The best diet for dogs

Knowing what to feed your dog can be an enormously confusing enterprise, particularly when there is so much disagreement among supposed experts. Most veterinarians recommend the industry standard dog “chow” or “kibble,” comprised of an admixture of cereals such as corn, by-products from the meat industry, and a smattering of poorly absorbed synthetic nutrients.

Despite their advocacy for this type of food, I am far from convinced that this is the best diet for dogs. In fact, I believe this type of dog food directly contributes to many of the health problems that veterinarians end up treating, including joint problems such as arthritis and hip dysplasia.

My eldest dog—a collie-lab mix—is turning 14 this year. To look at her and watch her play and run, she does not seem like an “old dog.” Since she was a pup I have fed her a diet of raw, meaty, cartilaginous bones and organ meats. As a herbalist, I always took care of her health needs and she never saw a vet.

When she was around seven years old, we were unable to have her with us for about 18 months, and a family friend took care of her. One of the first things she did was take my dog to the vet, getting her vaccinated and then put on the expensive, vet-recommended “chow” stocked in the clinic. Despite all this extra cost and concern, my dog’s health declined significantly.

Eighteen months later, when we took her back, she was 20 lbs overweight, had acquired a tumor on her shoulder, and was ridden with arthritis. Fortunately, just two months back on her diet of raw meaty bones and organ meats, she lost all the weight and the arthritis completely disappeared.

Now at 14 years old, she literally runs circles around dogs a third her age fed the standard vet-recommended diet. When hanging out with other dog owners at the park, I frequently mention my experience with diet. Among those owners who take my advice, they often report a gradual disappearance of issues like hip dysplasia and arthritis. This is also the feedback I get from dog owners who consult me for health advice.

Like wolves, dogs are members of the Carnivora order, which also includes related mammals such as tigers, wolverines, hyenas, and bears. Being a member of the Carnivora order doesn’t mean that all these animals exclusively eat meat, but that it is a vital and necessary part of their diet. This is no less true for dogs.

The latest research suggests that dogs evolved from a now-extinct species of wolf about 18,000 years ago—well before the agricultural revolution or Neolithic period, when humans were still hunter-gatherers. Humans took advantage of their evolutionary traits and domesticated these wolves to help with hunting. The first food fed to dogs by humans was meat, usually as the leftover carcass or scraps from butchering.

As humans modified their diet, so too did the dog’s diet. However, because dogs were used primarily for hunting and herding, their diet still remained high in meat and animal products. Recent evidence that dogs produce the starch-digesting enzyme amylase is offered as a reason to feed dogs the high-starch diet recommended by typical vets. But it is important to note that not all breeds produce salivary amylase—for example, the Siberian Husky does not.

While this evolutionary feature may seem important, in the broader context it is really just an example of biological adaptation rather than dietary preference. Certainly dogs ate carbohydrate if it was given to them, but that doesn’t mean it was an optimal practice. Using a discrete biological trait such as amylase to justify the recommendation that dogs eat a high-starch diet is a huge leap of logic that borders on the irrational—particularly when we look at the problems of a high-carbohydrate diet in humans, who are supposedly much better adapted to eating starchy foods than carnivores.

When I feed my dogs, I simply dump the raw meaty bones or organ meats on the grass and let them eat off the ground. No kibble, no bowl, no clean-up.

What I have always found interesting is that dogs fed like this rarely gulp down their food. Instead, their actions mirror that of a predator: they sit beside the meat awhile before eating, often licking it in much the same manner as a predator does after they kill an animal. As their appetite is whetted, they slowly begin to eat, but only until they are satiated.

Many times I have found a couple of pieces of raw meat or bone left over that the dogs didn’t want because they were too full. But if I ever give my dogs kibble, they eat every single piece regardless of whether they are hungry or not.

It appears that for dogs, kibble is like potato chips: it’s hard to stop once you start. And if the dogs overeat kibble and then drink water, it can cause massive bloating, leading to stomach twisting (gastric torsion), often requiring emergency surgery. This is not an issue, however, when the dog is fed the proper diet.

Feeding dogs raw food frequently invites the criticism of vets and pet health authorities. Yet when we look closely, the motivation behind this criticism is not just biological safety but economics.

Vets often recommend the foods they stock in their clinics, just as physicians prescribe drugs heavily promoted by the pharmaceutical industry. Veterinary education and practice are deeply influenced by the pet food industry, which represents over $55 billion in annual sales in the US alone.

By contrast, there is no profit in a diet of raw meaty bones and organ meats. Hence, the industry narrative is that such diets are dangerous—even though dogs are biologically adapted to eat raw flesh and bone.

A common scare tactic is the supposed risk of E. coli and other pathogens in raw meat, presented as a grave threat to both dogs and humans. In fact, research shows the opposite. Canine saliva itself has potent bactericidal properties. Controlled studies at UC Davis found that dog saliva killed tens of thousands of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus canis bacteria in vitro, reducing loads by 40,000–75,000 organisms on average in a single exposure. These are precisely the pathogens that threaten newborn pups with coliform enteritis and septicemia. This antibacterial activity explains the adaptive behavior of maternal licking and wound licking in dogs, behaviors that have been observed to protect health and accelerate healing for millennia. Dog saliva contains lysozyme, lactoferrin, antibodies, and growth factors that contribute not only to antibacterial defense but also to tissue repair.

In more than twenty years of pet ownership and clinical practice, I have never witnessed a case of illness in dogs or humans from a properly prepared raw diet of meat and bone.

When my kids were young, our dog would often lick their sticky faces clean after chewing on a weeks-old buried bone—without consequence. Of course, my children had never been on antibiotics and enjoyed robust immune systems. The real concern is not with healthy individuals but with those who are immunocompromised, where any raw meat handling should be approached more cautiously.

For best practice, I recommend freezing raw meat in a deep freezer at –18 to –20 °C for at least two weeks, which effectively kills parasites. Bacteria are more resistant, so thaw only enough for two to three days at a time, keep it refrigerated, and thoroughly wash containers and utensils with hot water and soap between uses.

The development of the various breeds we see today, including toy breeds such as the Pomeranian, Shih Tzu, and Chihuahua, is relatively recent. While humans have kept dogs for thousands of years, for most of that time they were kept outside as work animals: for hunting, herding, or guarding. Very little attention was paid to breeding.

Since the 1800s, however, dog breeding became a hobby for humans. In a couple of hundred years of experimentation, a huge number of breeds have been developed, often creating mutations that result in problems with breathing issues, sensory function or reproduction. Because this process has been so recent, we have yet to fully apprehend the possible consequences of this genetic experimentation and how it affects factors such as diet and health.

For example, a toy breed like a Pomeranian is clearly a carnivore, but its small body and digestive tract preclude it from eating in the same way that my collie-lab mix eats. It is important to note that toy breeds like this were created intentionally as “lap dogs,” and so for probably the last 30–40 generations, these breeds have been routinely fed table scraps.

When a puppy is fed raw meat, bone, and offal just after weaning, there are rarely any problems. If the pup was raised on chow, however, switching over to a raw diet can create some temporary digestive issues.

When we got our most recent pup, another collie mix, she had been weaned onto kibble, and you could tell: she was quite skinny and her coat was rough and dry. For the first few weeks, I hand-fed her little pieces of meat and offal, and gave her big globs of organic, grass-fed butter to boost her weight.

Soon she put on weight, and her coat became soft and shiny. But for the first month or so she did have occasional diarrhea. As we continued feeding her raw meat and bone, however, her stools firmed up and took on the typical appearance of dogs fed a raw diet: small, hard stools that quickly turn white and crumble away.

I consider these stools to be one of the great benefits of the raw food diet: small, not smelly, not sticky, and rapidly biodegradable. This is very different from the kibble poops I see at the dog park—large, sticky, smelly, and very much a biohazard, particularly around kids. Unlike the stools of dogs fed raw meat and bone, which dissolve away within a couple of weeks, I can still find kibble poops at the dog park several months later, growing all kinds of “interesting” fungi.

Older dogs that aren’t doing well on the vet-recommended diet can also be put on a raw meat, bone, and offal diet, though there may be additional challenges. Older dogs used to eating cooked food may balk at eating raw food, and in such cases you may need to partially cook the meat, searing it on the outside to create an enticing aroma and flavor. Avoid cooking the meat completely, however, as this destroys delicate proteins and makes it harder to digest, often resulting in nasty dog farts that nobody wants to smell.

Likewise, a dog that is used to eating some carbohydrate in its diet may not do well on a 100% meat and bone diet, and thus some starchy foods such as cooked root vegetables or rice can be introduced or retained. I recommend against mixing starches and proteins at the same meal, as starches interfere with protein digestion and often lead to digestive problems and gas.

Above-ground vegetables can also be added to the diet, and some dogs love broccoli and kale. Personally, I can’t be bothered to prepare vegetables specifically for my dogs, as they often get the leftover veggies mixed up with a little fat from dinner. But when it comes to greens, my dogs already have that covered by eating certain species of grass, such as couchgrass (Agropyron), also used by herbalists as both medicine and food.

Eating grass isn’t really food for dogs—it’s dietary fiber, used to clean out their guts by either vomiting up the grass or pooping it out.

When it comes to vegetarianism and dogs, I think making your dog follow a vegetarian diet is an example of extreme anthropomorphism and, quite possibly, a form of animal cruelty. If you are a strict vegan uncomfortable handling raw meat, please don’t get a carnivore as a pet. Find an animal that is better suited to your lifestyle.

The following is a list of food that I feed my dogs, and what I recommend to pet owners when they consult with me. Most of these foods can be found at your local butcher, fishmonger, or grocery chain: no need to go to a specialty pet food store, unless you want to spend more money. If you can afford it, organic and free-range is best, and if you’re a hunter, then you have additional options such as wild game (e.g. venison, elk, moose).

Mostly the diet consists of raw cartilaginous, meaty bones supplemented by organ meats. One frequent mistake pet owners make when buying bones is that they buy big marrow bones. But your dog isn’t going to be able to eat this, and even if they could, they would cut their gums on the sharp, sawn edges of these big bones. Thus, choose smaller, cartilaginous bones that the dogs can chew up and swallow. This can include poultry bones, which are spongy when raw, but become dehydrated, sharp and splinter very easy after cooking.

As I mentioned earlier, make sure that all the meat you give your dog has been frozen in a deep freeze for at least two weeks. But, don’t feed your dog frozen meat, as this is too hard to digest: make sure that it is completely thawed before feeding.

Cartilaginous, meaty bones: feed on a daily basis

• raw chicken/turkey necks, backs, breast, feet etc.
• raw pork tail, as well as small neck/rib bones
• small meaty beef bones and trim
• raw fish: small whole fish; the head, tail, trim of larger fish (e.g. salmon)
• toy breeds: as above, but broken into smaller, thinner pieces; also smelts, herring, and other small fish; Cornish game hen; raw frozen mice (available from pet stores)

Offal (organ meats): 1-3x/week

• liver (beef, pork, chicken, etc.), 1-2x/week max
• heart (beef, pork, chicken, etc.)
• gizzards (beef, pork, chicken, etc.)
• tripe (stomach)
• kidney

The following is a list of (possible) supplemental foods that can be added to the dog’s diet, depending on their breed, size, and preference:

• raw egg yolk
• bone broth
• fermented and cooked cereals, e.g. brown rice, quinoa
• steamed/baked veggies
• fat trimmings, marrow fat (skimmed from soups), grass-fed butter, coconut oil
• nutritional yeast

Of course, there are many other foods to consider—and then there’s the huge array of supplements that the pet industry is trying to cash in on. As I recommend supplements infrequently for humans, my attitude toward dogs is the same: they should be getting everything they need from their diet. For example, there is no need to give your dog glucosamine and chondroitin if they are eating cartilaginous bone, because that’s exactly where these constituents come from. You can save your money and avoid most pet supplements—just as you can avoid most human ones—by eating a proper diet. However, where dogs are suffering from illness—perhaps because they have been fed an improper diet—then supplemental foods along with herbal medicines can be very important.

Beyond this, it is important to ensure that the diet is varied, and that food amounts and frequency are regulated. One advantage of a raw food diet is that dogs tend not to gorge; they eat until they are satiated. That said, some dogs just love to eat no matter what, so keep an eye on your dog’s belly and weight and adjust the portions accordingly.

As for frequency, there is no need to feed a healthy dog more than twice a day, and for most dogs, once a day is enough.

Whenever you make changes to a dog’s diet, there may be alterations in bowel habits, usually in the form of diarrhea. Keep an eye on their stools. If looseness doesn’t resolve, make sure they are getting enough cartilage and bone, which acts like fibre to bind them up. You can also add more plant fibre to the diet, such as quinoa or brown rice. In most cases, these alterations resolve in a few days. Some foods, such as liver, are notorious for causing loose stools, so if bowel control is an issue, feed only small amounts at a time.

If you decide to feed your dog starchy foods, remember that dogs don’t naturally accumulate tartar or plaque on their teeth. Tartar is a biofilm produced by lactic acid bacteria, fuelled primarily by dietary carbohydrates. Thus, if you are going to feed your dog starchy foods like rice, you’ll need to follow up with tooth brushing. On a diet of raw meat, bone, and offal, however, tartar does not tend to accumulate—meaning you can dispense with novelties such as dog toothbrushes and bacon-flavoured toothpastes.

 

For questions on what to feed your puppy, please see this post.