At this time of
year, most of us spend some time reflecting on the year past and the year to
come. We think about the happy and sad moments and perhaps review some choices
we’ve made. What, if anything would we like to change?
Well, a recent Facebook
discussion came to my mind. Someone asked if it would be ok to feed their dog a
certain human breakfast cereal. My response was a simple, no – it’s better to
feed dog food.
I was rather
surprised at the outburst that ensued. Surprised, not by the outburst itself,
but rather at the reason.
To explain:
there is a part of the dog owning world who strongly believe that dogs should
be fed raw food or at the very least, grain free food. I had responded to the
question without giving it very much thought. The argument that followed went
very must against the grain. (Pun intended, sorry!) Loads of people came out in support of
feeding cereal to their dogs for breakfast, surprisingly the opposite to what
I’d expect.
It was actually
a pleasant surprise – I’d found somewhere outwith my normal “reads”. The thing
is that, there is so much information around today that we each fall into
seeing only a very small portion of the world’s views. Indeed, these “truths”
are reinforced every day. But we are living in a tiny bubble. We generally
don’t see anything that encourages us to think differently.
Going back to
the breakfast story. The group in question are feeding along “traditional”
lines. They would be most likely shocked to hear the view of those pet owners
at the opposite end of the spectrum. But is either camp right?
Well, evolution
tells us that they both are. Dogs are a highly successful species. Their
predecessors adapted to take advantage of new biological niches; their
digestive systems evolved to be more able to use carbohydrates. As we humans changed
our lifestyles and started to grow crops, those canines who could digest carbohydrates
faired better than the others. There are now an estimated 525 million dogs in
the world as opposed to possibly only a few hundred thousand wolves.
There are of
course many reasons supporting the dog population explosion. But part of that
is most likely due to their highly adaptable digestive system. They can survive
and thrive on many types of foods from raw feeding to vegetarian diets. (Please
don’t shoot me down – I’m not saying either is good or better than the other. It’s
what science says.)
Once again
then, let’s get back to breakfast. Should dogs be fed breakfast meals designed
for humans? Traditionalists would say that it’s fine. Grain free addicts would
be appalled. Human nutritionists would say that the sugar and salt in many
human breakfast cereals is bad for all of us. Canine nutritionists would say
that dogs should be fed dog food (or a nutritionally balanced meal). Who’s right? Which group belief system matches
our personal world view?
Perhaps we’d
rather make up our own minds?
Well, several
years ago I started to question the potential links between canine nutrition
and behaviour. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a significant amount
of time studying the science of canine nutrition and researching the causes of
behavioural problems in dogs.
The result was
a book called The Good Dog Diet. The book explains the science, explores
beliefs, looks at various behavioural issues, and most importantly, provides
sufficient information to allow the reader to make up their own minds about how
and what to feed their dogs.
Would this be a
good new years resolution for you? Have a look at www.TheGoodDogDiet.com to find out
more. Or of course, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to
email anna@pawsability.co.uk.
First Published in the Northern Times, Dec 17
Author - Anna Patfield
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