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At present, there is some debate as to whether domestic dogs should be classified as omnivores or carnivores, by diet.
The classification in the Order Carnivora does not necessarily mean that a dog's diet must be restricted to meat; unlike the cat family with its shorter small intestine, a dog is dependent on neither meat-specific protein nor a very high level of protein in order to fulfill its basic dietary requirements.
Dogs are able to healthily digest a variety of foods including vegetables and grains, and in fact can consume a large proportion of these in their diet. Wild canines not only eat available plants to obtain essential amino acids, but also obtain nutrients from vegetable matter from the stomach and intestinal contents of their herbivorous prey, which they usually consume.
Domestic dogs can survive healthily on a reasonable and carefully designed vegetarian diet, particularly if eggs and milk products are included. Some sources suggest that a dog fed on a strict vegetarian diet may develop dilated cardiomyopathy since it lacks L-carnitine, however, maintaining a balanced diet is also a factor since L-carnitine is found naturally in many nuts, seeds, beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
In the wild, dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet when animal prey is not available. However it has been noted, both by observation of extremely stressful conditions and by scientific studies, that high-protein (approximately 40%) diets including meat help prevent damage to muscle tissue. (This research is also true for some other mammals.)
This level of protein corresponds to the percentage of protein found in the wild dog's diet when prey is abundant; higher levels of protein seem to confer no added benefit.
Dogs frequently avidly eat grass, a harmless activity. Explanations abound, but rationales such as that it neutralizes acid, or that eating grass might make the dog vomit, so dogs eat grass to remove unwanted substances from their stomachs, are at best educated guesses. Dogs do vomit more readily than humans, as part of their typical feeding behavior of gulping down food then regurgitating indigestible bones, fur, etc. This behavior is typical of pack feeding in the wild, where the most important thing is to get as much of the kill as possible before others consume it all. Individual domestic dogs, however, may be very "picky" eaters, in the absence of this evolutionary pressure. |
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