Ancestral dog diet? page 2

[Kaylee99]

What is the link for your other thread? We are considering moving our dog to a raw diet but I have no idea how to get started. Doing research now so every little bit helps

[Metric]

If I feed my dogs chicken (emergency situation only.. supplier issues) My German shepherd starts itching.. probably more to do with what the chickens are fed though than actually being chickens.

Sounds like your dog is allergic to chicken. Mine is. I feed him duck instead.

[Metric]

What kind of dog do you have?

I used to have a chow chow, another ancient breed. They were used as guard dogs (then later as food!), and i have no idea what they were fed, but i know she did poorly on beef.

I have a Havanese. Some say chicken, duck herding, but I can't say fore sure...

[DinoHunter]

That's interesting, Dino. I guess it's true about the age of the breed - someone with a labradoodle/shipoo mix is on their own!

I wonder about older breeds that were bred for companionship. For instance, the shih tzu or pekingese. They wren't bred to hunt, but to sit at the emperor's side. Would they have basically eaten table scraps? Or maybe like you said, look at whatever breeds they came from.
.

In that case id look to what was available in that area/culture...
Being bred as lap dogs they most likely would have belonged to the higher class so my guess is that the diet would have been
a lot of what the owners ate (Probably off the same plate..)
& not peasant food

Sounds like your dog is allergic to chicken. Mine is. I feed him duck instead.

A lot of the "chicken allergy's" can be attributed to the diet the chickens are put on (all sorts of lovely hormones & soy etc) and not the actual chicken.
The few times hes had organic chicken, he hasent had a problem.. easier just to avoid it all together though

[DinoHunter]

Wild wolves will eat vegetable matter sometimes, but AFAIK it's generally a backup food to their preferred food, which is animals. I'm sure like most animals they'll also occasionally ingest particular plants instinctively for medicinal reasons (as purgatives or dewormers, etc.). I don't think plant food is in any way essential to a dog's health as long as they are getting a good variety of animal food that approximates a whole-prey diet (including skin, bones, organs, etc.).

Agreed.

I tend to think they view it as a bit of a treat to.. My Mastiff will go suck the berries off the bramble bushes and steals the local farmers strawberries.. He can also hear you peel a banana from the other room...

Kinda like me & Chocolate... I don't need Chocolate but im still gonna eat it cause its goooood.....

[cheekymonster]

The best thing about cooking for your dog is that you can steal their food! I didn't have time to get to the supermarket today so I ended up eating my dog's chicken.

[Miscellangela]

It's just so interesting to me. I was a vet tech for 15 years, and they never taught us much about nutrition because they wanted us to push the science diet crap. No wonder the dogs never wanted to eat it - have you read the ingredients on that stuff? Mostly grain!

[pitbullmamaliz]

My dog eats any meat that doesn't eat her first. She's on a total raw diet of mostly pork and chicken, along with beef when I can find affordable cuts; lots or organs, VERY occasionally fish, and the occasional non-raw treat just because I like her and think she's cute. ;-)

[Uncephalized]

My dog eats any meat that doesn't eat her first. She's on a total raw diet of mostly pork and chicken, along with beef when I can find affordable cuts; lots or organs, VERY occasionally fish, and the occasional non-raw treat just because I like her and think she's cute. ;-)

If that's her in your picture, she is adorable! I love Pitties. (well, the nice ones anyway--mean ones are a little scary!)

[seaweed]

The best thing about cooking for your dog is that you can steal their food! I didn't have time to get to the supermarket today so I ended up eating my dog's chicken.

i almost always buy the dog the people grade meat and organs for that very reason bar green tripe! most of the other raw petfood is that nebulous ground up stuff anyways and he has teeth. plus we arent allowed to eat horse in this house. the kids would riot lol