How Dogs Digest Different Foods - Sy Guth

How Dogs Digest Different Foods

In 2007, I did a mini study with Golden Retriever puppies that was published in the December / January 2009 issue of NZ Dog World. These puppies were on different diets and all except two of the puppies were given added supplements as part of their diets. The study used a combination of diets mainly composed of dry dog food, with one puppy on a raw / home-cooked diet and one on a raw diet to 7 months and then dry dog food. The puppies that did the best in terms of hip score results at a year old were: Best – raw / home-cooked diet with no supplements / hip results 1:1; Second best – dry dog food combination with supplements / hip results 1:2; Third best – dry dog food combination with supplements / hip results 4:1. The digestive action on the different diets is important to the results achieved.

DOG'S DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

To understand how dogs digest different foods, one needs to understand how the dog’s digestive system works. Once understood, one can then determine what steps can be taken to compensate for any short-comings in diet, particularly in the first 18 months of a puppy’s life to ensure their bones, teeth, and tissues get a good start to life.

Dogs are carnivorous animals. They have sharp, blade-like molars designed for slicing, rather than grinding food. This design “is very effective for shearing meat off bone.”1 Their jaws are single hinged and designed to open wide to swallow chunks of meat whole.

“The saliva of carnivorous animals does not contain digestive enzymes. When eating, a mammalian carnivore gorges itself rapidly and does not chew its food. Since proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes cannot be liberated in the mouth due to the danger of autodigestion (damaging the oral cavity), carnivores do not need to mix their food with saliva; they simply bite off huge chunks of meat and swallow them whole.”

Here is the complete downloadable, printable article..