And the debate just goes on. Are dogs carnivores… or omnivores?
You know, when it comes to choosing a top dog food, you simply have to know the answer to that question. And you need to know the truth.
Yet if you’ve already been told dogs are omnivores… creatures that eat both meat and plants… then what you’re about to hear may be hard to accept.
That’s because scientific evidence clearly points to the fact that…
Dogs Have a Genuine Carnivorous Bias
From DNA studies, we know that dogs evolved directly from the timber wolf somewhere around 15,000 years ago1.
And, of course, it should come as no surprise… wolves were… and still are… carnivores.
So, by their very genetic pedigree, dogs (too) are carnivores… not herbivores (plant-eaters). Their teeth, their digestive systems and their behavior clearly confirm this fact.
Now, to be fair… and more accurate… dogs must also be recognized for their significant omnivorous ability.
After all, it’s true. They do have the ability to eat a remarkably diverse diet. But it’s wrong to ignore the fact that their bodies are optimized for eating meat.
Dogs Don’t Grind… They Chop
For comparison, think about a typical herbivore… a dairy cow. Now, picture the way they “chew their cud”.
Cows chew widely from side-to-side. And they have broad, flat back teeth… ideal for grinding grains and plant material into finer particles.
Even omnivores share this same combination of boxy back teeth and sideways grinding motion common to herbivores. Think of your own mouth and how you chew.
Dogs, on the other hand, don’t have flat teeth. Like most carnivores, they have narrow pointy back teeth.
Plus dogs can’t chew from side-to-side. Their jaws can only move in an up-and-down, chop-chop motion.
It’s the perfect combination for cutting meat into smaller chunks.
Why Dogs Don’t “Do” Carbohydrates Very Well
Now, herbivores (and omnivores) have one powerful weapon carnivores usually lack…
Salivary amylase.
Amylase is a special enzyme plant-eating animals produce in their saliva. It’s needed to initiate the break down of starchy carbohydrates… before they enter the stomach.
Now, meat-eating animals also produce amylase… but the enzyme is produced further down the digestive tract… in the small intestine.
The fact that a carnivore’s saliva is basically amylase-free makes carbohydrate digestion decidedly more difficult for a dog.
Meat-Eater… or Plant Eater?
Digestive Anatomy Reveals the Truth
Since they eat fewer but larger meals, carnivores have bigger stomachs than their “grazing”, plant-eating counterparts.
What’s more, meat-eating animals maintain a much higher stomach acid concentration. This allows faster, easier digestion of animal protein… and kills the disease-causing bacteria abundant in decaying meat.
The small intestine also highlights the significant difference in digestive designs.
Herbivores have an intestinal system that’s unusually long… sometimes greater than ten times the length of the animal’s body. Longer tracts like this are a requirement for consuming a plant-based diet.
Dogs Are Optimized for Eating Meat
As you can see, the evidence clearly supports it. Dogs are designed to be carnivores. Yet the facts clearly confirm their unusually flexible diet.
Dogs have evolved over thousands of years in the constant shadow of Man… mostly surviving on the very food scraps and leftovers of human existence.
Simply put…
Dogs can eat a variety of foods. But they’re naturally designed for eating meat
Today, the dog food market is literally overflowing with different product designs.
Some feature meat. Some, vegetables. And yet others are made almost entirely of cereal grains… and nearly meat-free.
So, how do you choose the right one for your pet?
The Bottom Line
Well, just knowing that dogs are naturally built for consuming meat can make it a lot easier to identify the better dog food products out there.
Even though properly designed vegetarian dog foods have been proven to work, it’s important to give preference to meat-based products.
All in all, meat-based dog foods are simply closer to a dog’s natural diet… more like “the real thing”.
That’s why meat ingredients should always be the first thing you should look for at the top of any dog food’s ingredients list.
- Lindblad-Toh K, Wade CM, Mikkelsen TS, et al, “Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog”, December 2005, Nature 438 (7069): 803–19 ↩
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
If dogs are true carnivores, as opposed to omnivores, why do some of them die of heart disease?
Hi Brian… your question is a good one. But veterinary science shows that dogs rarely suffer the typical atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) and heart disease seen in the human population… even though they eat a fairly high fat diet. I recently addressed this question in an article I wrote called “Low Fat Dog Food… Good or Bad for Your Pet?” That post will reveal the little-known reason why dogs are so resistant to heart disease.
It also has to do with the quality of meat. Grain-fed meats are super high in omega-6 fatty acids, which are horrible for humans and animals. Corn is very high in omega-6 fats, which is what’s typically fed to feed-lot animals, and it’s found in a lot of dog foods.
Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids, in the form of fish oil or salmon oil, or feeding grass-fed, or pastured, meats will help to prevent heart-related maladies.
Hi Dave… You’re correct to point out the fact that there’s a difference between omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. By the way, regarding dogs and the low incidence of heart disease… you may want to check the article I wrote regarding the surprising truth about low fat dog foods
My dog eats apples right of a low branching tree at my neighbors house so are dogs more omnivore than they are carnivore?
sorry off meant to say off in first sentence
This seems to be a very ongoing argument with convincing information on both ends all over the internet. One of the things I heard that is now really confusing me, is that a dog can’t survive on a full meat diet.
They are quite different from the cat, which needs a full meat diet to stay at its best of health.
If I keep my pup muzzled outdoors so he can’t chew the plants, keep the plants at home out of reach and feed him 100% meat, will that be better for him?
If it is good for a cat to only eat meat, then it must be true for a dog, since they are both predators?
What sets a dog’s and cat’s digestive tract apart?
Hi Biana… thanks for your thoughtful question. Dogs and cats are not the same. Cats are “obligatory” carnivores. They must have meat to survive.
But dogs (on the other hand) are “preferential” carnivores… they prefer meat… but they have omnivorous capabilities. They can even subsist on a scientifically designed vegetarian diet. But there’s a huge difference between the words “survive” and “thrive”.
Dogs can survive on an all-meat diet. After all, for dogs (and humans), there’s no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. But I’ve always felt it best (as I mentioned in this article) to use common sense. I like to feature meat… but augment my dog’s diet with some veggies, too. Bailey loves apples, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes… but he adores meat.
Hi Taylor… the fact that your dogs eat apples doesn’t mean they’re “more omnivore than carnivore”. They can eat a lot of veggies and fruits… they have omnivorous abilities. But they prefer (and thrive) on meat. As I mentioned in my post, “dogs can eat a variety of foods. But they’re naturally designed for eating meat”. What they CAN do isn’t the same thing as what they PREFER to do.
Biana,
Dogs *are* carnivores, and can/do thrive on all-meat diets. Think about it: in order for a body to survive, it must have everything it needs; all amino acids, all vitamins/minerals/nutrients, fats, etc etc. So, if a good and healthy moose is killed and consumed, the recipient of the moose’s tissues/muscles is consuming everything that moose survived on; the amino acids, protein, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, etc, are all being ‘transferred’ from the killed animal to the consuming animal.
Even if the moose was sick, its body would probably have enough reserves left for the consumer to benefit from, depending on how long and how severe the illness was.
If your pup is chewing on plants outside, it’s most likely because he has an upset tummy; grass actually causes dogs to throw up. However, dogs love to experiment with anything that smells good- this includes fruits, vegetables, grains, or maybe your gardenias, if it piques your dog’s interest. This doesn’t mean, though, that dogs receive any nutritional value from it- it’s just for fun.
I thought dogs were omnivores. They certainly act like they are!
What about this reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=mdg0R6nDWgoC&pg=PA289&dq=cats+carnivores&lr=&ei=DiuES8fGGJXsygT69ODoAw&cd=18#v=onepage&q=cats%20carnivores&f=false
I am 75 yr. My mother as a child had a St. Bernard. When the butcher came by he would throw the Pal a piece of meat. Pal followed the butcher all over town for meat. The butcher finally adopted him and Pal was dead in a year eating a meat diet. On the other hand I as a child had several dogs and the only dog food we had was Purina. They all lived well beyond what dogs live today. My Shepherd was 16 and my collie was 18. How do you figure this?
My dog thinks he is a lawn mower! Eating grass and not vomitting! “Wild dogs” ate the whole animal including what the animal had been eating in it’s stomach & intestines. (OMG- you mean – byproducts!) If people really can afford to feed their dogs all meat diets – then hey try it…but then why do we have to add so many “supplements” to raw diet recipes??? I will stick with the brands that include nutritionists on their staff and can show me the research that my dogs can “thrive” as they are doing on a food that includes grains/carbs!
Have a read of Cindy Engel’s Book ‘Wild Health’ which investigates how animals ‘self medicate’.
My belief is that while dogs are carnivores by design, they do need other nutrients that are aquired from vegetation to keep them in good balance. I dispute that wolves eat ONLY meat. Not that that has any baring on our dogs… it’s like looking at gorillas to see what we should be eating! Dogs have been domesticated for 15,000years… eating our cast away foods.
Humans are not designed to eat meat if you look soley at our teeth… but we do need the nutritional value that our bodies extract from it.
A dog needs a diet that satisfies its individual needs. If you want to delve deeper into the real effects of the food you give your dog then find someone who can perform and analyse a Hair Tissue Mineral Test to see exactly what your dog needs and has too much of.
Hi Ian… I actually share your “wolves also eat plants” philosophy myself. Readers who doubt this concept may wish to check out this amazing video.