Massive recall of dog AND cat food

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

What, does he think that wild dogs all tuck in to little chrome bowls of Alpo out in the wilderness? They're dogs. They'll eat crap. Literally.

Except that most domestic dogs are removed from their wild heritage by centuries and centuries of breeding. Therefore the processes of natural selection that allow wild dogs to be more tolerant of a wide variety of less-than-ideal food does not necessary apply to domesticated dogs. Plus, the plethora of preservatives and the like in food produced for people may pose a greater risk to dogs (in all likelihood, no one's spent much time testing either way). I don't think wild dogs eat much MSG or dimethyl polysiloxane. The bottom line is, it's a big unknown and if you have the choice of giving them food with as few non-"natural" (yes, I am aware of what a poor term "natural" is in this context, but I think there's a good enough common-sense feel for what that is) ingredients as possible then the dog's probably better off for it.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Except that most domestic dogs are removed from their wild heritage by centuries and centuries of breeding. Therefore the processes of natural selection that allow wild dogs to be more tolerant of a wide variety of less-than-ideal food does not necessary apply to domesticated dogs. Plus, the plethora of preservatives and the like in food produced for people may pose a greater risk to dogs (in all likelihood, no one's spent much time testing either way). I don't think wild dogs eat much MSG or dimethyl polysiloxane. The bottom line is, it's a big unknown and if you have the choice of giving them food with as few non-"natural" (yes, I am aware of what a poor term "natural" is in this context, but I think there's a good enough common-sense feel for what that is) ingredients as possible then the dog's probably better off for it.

Yeah, those are all good points, and I'm sure that there's plenty of evidence pointing to their veracity, but I personally don't think that there's as much separating feral dogs in the wild and domesticated pet dogs as we pet owners would like to believe. It takes little for a dog to go from domestic house dog to feral wild animal. If a dog is sadly abandoned it will revert back to its instincts and behave somewhat as it would if it were natively wild. I’ve seen this in dogs back where my family is from in Montana. Vice versa, many wild dogs are frequently bred into domesticated lines (wolves, dingos, etc) with some ease and tamed and such. I may of course be wrong but I'd bet that it would go the same way as far as the dog's ability to eat "people food" or "natural food." Of course, I'm just conjecturing and may be full of crap. Any dog breeders or vets around?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Jazzman

I may of course be wrong but I'd bet that it would go the same way as far as the dog's ability to eat "people food" or "natural food." Of course, I'm just conjecturing and may be full of crap. Any dog breeders or vets around?

I don't disagree, however I would be willing to wager that feral dogs' life expectancy and general well being are on average well bellow that of a well taken care of domesticated dog. Tossing your dog a piece of microwave popcorn every once in a while isn't going to kill it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to their overall diet.

I can eat hamburgers, bacon, fried chicken and drink nothing but soda all day every day and I wouldn't die instantly. But there'd be better than good odds that I'd be cutting my life short.

[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I don't disagree, however I would be willing to wager that feral dogs' life expectancy and general well being are on average well bellow that of a well taken care of domesticated dog.

That's a good point. I had forgot to include actual lifespan in my thinking. It probably is much shorter in the wild. I do doubt that there are a lot of twenty year old feral black labs running around.