That's what my vet told me today while in my shop looking at my foods. I'm quoting out of context; she followed it up with "They are omnivores, the dietary needs differ from that of their wolf ancestors." To my understanding, dogs and wolves are genetically near identical. How could their ideal nutrition differ?

She knows I mostly feed raw, and is the first vet I've found who supported it. The conversation came after looking at a bag of Timberwolf. It and TOTW are the the kibbles in my rotation when I feed or supplement with dry. Timberwolf's tag line is "Carnivore-Specific Food with herbs," and the semantics seemed to bother her. Obviously, I mix raw veggies with the meat/bones/organs I give, but I never considered that to be the most important part.

I don't stock any foods with corn or wheat, except Nutro Lite, only because it's the lowest caloric food I have found. She doesn't seem to be overly bothered by corn, which I wouldn't even feed to cows. I've read dozens of threads on feeding here, but felt rather than bump one, I'd be better to bring up "corn" and "dogs=omnivores" from scratch.

How nutritionally important do you feel that vegetable matter is in a dog's diet? I don't mean "if I only give meat/organs/bones exclusively," but on a larger scale? According to Ed's feeding method, the veggie matter by weight is rather small.

An aside, I found this site by looking for dog-training podcasts. Are any new podcasts coming down the pipe any time soon?

Thanks in advance. The folks on this website has been more valuable than every trainer I've paid well into the thousands over the last twenty years.

Sounds kinda like semantics to me too.

Dogs aren't obligate carnivores, though. Dogs (scavengers) can live on some pretty random diets, although "live" doesn't mean "thrive." (Cats, OTOH, are obligate carnivores.)

However, canids are designed to eat mainly RMBs and meat, from teeth to the other end.


I consider produce (or green tripe) to be non-optional. It's a very small part of the ideal diet (dogs and wolves), but that doesn't mean it's not part of the ideal diet.

There are lots of threads here about the UC Gray Wolf Project (berries, complete contents of small prey, sometimes young green ferns that grow near water, etc.) as well as other wolf studies revealing what we all know anyway: wild canids eat small prey in its entirety, gut included.

I'm not willing to withhold something that the canid on his own would eat. My dogs can't adjust their diet with a trip to the grocery store (or even the barn), so I try to replicate the diet they evolved eating.

I don't agree with the raw diet sites that consider the fact that wolves devour small-prey gut contents as irrelevant.

Like organ meat, I look at produce as important but small.

My opinion is not universal.

put steak in one bowl and tofu in the other and tell me which one Rex goes for

 Quote: Dennis Jones

put steak in one bowl and tofu in the other and tell me which one Rex goes for

Put chocolate in one bowl and tofu in the other and see which one I go for.

Chocolate.

Bad for dogs, good for Connie.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Dennis Jones

put steak in one bowl and tofu in the other and tell me which one Rex goes for

Put chocolate in one bowl and tofu in the other and see which one I go for.

Put chocolate and caramel together in one bowl and you better get your paw out of the way very, very quickly.

Speaking of tofu, this is a pretty funny set of instructions for giving your dog tofu if you ever run out of meat:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2222746_dogs-eat-tofu.html

Step 5 is "Make sure the dogs know that’s all you have. Turn your palms outward to show them your hands are empty, giving them the message they can eat the tofu or continue to starve."

It ends with "Move back far enough so if the dogs really hate the tofu they cannot bite you in revenge."

 Quote: connie sutherland

Dogs aren't obligate carnivores, though. Dogs (scavengers) can live on some pretty random diets, although "live" doesn't mean "thrive."

Can grass be considered produce? It is the only green Thor will eat. No matter how I prepare them or blend them he eats around his veggies or spits them out(I've tried hiding them under the skin of a chicken quarter.) Meat by far is his favorite and he will only eat added yogurt or eggs after he finishes the RMB. Where can you find green tripe?

Sheila, what about any of your leftover, cooked vegetables from dinner.

I'll even bring home vegetables when we eat out.

Greentripe.com is probably the most popular place to get tripe. A local specialty pet food store may carry canned tripe.

I was really impressed with Nicole at prey4pets.com.

If you know any deer hunters, or any other wild ruminant hunters, you could ask them to keep the stomachs for you.

You could also try asking a slaughterhouse if they will let you get them, but most say no.

 Quote: connie sutherland

Step 5 is "Make sure the dogs know that’s all you have. Turn your palms outward to show them your hands are empty, giving them the message they can eat the tofu or continue to starve."

It ends with "Move back far enough so if the dogs really hate the tofu they cannot bite you in revenge."

This is the best quote I might have ever read regarding diet! (wish I knew how to add another star)!