Choosing a dog food is much like choosing a spouse. Lots of choices but very few quality ones. I have always had a passion for making sure my dogs only eat the very best but in order to do that we need to know a little bit about what makes dogs different from us. Having that knowledge will allow us to understand why dogs actually need higher quality proteins than humans. Let's help them live longer happier lives by feeding them healthy natural, and preferably human grade dog food.
Let's start with the teeth and jaw. Dogs have 42 well-spaced teeth. People have 32 and our teeth are close together. The space between dogs' teeth allows food to enter quickly. Dogs' mouths are funnels to get food into the stomach as quickly as possible. Your dog gulping his food is his natural way of eating. It's not that your dog isn't savoring his dinner when he gulps it down it's just that he has fewer taste buds! Our canine friends also lack the ability to grind food. Their jaws work only up and down. Side to side movement is impossible for your dog's jaw. They also do not predigest starches in the mouth like we do. We get cavities. Dogs get more tarter build up, but no cavities!
Food travelling from their mouth to their stomach takes only about 5 seconds. Once in the stomach, the food is stored and digestion begins. Dogs have more acid in their stomachs than people do and this allows them to break down bacteria more effectively than we can. They also have this antibacterial ability in their saliva.
The small and large intestine in the average human is approximately 36 feet long. That's roughly the height of a four storey building! A 70 lb dog has a 6-foot long intestine therefore dogs need high quality proteins to be able to digest them quickly. People can digest raw fruits and vegetables better because of our longer digestive systems. Give a dog a piece of whole carrot and it comes out the other end much the same way it entered!
Digestion of complex carbohydrates and vegetables is more difficult for your dog, therefore in a perfect world they would be cooked and pureed to simulate predigestion. Cooking keeps the glycemic index low to help maintain even blood sugar levels. This causes less stress on the pancreas and liver and less chance of developing diabetes.
If you are like me and have your dog sleeping on the bed with you it's not a great leap to understand that after being domesticated for thousands of years dogs, while different from humans in many ways, are similar in others. Just like us needing healthy natural whole foods to thrive in today's environment your dog needs a healthy natural dog food as well.
Look for more info on dogs vs humans in upcoming segments.
Dr. Janice Elenbaas
Always remember, Health comes from the inside out!
