Fellow dog owners - what food do you feed?

[sorraia]

I do point out with the above that, as you mentioned, there is still a lot we do not know about nutrition. Myself included. The facts are presented beautifully in your write up; I would argue about the omnivore classification, as we (who are omnivores) also lack a chambered stomach and an enlarged cecum (our cecum is actually our appendix). But I won't, as I respect the information as coming from someone who is knowledgeable in the field.

I am leaving the discussion until I have something more meaningful to add; have fun!!

Note: I'm not arguing... I just love a good discussion, and this is one subject I find fascinating.

Yes we don't have a chambered stomach (I'm not actually aware of any omnivores that do), and our caecum is not enlarged as it is in say... a rat, but there are other differences to look at. Our stomach isn't as large as a carnivore or even some other omnivores... but in dogs it is larger and capable of holding large meals. To meet metabolic needs, we are best suited for eating small meals throughout the day (similar to an herbivore who must also eat often, but different in that herbivores tend to eat on a fairly constant basis). But this differs from a carnivore (and dogs) in that a carnivore can get away with eating one large meal and subsisting off that for a few days. Our entire digestive system is a little longer than that of a dog (proportionately speaking), because plant matter (which as omnivores we eat more of than carnivores) takes longer to digest. We've got a few more digestive enzymes than a dog that helps us to digest plant matter. I'd have to look it up to be sure, but we might possibly even have more gut microbes than a dog too (which also help us to digest plant material).

Again, dogs aren't strict, obligate carnivores as felines are. But they aren't truly omnivorous either, like bears, raccoons, pigs, or humans. Just for curiosities sake, I pulled up pictures of skulls just to compare dentition (although again, dentition is only one small piece of the overall picture), unfortunately having to rely on the Internet since all of my skulls are packed away except for the cat skull sitting on my desk... There are striking differences between different species and eating habits. These differences in dentition show not only the differences between carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, but also the differences in specific fashions in eating. Cats have greatly reduced molars, and very sharp premolars, almost no flat surfaces at all. Dogs also have many sharp points, but their molars are a bit larger than that of a cat's, and their premolars do have some flatter (though not truly flat) surfaces. This shows the differences in eating habits: Cats tend to eat more meat and organ, and swallow bones almost whole, they shear and shred their food, they don't grind it. Dogs on the other hand eat meat and organ, but they'll also chew on larger bones to pull off the last bits of meat. They'll eat some plant matter. They don't grind food either, but they crush as well as shear and shred. Bone chewing uses premolars, not canines and incisors (any raw feeder that offers bone will see this, it's kind of fascinating to watch really). Bear on the other hand... they have larger and flatter molars. Even polar bears (who are pretty much purely carnivorous) have some flatter surfaces on their molars. This shows an ability to actually grind food, not just crush, shear, and shred. And actually, pigs and bears aren't doing nearly as much shredding and shearing as a dog or cat. Same thing seen in the dentition of a pig, and even a raccoon (although to a lesser extent in a raccoon... they tend to be a little more carnivorous, and when they do eat plant matter they are generally consuming softer plant parts, such as fruits).

Now looking at different canine skulls, you see differences too. Wolves are more carnivorous than coyotes, where a dog's dietary habits tend more toward that of a coyote. Foxes on the other hand, are more omnivorous than any of those. When you examine the dentition of wolves, coyotes, dogs, and foxes, dogs and coyotes are most similar to each other, while also resembling wolves, while foxes are the least similar. Proportionately speaking, the molars on a fox are actually a little bit larger than that on a dog (especially the last molar), and appear just a little bit flatter.

It's just all very interesting. Posting this for the sake of anyone interested.

Canine skulls:
http://www.sdnhm.org/archive/researc.../nwcanids.html
http://www.skullsite.co.uk/Redfox/redfox.htm
http://www.skullsite.co.uk/Greenland/greenland.htm

Bear skulls:
http://www.grizzlybay.org/LearnMore/...ybearteeth.htm
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/recor...nt.php?id=3452

Pig skulls:
http://anthropology.net/2007/09/04/a...ory/pig-skull/
http://www.skullsite.co.uk/Pig/pigdom.htm

Raccoon skulls:
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...coon-skull.php
http://cyborgsuzystock.deviantart.co...skull-35331866