Digestion-Where does it begin

Everyone didn't agree

 
Isn't that the case with almost every subject in life []
 
Just because people don't always agree, it doesn't mean that we can't all be amicable and have an adult debate. Personally, I enjoy a good debate and have learned alot from them. I'm very open minded, but it takes alot more than opinion to change my mind.
 
I suppose that we are going to believe what we want to believe in the end, regardless. Disagreement has lead to many a scientific breakthrough. After all, it wouldn't be science if every one agreed or took anothers word for fact without proof.
 
 

Keep in mind folks, dogs naturally gulp their food.  I give my dog bite size pieces of chicken or meat, it is literally gone in a split second.  How could any possible digestion take place in that quick of time?  Kibble however forces a dog to chew, otherwise they may choke (nasty kibble).  One could argue if digestion does start in the dogs mouth, it is forced upon the dog because of foods we choose to feed, but not the digestion process nature had intended for the dog.

My dog chews just about everything, even things he's not going to eat, like the toy football or a twig. If I tear off a piece of chicken to give him, he will chomp on it at least once to determine its size but won't have to wet it down with saliva because it's already wet from being chicken. If I gave him bigger chunks, he would have to chew more to break them down into smaller pieces.
 
Once, when I was giving him beef ribs, he would have to pull, shear, and chew to get them down to bite-size. I think dogs are practical. If the food is already small enough, they will gulp but if it's bigger they will chew it down to size. So, large breed kibble would be bigger, to make them chew instead of gulp. Some things, humans don't have to chew, like water (unless it's from the Brazos River during turnover []).

My dog chews everything alot (but yet, he is a small breed dog and that is common).  However, my parent's 50lb dog chews everything a great deal as well.  

asking proposals to achieve peace in the Middle East.

You say yes digestion in dogs begins in the mouth. I say no digestion in dogs doesn't begin in the mouth.

Now what?

Peace in the Middle East is better suited in a political forum or a forum for science fiction ideas.[]

[linkhttp://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/salivary.html]http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/salivary.html[/link]

Includes prehension, mastication, salivary preparation prior to swallowing as part of the entire digestive process.

Now what?

All I can say is if my dogs are not chewing on their dry kibble in the morning, their throats are sure making a lot of crunching noises as they swallow it whole.  At night i add home cooked and also add water and between the two, it softens their night kibble, but even so there is some crunching going on.

All I can say is if my dogs are not chewing on their dry kibble in the morning, their throats are sure making a lot of crunching noises as they swallow it whole

 
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Yep,,,Bubblegum with a BIG MOUTH even chews her little EP kibble. Although she doesn't pick up one at a time.  The only thing she swallows whole is something that she is trying to get down before it gets taken away from her.
THATS SCAREY!

So humans have salivary amylase and dogs don't. But I don't think i have a bite of food in my mouth long enough for amylase to do much before it goes on to the stomach. If that's the case and the amylase has more time to do it's job in the stomach, I don't have much of an edge over the dog. But, according to scientific sources, the process of digestion is not just enzymatic action. It also includes biting and chewing to render to food into a form that is swallowed. Granted, I chew my steak more than Shadow chews his but, whether two chews or twenty, it did start in the mouth. I don't think dogs were necessarily "designed" to eat nothing but plant matter but it is obvious they can digest it if it is in the proper form and there are some wild canids that eat plant matter right from the ground. I also don't think that the lack of lateral mastication present in humans stops a dog from being an omnivore. They are adaptable creatures and make do with whatever they eat, whether its filet mignon tar tar or Lazy Boy Recliner, though that sofa won't do them as much good as they thought it would.