Aspenbloom Pet Care

By Dr. Kim Bloomer & Dr. Jeannie Thomason

We just can not overstate the importance of proper nutrition for our dogs. Without proper nutrition, any and all other efforts at achieving and maintaining our dogs’ good health can be only somewhat successful at best. Without proper nutrition you will find there is a much greater need for medical intervention, simply to assist your dog’s body in dealing with things his immune system should be capable of dealing with on its own.

Let’s face it, without proper nutrition every virus, every allergen, every parasite, every bacterium, and every fungus are made all the more pervasive, powerful, and dangerous. Not because they are strengthened in any way, but because the body’s ability to fight them off is dramatically suppressed. From a naturopathic viewpoint, disease is not from without but from within. When enough wrong has been allowed the perfect “terrain” is created within the body on which pathogens thrive.

The natural defense against all these things, the dog’s own natural immune system, is dependent on proper nutrition to maintain not only adequate protection from the germs setting up housekeeping but also to keep the body rid of morbid matter. With proper nutrition, there is a huge decrease in the need for things such as antibiotics, vaccines, and parasiticides.

Species Appropriate Nutrition

Any discussion of canine nutrition needs to start with one basic premise: dogs, all dogs, from the smallest Chihuahua or Boston Terrier to the largest Mastiff or Great Dane, are carnivores, not omnivores. The assumption that dogs are omnivores has never been proven, whereas dogs as carnivores is very well-supported by the evidence available to us. The myth of them having evolved to omnivores has been due to several reasons we believe.

First of all, because dogs are opportunistic, they will eat just about anything given half a chance. Many people tell us their dogs will eat carrots or apples or anything off of their humans’ plates, but does that mean they have evolved into omnivores? We all eat things we know aren’t good for us or things we know we don’t need such as candy and cookies, we just enjoy them but we don’t need them to survive much-the-less thrive. Why would our animals be any different?

It’s important to remember that dogs are opportunistic scavengers which means they’ll eat what they can get when they can get it – it’s their nature to do so but that doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that they are omnivores. Their teeth are a huge clue to their carnivore state. Dogs do not have omnivore teeth as you will discover in the photos below.

Domestic Dog Skull. Notice that ALL the teeth are sharp and pointed NOT flat for grinding as in herbivores or omnivores.

Grey wolf skull. The only difference between the wolf and domestic dog is that the canines in the wolf are longer.

Although the shape of your dog’s head may not resemble exactly the head of a wolf, all canids have the same simple hinge jaw that works in a scissoring manner rather than the rotational fashion of an herbivore – such as a horse or cow. Carnivores do not chew their food like herbivores and their saliva does not play an active role in the initial stages of digestive function to begin the digestive process of carbohydrates as an omnivore (swine) or herbivore (cow, horse) does; instead, it serves to lubricate the food for transport to the stomach.

Omnivore skull – pig. Notice the flat back molars and the front teeth while straighter and narrower are not sharp and pointy as the carnivore teeth.

Look into your dog’s mouth. “Those huge impressive teeth (or tiny needle sharp teeth) are designed for grabbing, ripping, tearing, shredding, and shearing meat” (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 258.).

Most plant eating mammals possess chisel-like front teeth that are useful for cutting plant stems (reference pig skull above). In contrast, the carnivore’s front teeth are sharp and adapted to puncturing, slashing and clinging. The dog’s front teeth are sharp and pointed enabling them to puncture, slash and cling. The most useful teeth for this purpose are the canine teeth or fangs, but the incisors also serve as a clamp. Behind the canine teeth are rows of premolars and molars, which are also called “flesh teeth” as they are useful for tearing and shearing meat. These teeth are also used for cutting through tendons, and small bones, and for crushing larger bones. The canine tongue is long, supple for lapping blood and licking meat off bones.

The molars carnivores were uniquely designed with are not large flat molars for grinding up plant matter. Their molars are pointed and situated in a scissors bite (along with the rest of their teeth) that powerfully disposes of meat, bone, and hide.

Carnivores are equipped with a peculiar set of teeth that includes the presence of carnassial teeth: the fourth upper premolar and first lower molar. Contrast this with your own teeth or the teeth of a pig. A pig is a true omnivore, as are we. We have nice, large, flat molars that can grind up veggies. Black bears, while having impressive canine teeth, also have large flat molars in the back of their mouth to assist in grinding up plant matter. Dogs and most canids lack these kinds of molars. Why? Because they don’t eat plant matter. “Teeth are highly specialized and are structured specifically for the diet the animal eats, and the difference between a bear’s teeth and a dog’s teeth (both species are in Order Carnivora) demonstrates how this can be” (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pgs 260.).

“Dogs (and cats) are equipped with powerful jaw muscles and neck muscles that assist in pulling down prey and chewing meat, bone, and hide. Their jaws hinge open widely, allowing them to gulp large chunks of meat and bone. Their skulls are heavy, and are shaped to prevent lateral movement of the lower jaw when captured prey struggles (the mandibular fossa is deep and C-shaped); this shape permits only an up-and-down crushing motion, whereas herbivores and omnivores have flatter mandibular fossa that allows for the lateral motion necessary to grind plant matter”. (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pgs 258-259.). Consider this quote from the previously-cited Mammology text: “Canids, felids, and mustelids subsist mainly on freshly killed prey. These families show correspondingly greater development in ‘tooth and claw’; they also have greater carnassial development and cursorial locomotion.” (pg 260, emphasis added)

The digestive systems of all carnivores are remarkably alike and they all function in the same way. The overall length of the digestive tract is short although it remains relative to the size of the dog. This aids in rapid digestion of raw meat. Their simple monogastric stomach is a storage organ capable of holding large amounts of nutrient dense meat and fat. The other function of the stomach is to secrete concentrated solutions of hydrochloric acid, which create the highly acidic environment necessary for initiating digestion of protein in meat and bones as well as destroying pathogenic bacteria that may be ingested.

“Dogs have a highly elastic stomach designed to hold large quantities of meat, bone, organs, and hide. Their stomachs are simple, with an undeveloped caecum” (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 260.).

Unlike the long digestive tract of the omnivore or herbivore, the dog’s intestinal tract (where carbohydrates are digested) is short and suited for rapid digestion of raw meat and bones, instead of vegetables or grains.

The dog’s carnivore gut is extremely efficient at digesting protein and fat, as long as there is little or no carbohydrate (grain-starch) present. Experiments which have measured the amounts of various nutrients eaten and compared these with the amounts passed in canine feces have shown that a healthy animal loses no more than four percent of its fat intake and only a trace of protein. The digestive efficiency of raw meat is 95% and takes place in 2 to 3 hours.

They have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. This means the raw meat and bones pass through quickly.

Vegetable and plant matter, need time to sit and ferment. This equates to the need of a longer, sacculated colon, larger and longer small intestines, and the presence of a caecum. Dogs have none of these, making vegetation and plant matter virtually indigestible to them. Dogs have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This explains why plant matter comes out of their bodies the same way it went in; there was no place in the intestinal tract or the gut transit time for it to be broken down and digested (among other things). People know this; this is why they tell you that vegetables and grains have to be pre-processed for your dog to get anything out of them. This means that feeding vegetables and grains to a carnivorous animal is a questionable practice at best. And it also explains why feeding our dogs and cats in this manner can contribute to the increase in dis-ease.

Dogs/carnivores do not produce the necessary enzymes (amylase, for example) to deal with the starch, cellulose, and carbohydrates in plant matter since they are carnivorous animals designed to eat meat and bone. Feeding dogs as though they were omnivores actually taxes the pancreas and places extra strain on it, as it must work harder for the dog to digest the starchy, carbohydrate-filled food.

Nor do dogs have the friendly bacteria that break down cellulose and starch for them. As a result, most of the nutrients contained in plant matter–even pre-processed plant matter–are unavailable to dogs. This is why dog food manufacturers have to add such high amounts of synthetic vitamins and minerals (the fact that cooking destroys all the vitamins and minerals and thus creates the need for supplementation aside) to their dog foods. If a dog can only digest 30% or less of its grain-based food, then it will only be receiving 30% or less of the vitamins and minerals it needs. To compensate for this, the manufacturer must add a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals than the dog actually needs and of course the vitamins and minerals, etc. are in a synthetic form that may not be properly digested or utilized either. This may be one reason why kibble fed dogs are always hungry. They are actually starving for proper nutrition.

So, now we KNOW dogs are carnivores and all dietary decisions must conform to this if they are to result in proper, appropriate, nutrition. This is not something we can change to suit our own likes, needs and beliefs. In order to respect animals we need to honor their true nature rather than creating myths to allow for our convenience or even for our denial of living with carnivores in our homes.

We must be guided by this imperative when making decisions about our dogs (and cats and ferrets) diet. This means that we must feed them a Species Appropriate Raw Food (SARF) diet.

(all skull photos from http://www.skullsunlimited.com)
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About the Authors
Copyright ©2009. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Authors. This article is for educational purposes only. The decision to use, or not to use, any information is the sole responsibility of the reader.

Dr. Kim & Dr. Jeannie are veterinary naturopaths who together host the Animal Talk Naturally Radio Show, and both are proficient bloggers and writers on natural pet health. Dr. Kim is also co-author of the book Whole Health for Happy Dogs together with holistic veterinarian, Dr. Jill Elliot. Dr. Kim & Dr. Jeannie’s articles have been featured in various publications such as Animal Wellness and Natural Horse magazines. They both sit on the Advisory Board for HolisticOption.com. Both are also available for pet nutrition & health consultations. Visit their websites at www.aspenbloompetcare.com and www.thewholedog.org