Is the dog an obligate carnivore? Myth or truth

Is the dog really an obligate carnivore - or does it eat more than just meat? When it comes to the proper nutrition of our four-legged friends, there are many opinions, assumptions and myths.

One of the most common is that the dog only needs meat or a lot of meat to stay healthy. But is that really true? We have examined the myth "The dog is an obligate carnivore" from a veterinary perspective and shed light on the real nutritional needs of our dogs. In this blog post, you will find out whether and how plant-based ingredients belong in your dog's bowl and what a species-appropriate, balanced diet looks like.

Be surprised by what science has to say on this topic and how you can help your dog achieve a completely healthy diet!

Unfortunately, this assumption of many people that the dog is an obligate carnivore is not correct. The dog is a carnivore-omnivore, so an omnivore. Its digestive tract and metabolism are not designed for the exclusive intake of foods of animal origin.

In the community with humans, the dog has become more and more of an omnivore over the millennia. Already in the Baroque period, the most valuable, most expensive pack dogs were predominantly fed with "dog bread" for long pursuit hunts.

Also in the further course, in which the dog is increasingly in the urbanized society of humans, it is naturally dependent on the food allocation of humans. This included only to a small extent, also for humans, very valuable muscle meat.

Read also: Dog food – Frequently asked questions briefly answered

But also a closer look at nature shows that the wolf is not an obligate carnivore.

It eats the most diverse prey animals, which have a completely different composition than a one-sidedly composed muscle meat (see table below).

On the other hand, the wolf is also not a strict prey eater. Depending on the supply situation, age and availability, it also eats plant material, such as: grasses, roots, fruits, leaves, excrement of herbivores and other waste.

The primary goal of nature and all life is also species preservation and thus the focus of the wolf is on rapid and successful reproduction.

The goal is therefore not to ensure as long a life as possible. Very few wolves live longer than 5 years in the wild, but this is the expectation in today's society, which wants to understand the dog as a partner.

So the assumption that the dog is an obligate carnivore is not correct. Our feeding should be aimed at long-lasting health and not at short-lived reproduction. This makes a huge difference.

Therefore, it is recommended for the domestic dog, just like for humans, to consume high-quality fiber. They regulate digestion, promote intestinal health and relieve the kidneys and liver.

Dogs are probably the first domesticated animals ever.

According to genome analyses, domestication began at least 10,000 years ago. Fossil finds even go back to 33,000 BC. This is a long time in which the dog has not fed like its wild ancestors.

By now, it is known that dogs can effectively digest starch (carbohydrates). Recently, even the important, i.e., altered genes for this were deciphered (Axelsson et al. 2013).

Through this adaptation in the genome, the dog has gained a high digestive capacity for starch. Up to two-thirds of the total energy intake can even be carbohydrates without any problems.

In the table you can clearly see the nutritional differences between a prey animal, such as a rodent, and a piece of muscle meat, as we humans eat it or also feed it.