A dog is not a wolf
Species-appropriate nutrition through the ages
Over a period of many tens of thousands of years, the dog has become man's loyal four-legged companion and work colleague. Through domestication and finally targeted breeding, the dog has changed so much that one can hardly recognize the relationship to the wolf: the bits have changed, the sizes anyway, especially the energy needs are completely different from those of the wolf: the wolf lays in the wild back up to 50 kilometers or more every day, while the family dog's walk rarely goes further than seven or eight kilometers.
Domestication is a profound, genetically altering process. Not only that there are no longer any of the wolf species that were originally domesticated. Much has changed on the way from wolf to dog, even skin growth has changed in the course of domestication. The dog is still related to the wolf, but now the two are organically so different that one should no longer compare their diets.
The digestive mechanism is also no longer the same - not even the length of the intestine can be compared, because it already varies between large and small dogs.
An evolution study from the University of Uppsala in Sweden shows that dogs and their diets have evolved and changed at the same time as that of humans. This is no wonder, because the dog has lived closely with farmers for thousands of years, who mainly had grain and starch on the menu. The dog can digest and tolerate both very well - in contrast to its more original relative, the wolf. The researchers found that dogs can digest carbohydrates and plant-based foods significantly better than wolves. Thirty copies of the gene that starts the breakdown of starch in the digestive tract have been discovered in dogs, whereas wolves only have two of these genes. The scientists even found a certain variant of the gene that is necessary for the further breakdown of starch only in dogs.
The dog is - unlike the wolf - accordingly by no means primarily a carnivore. In the long run, a wolf would not be able to survive on a diet with, for example, 50% meat & 50% carbohydrates. A dog could very well - and very well. This does not mean that from now on you can only give your dog rice porridge to eat. However, it is said that a balanced, high-quality diet for the dog requires a moderate supply of energy with less fat and an adapted protein content and a balanced ratio of meat, grain and vegetables.
(Source: Happy Dog)
