Dog Nutrition - What you need to know about feeding your dog

Is a dog able to live on a vegan diet?

I'm definitely going to say “no” to that question, and the simple reason why is dogs are carnivores. I'm not even talking about domestic though. Let's talk about dogs, canines. They are carnivorous animals. So to completely remove all animal protein from their diet is not how God created them. Can they live for a period of time? Heck yeah, they can. Would I recommend that you put a dog on a vegan diet long-term? My answer would be, "No."

Is wet food more nutritious than dry dog food?

If you ask the dog, absolutely. It's more nutritious. It tastes better. Just imagine, you get to eat a little piece of dry kibble that looks almost like cardboard, or you could eat this nice, juicy, wet dog food. Yeah, they're always going to choose that. Is it more nutritious? That’s a bit more complex. If you start reading the labels, most of the products—whether it's a prescription diet or regular maintenance diet—most of the formulations have very close to the same levels of proteins and carbohydrates and fats and those kinds of things. Normally, my vote is dry food. I know I didn’t make it sound very scrumptious, but it's better for the teeth. And I find it's a little bit easier to control your dog’s weight with dry food.

Are prescription diets better for my dog?

I'm going to answer that and say, "Only if your dog needs a prescription diet." Most of these prescription foods, and I underline the word most, not all, are formulated for dogs that have medical issues that require dietary changes to help treat medical issues such as kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, and diabetes. So for those cases, yes, prescription diets are superior. But if you have a young, healthy dog that has no underlying medical issues, the only thing that I would say is that a prescription diet might benefit the teeth.

If my dog eats grass, does that mean we are missing something in their diet?

I get this question a lot. My answer to that question has always been, "No, not necessarily, because you have to think about their diets.” Most of these commercially prepared diets are formulated to contain all the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and everything else they need. I would be a hard person to convince that they're not getting enough in those diets. And now they've got to start seeking out grass—that doesn’t make sense.

What I have seen and anybody that's owned a dog that eats grass will probably see is that they usually throw the grass right back up. It’s hard to find a known cause in literature, but I think that when they feel nauseous, they will seek grass out to empty their stomachs and hopefully make them feel better. This is only my impression and my interpretation, but that is what I have seen. That's what I've seen in my own dogs for the 30, 40 years I've owned them.

Will human food make my dog overweight?

No more than it'll make us overweight. Everything in moderation. I'm not a big fan of feeding table food, people food, human food, or whatever you want to call it. It's not balanced very well for dogs. Does that mean it can't be done? Of course not. If you are feeding a balanced diet that contains what they need, it is fine. But the question about being overweight or not because of that food, no, it's everything in moderation. If you feed a lot of it, yes they could very well be overweight.

What are some other myths about dog nutrition that you hear as a veterinarian?

Right now? What I hear so much about is grain-free diets. That's the biggest one because they think their dogs have allergies and they're going to put them on grain-free and everybody's going to live happily ever after. And let me just say that if your dog is allergic to grain, then yeah, you might live happily ever after. But that's the only reason. If they're not allergic to that, why do it?

If I'm allergic to strawberries, I'm not going to quit eating steak or anything like that. It just doesn't make sense. Not to mention one of the things I will say about grain-free diets and a lot of the public is still not aware of, and I won't go into great detail, but there has been plenty of studies that show that there is a correlation between dogs who eat grain-free diets that developed premature cardiovascular disease or heart disease if you will.

You will find a plethora of information out there about the potential dangers of a grain-free diet. Unless a dog has been proven to be allergic to grains, I don't recommend grain-free diets. And that's one of the big misconceptions that I hear on a weekly basis.