# Do Dogs Really NEED Fruits & Vegetables?



## mitzi (Aug 3, 2010)

My Vet says they don't and never ate them in the wild unless they were starving. Of course my vet has said some dumb things in the past if you will remember any of my previous posts regarding things like feeding only raw chickens, but this has me wondering.

I see no harm in some fruits and veggies but are they really necessary?


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## Pareeeee (Sep 29, 2009)

Well as most people know (but obviously not your vet) is that, while being in the order Carnivora, they still have a few omnivorous traits. That's the difference between dogs and cats, cats being true carnivores and dogs are more omnivorous.

Dogs that are being fed a well balanced dogfood don't _need_ vegetables but I see no problem in giving your pup some carrot, broccoli, celery or spinach as treats.

Don't just take my word for it though, do some googling and wait for a few more answers by others


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## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

I personally don't like the idea of feeding plants to my dogs. That might be just me, but I don't believe they are designed to process those foods. Dogs are physically structured to eat raw meat. 

(Dang it! I wish I could still be feeding RAW *sigh* only 4 more months!)


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Need? Probably not. Presumably, dogs might eat the digested vegetables out of a plant-eater's stomach (or while eating the stomach).

I don't know dogs aren't physically designed to eat veggies - I mean, are they designed to eat crackers? (Of course, Wally would say "YES - YES WE ARE!" LOL). Not saying they ARE, but if dogs weren't designed to eat plants - wouldn't all plants hurt them and wouldn't it be a definitive DO NOT FEED like it is for grapes (and related products), apple seeds, chocolate, and onions?

Heck, potatoes and pumpkin can be good for them. Those are also vegetables (well pumpkins are a fruit).

That said, I HAVE read that if you do want to feed vegetables, the biggest thing is breaking down the plant cell walls. Dogs don't have the enzymes or whatnot to break them down to get the vitamins and stuff out of the plant itself. So putting them in a blender or boiling them would help with that.


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## mitzi (Aug 3, 2010)

Active Dog said:


> I personally don't like the idea of feeding plants to my dogs. That might be just me, but I don't believe they are designed to process those foods. Dogs are physically structured to eat raw meat.
> 
> (Dang it! I wish I could still be feeding RAW *sigh* only 4 more months!)


Why can't you feed raw? Sorry, I don't get to read or post here much, and actually I shouldn't be doing that today! I'm being bad!


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## MoosMom (Sep 15, 2009)

Yoshi is on RAW. He get's bananas as treats, but not because I think he needs them. And that's it for fruits. He doesn't like vegies. He had excellent blood work back in October when he ate 2lbs of grapes and ended up at the ER. So I vote NO they don't actually need them.


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## philovance (Jan 7, 2009)

Just to play devil's advocate here: today's dogs are subject to environmental stresses that dogs in the wild never were, just as humans are. And I should think that just as humans remain healthier if they consume antioxidants, so would other mammals. Aren't fruits and vegetables relatively rich in antioxidants?


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## mitzi (Aug 3, 2010)

philovance said:


> Just to play devil's advocate here: today's dogs are subject to environmental stresses that dogs in the wild never were, just as humans are. And I should think that just as humans remain healthier if they consume antioxidants, so would other mammals. Aren't fruits and vegetables relatively rich in antioxidants?


Some yes, blueberries and cranberries I know are rich in antioxidants. IDK for certain about the other fruits & veggies. My dog will eat all of the steamed vegetables I mix in with his homecooked, but wants nothing to do with raw carrots, apples or bananas. He loves tomato sauce and pasta, I never offer him any people cake or cookie, I know that is poison for them.


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## kosmeds (Mar 21, 2010)

Beagles who got 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day lived longer and did better than those who did not. 

Dogs don't need meat but they do need a certain intake of particular vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids.

They also do better with some antioxidant protection, which is usually best from whole foods rather than supplements. And almost invariably of plant origin.


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## Loki Love (May 23, 2010)

kosmeds said:


> Beagles who got 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day lived longer and did better than those who did not.


Can you please provide a link to that study?


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## Horseshoe (Nov 10, 2010)

Yes I'd like to read that study as well.


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## mitzi (Aug 3, 2010)

kosmeds said:


> Beagles who got 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day lived longer and did better than those who did not.
> 
> Dogs don't need meat but they do need a certain intake of particular vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids.
> 
> They also do better with some antioxidant protection, which is usually best from whole foods rather than supplements. And almost invariably of plant origin.


I'm more interested in the "Dogs don't need meat" statement as what I have been reading is dogs *only* need meat


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## kosmeds (Mar 21, 2010)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19703441

Most people have no clue about diets. If anyone makes a claim, ask for a study. There is no biological requirement for meat in their diets but there are lots of requirements for various vitamins and minerals. All those dog food ranking sites that rank based only on meat content are junk. 

But dogs do need B12, adequate amino acids, etc. so if you don't give them meat you have to give them some other means of getting what they need.

One of the oldest dogs in the world was a vegan. 
http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0209/articles/020918a.htm

It takes a bit of brains and effort to make a vegan diet work for a dog, though. 

I have one of those nutrient calculators and the National Academies Press book on Nutrient Requirements for Dogs. I use a little bit of fish and eggs but mostly beans with various starch or fruit sources: oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, apples, etc.. Plus lots of veggies, usually pureed greens. The calciumhosphorus ratio is also critical.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Thanks for the link!
"The antioxidant diet included cellular antioxidants (vitamins E and C, fruits and vegetables) and mitochondrial cofactors (lipoic acid and carnitine)."

So the diet got the vitamin E and C from plant material. Carnitine is found in higher concentration in meats than in plants. Lipoic acid is found in both plants and animals. My raw fed dog gets plenty of vitamin C which he ought to be synthesizing himself from the organs fed. I do supplement vitamin E but he gets a lot from fish, egg, chicken skin and beef as well. What about omega 3? Why wasn't that mentioned in the abstract?

Yes you can formulate a diet without meat that will adequately nourish a dog or you can feed meat, a little bone and organ in variety and not work so hard at it. Max really enjoys the workout figuring out how to eat his varied diet which must count toward the behavioral enrichment part of the study. I am amazed that a senior dog can improve his body condition once he got enough protein. 

Fish and egg counts as meat. I would have no problem feeding my dog a diet based on those foods if he wasn't able to eat mammalian or avian meats. My dog does poorly on grains and cannot digest veggies no matter how well processed. Beans have good quality protein but far less of it than meat, unsure how well he would do on them. Max would need to eat 4 ounces of canned kidney beans to get the same amount of protein he gets from an ounce of raw top sirloin meat for instance. After seeing his condition improve so dramatically getting 1.6 grams of protein per pound of dog I really want him to get his protein!

There is also no biological requirement for carbohydrates of which you are offering up plenty. The natural foods that naturally provide all of what dogs require in the correct proportions are all meats. Dogs do digest some carbohydrates as some glycogens are found in organs, but carbohydrates found in plants must be be very well processed in order for the dogs to get any value from them.

There have been a number of studies comparing digestibility of meat protein to vegetable protein. Plant based foods can work but meat is more efficient seems to me.
http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/79/8/2162.pdf?ck=nck
Another
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1250243/
and here is the one I was looking for.
http://www.iams.com/dog-article/importance_of_animal-based_proteins_in_dog_foods.aspx

Max not only improved condition because of the protein, the fat helped his coat tremendously. How much fat is your dog getting?

Good job on feeding your dog though, that is a lot of work.


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## kosmeds (Mar 21, 2010)

*Carnitine is found in higher concentration in meats than in plants. Lipoic acid is found in both plants and animals. *

There's no requirement for either of those.

*What about omega 3? *

They require 110 mg of alpha linolenic acid, the one obtainable from plants, per 1000 kcal of food as per NRC requirements. AAFCO requires 0.

*My dog does poorly on grains and cannot digest veggies no matter how well processed. *

They are fine pureed and cooked. I use collards and broccoli mostly.


*There is also no biological requirement for carbohydrates of which you are offering up plenty.* 

Nor for humans. But so many other good things accompany foods that are rich in them. 

*There have been a number of studies comparing digestibility of meat protein to vegetable protein. Plant based foods can work but meat is more efficient seems to me.*

They are about an order of magnitude LESS efficient to produce. I try to stay lower on the food chain. It's doable, it can produce healthy animals.

*How much fat is your dog getting?*

They were getting about 10 g of linoleic acid and about 6 g of ALA per 1000 kcal each, with flax, walnuts, and egg yolk. But they're both gone now. I'm not feeing the new puppy exclusively with home cooked food yet. She just gets it as a treat for now.

*Good job on feeding your dog though, that is a lot of work.*

It's not, really. My dogs got used to it, and on the occasions when I got lazy and used commercial food as backup they acted as if I were trying to torture them. You can download cron-o-meter for free (it's a nutrient analysis calculator) and use the doggie micro- and macronutrient requirements to give them good nourishment that is lower on the food chain. You can use meat as a flavoring agent. 

Mine really loved beans. I had best luck with the quick-cooking ones--lentils, split peas, and blackeyed peas. You get a full protein contingent when they are combined with starches. I usually used potatoes or sweet potatoes for that. I never had a problem with grains though. Mine did great with oatmeal also.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

personally, i feel that if you want to feed a pet vegetarian then you should get a pet that is naturally vegetarian, not a dog. but that is my personal opinion.

i have 2 dogs that i feed raw. they do not get any grains, fruits, veggies, nothing like that. well, they do get the occasional piece of sweet potato or carrot when i am cooking them for my husband and i. they are happy and healthy and love what they eat.


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## Horseshoe (Nov 10, 2010)

Yea I'm stickin to the meat as well for my dogs, I totally agree with ioreks mom. My horses are vegetarians but my dogs are not. Yes they get veggies because we eat them every night so they do get offered them but they don't eat them but they do scarff up the meat. I offered brocoli last night, the only one that took it was Mollie (puppy) and I found it shredded on her dog bed, she enjoyed playing with it but didn't eat it.

Mine get raw a few times a week but their main kibble is grain free.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

study the physiology of dogs.

they do not have the physiology to eat plant material. let's not confuse their relationship with wolves and their physiology.

it's their physical make up that allows me to believe that protein/bone/organs are what they need to thrive.

veggies and fruits have sugar which is poison to the pancreas and teeth.

veggies and fruits have to be pureed to pass through the digestive tract of dogs

dogs are carnivores and are built like carnivores. their bodies are wonderfully designed for raw with no veggies and fruit.

better to look at the anatomy and physiology of dogs than any study out there.....because quite frankly, there are not enough studies that are independent for dog's needs food wise....and the ones that ARE out there are generally funded by dog food processed food companies.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

Horseshoe said:


> Yea I'm stickin to the meat as well for my dogs, I totally agree with ioreks mom. My horses are vegetarians but my dogs are not. Yes they get veggies because we eat them every night so they do get offered them but they don't eat them but they do scarff up the meat. I offered brocoli last night, the only one that took it was Mollie (puppy) and I found it shredded on her dog bed, she enjoyed playing with it but didn't eat it.
> 
> Mine get raw a few times a week but their main kibble is grain free.


my dogs are the same. i offer the veggies and they will take them but most of the time iorek doesn't eat them. iorek takes them and plays with them and then brom will eat them. he will eat anything and everything...  haha!


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

I dont feed fruits and veggies to mine on a regular basis, they get fresh ground tripe which I feel is a more natural way to obtain what they could need from plant matter, and seeing as though the cow who's stomach they are eating has already digested most of the grasses perhaps its easier for the dogs??? Not scientific but I try to remain as close to prey model as possible for my guys.
Its been 5 years now and not a single problem and all blood work comes back with in good range of where it is supposed to be so somethings working right?
I dont have a problem with people feeding veggies to their dogs. Our bully gets a carrot a day because he loves them and when I'm going out to give them to the horses he is going crazy to get one too.


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## kyle6286 (Jan 4, 2011)

mitzi said:


> My Vet says they don't and never ate them in the wild unless they were starving. Of course my vet has said some dumb things in the past if you will remember any of my previous posts regarding things like feeding only raw chickens, but this has me wondering.
> 
> I see no harm in some fruits and veggies but are they really necessary?


I always feed my dog baby carrots and he loves bananas and apples. I'm not sure whether or not they're necessary, but I don't think they are harmful, at least in moderation. Also, your dog is so cute. We have a shih tzu also. Very cute dogs!


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

MagicRe said:


> veggies and fruits have to be pureed to pass through the digestive tract of dogs


This statement doesn't make any sense to me. My dogs have not experienced any blockages due to eating fruits & vegetables, and I've certainly never seen a whole carrot come out in their poop, lol.

I like to give my kids veggies. Fruits and vegetables are great as low-calorie treats too. Do they NEED them? I don't honestly know.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

i don't think she was saying that they would cause blockages but that dogs can't digest them. 

when my boys eat carrots their poops are orange speckled. definitely not digested!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Mine too. The reason Max gets no veggies now is the pumpkin poop. If I put a plop of pumpkin from the can next to the poop in question you could not have told the difference. I finely grated sweet potato and mixed it in boiling food, both dogs pooped out tiny flecks of orange.

Max doesn't eat much human grade meat. He gets tripe, trim, heads, fetal lambs, necks, feet, organs that are waste and doomed to go to the renderer or he gets meats past dated that is also doomed to go to the renderer. You don't need to make your carnivore eat low on the food chain to feed greener.


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## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

CoverTune said:


> This statement doesn't make any sense to me. My dogs have not experienced any blockages due to eating fruits & vegetables, and I've certainly never seen a whole carrot come out in their poop, lol.
> 
> I like to give my kids veggies. Fruits and vegetables are great as low-calorie treats too. Do they NEED them? I don't honestly know.


Actually...funny story lol. I was taking Ava on a walk a few months ago and stumbled upon one of many poop piles, only this one was just a bit different. I thought it was blood in it, however upon further inspection it was whole baby carrots and whole pieces of corn stuck in the poop. I know gross but it was intresting non-the-less just knowing that whatever dog had eaten these carrots whole obviously didn't digest them properly.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Active Dog said:


> Actually...funny story lol. I was taking Ava on a walk a few months ago and stumbled upon one of many poop piles, only this one was just a bit different. I thought it was blood in it, however upon further inspection it was whole baby carrots and whole pieces of corn stuck in the poop. I know gross but it was intresting non-the-less just knowing that whatever dog had eaten these carrots whole obviously didn't digest them properly.


Same!! I used to give Cadence baby carrots as training treats (hey they're cheaper than meat!) but once he got really bad diarrhea and I saw pieces of orange carrots in his poo. Nasty, I know, but I realized that he wasn't digesting any of it! So no more veggies for him, unless it's boiled first. He gets apples (his favourite), bananas, guavas, and sometimes berries but really he gets these only very rarely.


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## Angel's_mom (May 26, 2010)

See, that's what happens when Angel eats rice or a meat and rice dog food. When she was on the lamb and rice dog food I could see the little ground up rice bits in her poop but it didn't dawn on me until she got sick one week and I gave her the "bland diet" of boiled chicken and rice. Her poop looked like straight up rice. ICK! That's when I switched her to a grain free feed. Oddly, she eats baby carrots and apple slices and I haven't noticed that in her poop. I do give her treats made with oatmeal and barley, because she seems to prefer bready treats over meaty ones, but I use them sparingly. Has anyone tried Maxie's Mix treats? 

Sorry, I got off topic here.:redface:


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

thanks everyone...you explained better than i did...my bad.

i think the bigger question is...do dogs need sugar?

and the answer is not only no, but hell no.....

the fact that dogs like veggies and fruit is the same as dogs and humans liking cake and icecream. veggies, especially carrots...and fruit, especially bananas...just as examples make my dogs salivate...but sugar feeds disease and causes bad teeth. that alone is a reason not to feed it.

the fact that dogs don't digest fruits and veggies and grains.... physiologically.....and they really should be pureed to make it pass through the digestive tract so it can act as fibre...in the absence of natural fibre which is bone and cartilage and tendon...etc.....means that dogs are carnivores, not omnivores and certainly not herbivores.


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## MusherChic (Nov 6, 2010)

None of my guys will eat a raw piece of vegetable or fruit. They will scarf it up if I hand them one but the next second they spit it out and look at me like I just tried to feed them poison. 
I feed a kibble that is fish and chicken based and has lots of vitamins and minerals in it and is grain free. Aside from their food I don't think it is necessary to give them any veggies (they wouldn't eat them anyway) as they do fine on their kibble. I also will feed the sled dogs a raw ground chicken meat in the winter during racing season.
kosmeds,
I'm curious, whats your reason for feeding vegan?


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

kosmeds said:


> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19703441
> 
> Most people have no clue about diets. If anyone makes a claim, ask for a study. There is no biological requirement for meat in their diets but there are lots of requirements for various vitamins and minerals. All those dog food ranking sites that rank based only on meat content are junk.
> 
> ...


the interesting thing is the fact that you allude to your dog's foods being "pureed" etc.

ANYone with solid grounding in biology will tell you that animal based nutrients are exponentially more accessible in digestion than ANY plant matter. period. This is the reason why herbivores often have extremely long digestive systems with multiple stomachs, have to eat almost continuously the majority of the time that they are awake and there are many who chew their food, swallow, digest for while and then hork it back up to chew on it some more.

a dog is a carnivore by definition due to the structure of their bodies as well as their evolved behavior patterns..

BUT..

you have to consider the extreme variability within the populations of breeds coming from an extreme range of areas, habitats, situations..etc.

there is a biological requirement for meat if foods are to be fresh. period. the high ph of the dog stomach, the dentition, the short digestive tract all bear witness to that fact. but dogs are also by nature scavengers and some may have developed an increased capacity to _tolerate_ vegetable matter.

there's no rational reason to feed a dog a vegan diet and personally i think it's a bit mean. but its your dog and you want to bother with all that unnatural prep..that's your problem..just hope no one ever eats meat in front of your dog.


i agree with Iorek's mom..you want a vegetarian animal...get a rabbit.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

While I wouldn't feed a dog a meat-less diet (that doesn't make sense), I'm not going to go into freak out mode because Wally's eaten rice, pasta, pancakes, carrots, green beans, potatoes, cheese, eggs, breads, crackers, lemon pound cake, bones, ground beef, and of course his regular food (not all at once, obviously LOL, but he gets some of all of that between training and what not over the years).

The only thing (other than poisonous/will-kill-him) he's not allowed is pork because that DOES give him digestive problems.

Wally's weight is stable, his teeth and coat are doing well and his poop is normal in all ways, and he's got tons of energy.

I don't know if he's one of those breeds that's adapted (who knows what the first Cotons ate on Madagascar) but I'm seeing no adverse effects to him eating some of those other things.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

hey KB...

not really sure what you're responding to because i wasnt talking about you. im well aware of what you feed Wally too. i read your training threads regularly. i have issues with a VEGAN diet for dogs. I think it's mean. their brains are wired to want meat. their bodies are built for it. their temperament were ALL based on the natural temperament of a social predator. even the Bolo who CAN NOT eat most vegetable products gets the occasional french fry. but the entire reason we get along with dogs and have found them so very useful arises directly from the fact that they are social carnivores. from my perspective, feeding vegan like forcing them to scavenge. 

that's just my opinion of course but it's not totally unfounded lol.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

My dogs like veggies that have been pureed, and I give them lettuce leaf for the LOL factor. Dude shakes it then leaves it, and Tag pounces it, attacks it, stalks it out of the corner of his eye, and eventually shreds it. Then I clean it up. I don't think they "need" veggies anymore than I need the ice cream bars that are in my freezer (I, too, am stalking them out of the corner of my eye). But they seem to enjoy them, and there have been no ill-effects that I can see. I know there are certain vegetables that can depress the thyroid if fed too much, so I'm aware, but not paranoid. Mostly they get raw meat or RMB's (ground) with THK, and kibble here and there and for training treats.


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## Gally (Jan 11, 2012)

Is it odd that I don't see any distinguishable pieces in my dogs poop of vegetables after feeding them to my dog whole and raw? He gets the occasional baby carrot, broccoli, beans or peas as a treat. I don't think he needs them but I am sometimes amazed at how well he seems to be able to digest them. He's also had pumpkin and I see no obvious trace of it coming out.


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## Roloni (Aug 5, 2011)

My dog is chasing a coconut around the house right now..
Its probably the best dog toy shes ever had..and i think its a fruit.


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## Choccy (Apr 23, 2012)

I find that my boys do best on the BARF or Raw if you like diet. Ive tried adding the occasional veggie to this ( which was ignored). At the end of the day a dog may survive on a vegan diet but will he thrive on it ?


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

i have fed my dogs barf, which is with veggies, fruits and/or grains and i've fed them a prey model which does not include veggies, fruits or grains.

personally, i think they do better without veggies or fruits and definitely not grains. whilst we might disagree whether or not dogs are omnivores, they are most certainly not herbivores....

i like the idea that their pancreas is not pressured in any way by sugars present in vegetables and fruits. they have a shorter digestive tract than we do and they may have some ability to digest plant matter for survival but it's more of an opportunistic thing, rather than a necessity.

i never noticed veggies at the stool end of things, either....i do feed certain plant matters for specific reasons...i.e. coconut oil because it's all around awesome for their skin and ground pumpkin seeds for worming....if necessary.


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

The internet is a scary place. Anyone can say anything about anything. before you believe the first thing you hear, best to cross and triple reference things. 

That being said, I believe dogs are opportunistic carnivores with omnivorous tendencies. Yeah, I made that term up myself. 

It is pretty basic biology. Look at a known carnivore (cat). Sharp pointy teeth meant for gripping, killing and tearing. Short digestive tract meant to move bacteria laden meats through quickly.

Look at an omnivore (human). Blunt flat teeth meant for grinding (plant cells need pulverized). Long digestive tract to break down plant cells (capable of breaking down animal cells too). 

Dogs look more like the first one, no? Their closest relatives do not stalk fields of corn but they do stalk the deer within those fields.
Dogs are survivors. They can survive the carbs and sugars we give them from kibble. But they do not thrive on them very well. 

I don't know why the debate still exists but I feed my dogs raw meat because it just makes sense. I think fruits and veggies as an OCCASIONAL treat is alright but keep in mind many fruits are high in sugar and dogs do not respond well to too much cruciferous plants (no good for thyroid).


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Here is a study about wolves in Latvia (canis lupus) and how they don't eat plants hardly at all.
http://www.kirj.ee/public/Ecology/2009/issue_2/ecol-2009-2-141-152.pdf


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

My opinion on this ...

I am not sure if they need vegetables or not. I do know I was given a sample bag of NB vegetarian formula and my dogs will not touch it ... even as a treat. But they will eat fresh peas and green beans that I have blanched for them, and carrots raw. The Blue Basic Turkey and potato digestive sensitivities I just purchased has fruit and veggies in it and they love it! 

I personally would never want my dogs on a vegetarian diet ... but when food was scarce in the wild before they were domesticated ... IMHO I believe they ate what they had to ... to survive.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

Sibe said:


> Here is a study about wolves in Latvia (canis lupus) and how they don't eat plants hardly at all.
> http://www.kirj.ee/public/Ecology/2009/issue_2/ecol-2009-2-141-152.pdf


that is beautiful. 

and i believe during the summer or late summer, the smell of blueberries is enticing. sugar, after all is sugar. and so much easier to eat than chasing down something.

i have not a doubt in the world that wolves eat plants and berries...but i also believe the reason is opportunity, not need.

in italy, there is a vinyard...the people who run it, cordon off a section for the wild animals, specifically wolves.....so they will leave the rest of the vinyard alone.

i believe it.

i also see wolves who live in alaska, eat salmon heads right along side of bears....

i've seen pictures of wolves eating plants. they were hungry.

i only know that sugar is not a good idea nor is processed food. so i don't feed it.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Hamilton gets bits of veg when I'm cooking dinner. It keeps him quiet, attentive, and nearby when I'm cooking if bits of veg "accidentally" fall off the counter periodically. He does also pick up whatever scraps fall on the floor. My husband has a bad habit of walking around the house with a full bowl of Cheerios in the morning, and since we got Hamilton, I no longer find the "hansel and gretel" trail of Cheerios around the house! I don't think there's any harm in it - it certainly doesn't make up a large percentage of his diet, and it has certainly helped him learn that if you hang close and quiet around your people, food will rain from the heavens!


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