb through our pet shop today! I've been sprinkling some of the venison on top of her kibble (mainly because I have a huge bag and it's way too much to use as treats!), and have given her a full meal of venison here and there. Her poops have been totally fine, so maybe she just needed a slow transition. She'll pick out all the pieces of ziwi and leave the kibble. She loves it! I'm going to try the lamb anyway though, just to be on the safe side. I'm excited.


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## Buildthemskywards (Jun 16, 2012)

Mylo is exactly the same. He walks up to the ZP, sniffs and walks away unless he's really hungry. He's better with the venison than venison and fish. I used to leave it down all day and it was fine before we got Willow. He's not like that with raw though! He used to eat more than recommended for a day and then eat less for two days (roughly).


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## Pumpernickel (Apr 5, 2012)

I can't imagine Max ever not getting excited about food! The first thing he does each morning after a stretch and a quick snuggle is to run to the kitchen for his breakfast. He LOVES his food, especially ZP.

We started him on the lamb flavour and it did take him a long time to get used to it. He had loose stools for weeks and I nearly gave up on it but after emailing them they advised to reduce the amount and ever since then he's been fine on all the flavours. We usually feed the recommended amount or just over - he always seems to be hungry!

Glad Odie likes it, I hope she gets on ok with the lamb flavour!


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