as so many of you know, I have switched my dogs to raw, and was happy to see that quite a few others seem to be making the switch right about the same time. It is nice to go through experiences with a group vs going it alone!
The biggest thing that has been bugging me about the whole raw experience is the insistance from so many raw feeders that domestic dogs and wolves are one and the same. They share just about the same mitochondrial DNA, and quote research done by 2 Drs proving this. Well. I did a bit of searching and I did find the Drs research. Which led me to the International Wolf Center. One of the Drs is still doing on-going research for them, all about wolves of course. I wrote them, and asked how THEY felt about the insistance that today's domestic dogs and wolves are the same animal, with precisely the same eating requirements. They wrote me back in a few hours! Here is what they said:
Wolves and domestic dogs ARE NOT THE SAME ANIMAL. They DO have the same origins, but it has been thousands of years since those origins, and today there DOES EXIST many physiological differences between dogs and wolves. There are also many behavioral differences. One of the differenecs they mentioned was receptor cells in the stomach that wolves have and dogs do not. A few other differences I found from the research are:
* wolves have longer muzzles than domestic dogs
* wolves have bigger teeth than domestic dogs
* a wolf's jaw has a biting pressure of 1000 psi
* a German shepherd's is 750 psi, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out a much smaller dog will have a much smaller bite strength.

SO, while they did agree that a raw diet may be as nutritionally healthy for a domestic dog as a wolf, there are physiological digestive differences between the two and caution needs to be exercised when feeding a domestic dog.

What did I get out of that?

First and foremost the insistance that a prey model diet is appropriate for all canines because they are in fact wolves is FALSE. They are NOT WOLVES. This comes from the International Wolf Center, and the guy that DID the research is still there. I absolutely believe they know what they are talking about.

Second, raw food is as nutritionally superior for domestic dogs as it is for wolves.

Third, the idea that cutting or grinding raw meat and bones is compromising the nutritional value of the raw food, because that does not follow a wild wolf's eating style is FALSE. A dog is not a wolf, there are differences and those differences should be taken into consideration when delivering the food to your dog's stomach.

So, for all the new raw feeders who's head is swimming with all the info out there; and who feel guilty and worried because they have been told that grinding or cutting up your dogs food is BAD for them; who don't want to force their gagging choking dog to eat it anyways because it's the BEST and only way, (because after all your dog is a wolf), grind and cut away! Your dog is NOT a wolf, and even though you KNEW your dog wasn't a wolf, and you KNEW gagging and choking couldn't be the BEST way for your dog to eat, it is always nice to get some clarification from the experts who have been referred to as the basis for the whole dog-is-wolf concept.



Cathy
when she first came home