Pet Food Musings - Part One

After many years of easily accessible information, it sometimes surprises me that pet food is still such a hot topic on social media sites and online groups. Then again, perhaps it is exactly the abundance of material that confuses and keeps discussions going.
Feeding the dog used to be a mindless task: the pooch either got table scraps or one of only a few choices of kibble. Bygone are those good old days; now we have raw, cooked, freeze-dried and a vast variety of dried and canned food, and feeding right has become complicated. Is it really that difficult? It can be, when dogs have specific needs, but I won’t be talking about that. There are fabulous experts better equipped than me who address nutrition on a deep level: Monica Segal and Cat Lane come to mind, but also your holistically inclined veterinarian might be able to help if you have a special needs dog.
I’ll keep things shallow, not insubstantial but generalized, meaning that I will discuss in this blog, and the next two, dog food particulars that affect many, most, or all dogs in the same way.

I grew up in a time and place where food was prepared daily from fresh ingredients purchased at the local market. Rarely could you find food cans in our cupboards, we didn’t have a freezer, and if you ever been to Europe you know how small their refrigerators are. Eating right was normal for my parents, and generations before them, and is a lifestyle choice for me still today. We do have a freezer, but it is mostly filled with veggies and fruits and ethically raised organic meats, not with processed garbage. I concede that making those choices is easy for me because I never acquired a taste for junk food, but also because I always, from a very young age, was keenly interested in nutrition and have an understanding what crap-consumption does to people.
My interest in pet food came a little later in life, and was triggered by a holistic therapy course I attended in Frankfurt/Germany. Although it dealt with nutrition for humans, it had a thought-provoking aspect that prompted me to research pet food thoroughly for quite some time afterwards.
The instructors, a middle-aged couple, were raw foodists and vegans, which means they neither cooked nor consumed anything of animal origin. Instead, their diet consisted of tree-ripened fruits they had flown in directly from a wholesaler somewhere in the tropics twice a week, organic veggies, a variety of nuts and seeds, and sprouted grains. And did it ever work for them. I rarely met someone, before or after, who radiated such vibrancy. In their tow was an 8-year-old Hovawart – Hovawart is a German, retriever-size guard dog breed – who, and this is the astounding part, ate the same foods. Once a day he was offered a platter of assorted fruits from which he picked what he wanted, and to that his people added a handful of pre-chewed nuts and an egg. The raw egg was the only difference between what humans and pooch thrived on. Yes, thrived. The dog was as glowingly healthy as his people.
That humans do well on plenty of fresh produce is common knowledge. But dogs? A diet such as this can hardly be described as species correct. Or can it? Dogs’ species-correct diet, specifically raw vs. cooked and grain vs. grain free, is subject of many heated debates. Let’s have a closer look.

Many scientists agree that dog domestication began because of food. Increasingly more waste, the byproduct of early human settlements, attracted and kept them voluntarily in human proximity. I wrote about feral dogs being garbage dump scavengers before.
Human waste was what “dog” evolved on. Initially they foraged and many still do, but at one point some were deliberately fed scraps; meals that humans prepared for themselves but didn't entirely consume, or purposely shared when a canine was useful in one way or another and they wanted to secure his loyalty and wellbeing. Let’s keep in mind that until about 60 or 70 years ago almost every part of a slaughtered animal was used for human consumption. When I grew up we had lung, tripe and heart stew, fried brain, smoked tongue, and liver. There is still steak and kidney pie, ox-tail soup, and a Slavic dish made of pickled pig feet, snout and tail. Bones made stock, and cleaned intestines sausage casings, including blood sausage. Historically there was not much raw leftovers for dogs to have. Humans cooked since there are dogs, and humans that cook have cooked waste. Logically, the biological correct diet for dogs is cooked. Raw is wolves’ ancestral diet.
Before you raw food aficionados jump me, let me clarify that have nothing against raw, but I have a lot against trickery. Regrettably, the commercial raw food industry, like the kibble one, follow the same profit driven principle: take unsellable to humans, inferior and isolated, foodstuffs and market it for pets. In a society – ours – in which people desire lean and de-boned choice cuts of meat, and where soups and stocks are concocted in a laboratory, there are ample surplus animal parts: carcasses, fatty poultry backs and necks, offal and bones with bits of meat on it. And wouldn’t you know, conveniently exactly that becomes the dog’s ancestral, thus appropriate, diet? I don’t think so. I opine that both kibble, promoted as scientifically researched and balanced, and raw, promoted as evolutionary correct, have no merit and can be harmful.
A natural diet for dogs is to eat what we eat. It is diverse, and changes with seasons and regions, and there great latitude in feeding a dog right. A natural diet consists of a variety of protein, fat and carbohydrates and yes, can include grains. The delicate undertaking is figuring out what works best in what ratio for the individual dog.
I know, I said I wouldn’t talk about biochemical individuality, and I won’t other than that one man’s food is another man’s poison – Roman healer Lucretius figured that out 2000 years ago, and I like to add “dog” to that. Poison not only on a physical, but also behavioral level. Take protein for example.
Many of my clients’ dogs are on a popular high in protein kibble or raw food. Obviously, most of my clients’ have trouble with their pooches, otherwise they wouldn’t have hired me. The connection? Some studies suggest that lowering protein can take the edge off behavioral problems. It might have something to do with the neurotransmitter dopamine, correlated with protein, that is involved in recognizing detail changes, fires up at the sight of familiar things that are important - both positive and negative, and is responsible for seeking and anticipatory behavior. Dogs as a species are already detail specific, but some are especially reactive to any change and overreact when startled; some are hypersensitive to sensory stimuli and trigger with every sound and motion, and some are intensely zoned in on the environment at the expense of staying connected to the handler. Whenever I meet a dog  where any or all of the above is an issue, I recommend a food that is not higher than 30% protein.
Remember the Hovawart? He consumed very little protein, and against common sense thrived. I am convinced that the only reason why he did was because the ingredients were top-notch. I am not saying that you have to import organic fruits to keep your pooch in shape – although the thought to move somewhere where they grow is pleasant enough to explore more sometime in the future, but you should pay attention to ingredients. Ingredients are key. How to sort the good from the bad will be the focus of the next two posts. Look for it in mid, and the end of May.

When Dogs Won't Eat

Eating was never a problem for our Newf Baywolf and Aussie Davie, or for any of our foster dogs. Many dogs like food; not just treats, but their daily dinners and gobble up eagerly what is served. Furthermore, many dogs - once again reflecting our society - overeat on empty carbs and are pudgy, of course not by choice. Dogs can’t research ingredients or read food labels, shop or prepare their own dinners. They depend on their people to do that, and because we did it conscientiously, our pooches were enthusiastic eaters, but never overweight.

Not all dogs, though, scoff their meals up with gusto. During our 15 years preparing dog food commercially, one recurring reason why owners approached us was because their pooch lacked appetite, and ironically our feral born and imprinted on garage dump waste Will is our own dainty diner. Then again, she does everything other than “educating dogs” delicately, so it is no surprise that she is her typical self when it comes to food. And it is not that she isn’t eating. She does: regularly twice a day plus snacks, provided we give her what she likes. If not, she walks away, or spits the veggies she objects to blatantly on the floor.

Will’s prissiness amuses us, but being fussy can reach a problematic level when a dog refuses food to a point that it affects her weight. Such was the case with my friends’ one year-old hound. Already a sleek breed to begin with, and although lively and healthy, she was eating so little during her developmental stages that my friends were a bit concerned, and asked for my input. Dog pros themselves, they had already addressed the issue from all possible angles, and so there wasn’t much I was able to contribute, but it reminded me of all the reasons I came across over the years that can cause food refusal; reasons often overlooked by laypeople.

An obvious one is that the dog doesn’t like it. Regarding some kibble, no surprise. Seriously, would you? I mean, kibble have come a long way and there are some very good ones on the market, but also some that stink going in and coming out. You might think that an animal that finds crap appetizing shouldn’t turn the nose up at cheap kibble, but fact is that many dogs do, despite the added-on fat as flavor enhancers.

Aside from smell and taste, kibble consisting of fillers and processed, unfit-for-consumption, junk can make a dog feel unwell after consumption. We know how unpleasant we feel after we wolfed down something that didn’t agree with us. Is it so far fetched to believe it could be the same with dogs? We can reject that food-thing in the future, although foolishly we don’t always do that and rather pop an anti-bloat, anti-cramp or heartburn pill that instantly takes the pain away. Allergies are easily detectable – scratching and biting paws are common indicators, but the signs of general malaise after a meal are not so clear, and dogs can neither voice their discomfort, nor open the medicine cabinet.

My advice always is to purchase the best dog food one can afford, while keeping in mind that just because it is expensive doesn’t automatically mean it is the right one for your pooch. Diet really is an individual thing – for people and dogs, and finding the perfect chow can take some investigating and experimenting.

Food refusal is not always physical in nature, but can have emotional causes. Competition, for example, can express itself in resource guarding, resource hoarding, or an unwillingness to eat when the dog is very nervous of another in the household. In our home, I make sure that dogs can eat feeling safe. I never take their grub away, but ensure that each one minds her own bowl until the others are done and leave. I don’t tolerate any type of bullying, but especially not around food, an existential need. Not even a wanting, dirty look in the direction of somebody else’s meal is allowed.

If a dog is really timid and scared, feeding her at a separate place can help. Another option is serving dinner in the each dog’s respective crate; a solution many of my multi-dog-owning trainer friends choose.

Some people, including breeders, make food accessible at all times. Free feeding is controversial; some arguing that dogs become fat and bratty, others that it prevents resource guarding. I am generally in favor, but concede that it is not suitable for every dog. My main pro argument is that, indeed, unlimited food availability creates resource security, which counters resource guarding. I met a good number of rescued dogs that came with food aggression issues and mellowed out when they experienced abundance. Things that aren’t a big deal typically aren’t defended – it can be that simple.

The practice of free feeding can cause a problem when the dog is switched to scheduled meals, for example when she moves from breeder or foster home into her forever one. Eating in a set amount of time is simply not in the dog’s behavior repertoire, and it can take awhile before she understands that the bowl disappears after 15 or 20 minutes.

Although I am a big fan of life in paradise, in the case of the finicky Fido small amounts at a time can be perceived as a limited resource, which might entice her to eat up when it is available. One way to accelerate a successful switch is putting a small amount of food in the dish, and adding more as soon as the last piece entered the gob. Incrementally, increase the portions until the dog devours the full ration in one setting.

You can also put part of the daily ration in interactive toys. I recommend that anyway for dogs that are easily bored or home alone a lot, but working for food can also hit the target with the delicate nibbler.

Eating out of a bowl not being part of the behavior repertoire was also my guess with a case I had recently. The dog, plucked off the streets, was eating anything, including stuff he found outside, but the food given to him twice a day in a dish. In addition, he had stinky farts, so the kind of food was likely not working for him either. Like our Will, who was born on a reserve outside of Calgary, in his mind being served was not the normal way of consuming food. For dogs who have a strong seeking desire because it is habitual, hiding food around the house and yard, and interactive food toys can satisfy that need.

And don’t forget that stray and feral dogs forage on human waste, not kibble. The humane society I volunteered for once trapped a dog who was very emaciated even though piles of donated kibble was left around the garbage dump site once a week. When these dogs are homed, some accept new foods readily, others don’t.

We always cooked for our dogs, using human grade, often organic, ingredients. It is probably the reason why we never had an eating problem. Except for Will who, in June, began to refuse her breakfast. We took care of a friend’s German shepherd during that time who is on top quality kibble, and free fed by the way. Will wanted what he had. In fact, she insisted to get what he had, and so for the first time I thoroughly investigated brands to find one our 10-year-old Will likes and I can agree with. I decided on Fromm, which has become Will’s breakfast, while her dinners are still home-cooked. She eats eagerly without being ravenous, her eyes are bright, her coat looks great and the poop does too, she has no body odor and is energetic, keen on joining me wherever I go. Those are all signs that the combination works. If food is a problem in your home, don’t be afraid to explore and make changes, even if your dog is older.