RawFedDogs
Posted : 1/30/2013 1:35:38 PM
Jewlieee
I read this today! Very interesting and it makes sense. It also had me thinking that the whole raw food movement based on dogs being carnavores is way off base.
I've seen this article discussed on a lot of forums the last few days. Many people are reading things into it that just aren't there. In the first place this is a study on genetics, not nutrition. Just because an animal is capable of digesting something doesn't mean he should eat it. Just because someone identifies some strings of DNA that the THINK may indicate that an animal can digest something doesn't make it so. Startch is a bad food. It's bad for dogs and it's bad for humans. No one who is mentioned in that article has any expertise in the field of canine nutrition as far as I know.
Jewlieee
i mean look and humans and chimps. 90+ genetically the same but what is good for an ape is not the same as what is good for us.
Dogs are 99.98% the same as wolves. MUCH closer than humans are to chimps. I'm not sure what is good for apes isn't good for us also. I'm also not sure that our personality is not very close to chimps. But getting back to dogs/wolves ... they are the same animal according to the American Society of Mamaloligsts and the Smithzonian Institute. Both organizations made up of A LOT of scientists in the field.
There are physical charateristics that make an animal a carnivore or omnivore.
1. Carnivores have large mouths as they eat other animals.(Think gators and wolves) Omnivores/herbivores have smaller mouths.(Think humans)
2. Omnivores have flat teeth in the back of their mouths. This is used to crush and mash plant material. All plant material has each cell coated with cellulose. You must mash and crush this shell to extract nutrients from the plant. Humans have these flat teeth. Carnivores don't have flat teeth. They can't get through the cellulose to get to the nutrients. Carnivore teeth are designed to kill prey(front teeth) and to rip and tear meat and crush bones(back teeth). This item alone prevents dogs from digesting starches.
3. When omnivores/herbivores chew, they move their lower jaw not only up and down but also sideways in order to crush the cellulose. Carnivores don't have the ability to move their lower jaw from side to side. Only up and down. This item alone prevents dogs from digesting starches.
4. Omnivores/herbivores have an enzyme called amylaze in their salava and stomach juices. Amylaze is used to digest plant material and digestion begins in the mouth for these animals. Carnivores don't have amylaze in their salava and very little in their stomach. They don't make the enzymes necessary for digesting plant material. This item alone would make the digestion of starches very inefficient.
5. I don't know how to explain it with words but there is a difference in the way the lower jaw is hinged in omnivores/herbivores and carnivores. Feel your own jaw bone. It begins at the joint with the skull and goes down then angles toward the front. Carnivores jaws start at the skull and go straight toward the front.
6. Carnivores have very acidic stomach juices to kill bacteria on meats and to digest bones. Omnivores/herbivores have much less acidic stomach juices.
7. Omnivores/herbivores have relatively long intestinal tracts. Carbs must ferment in the gut for a long time during digestion. Carnivores being meat eaters have a very short intestinal tract in order to get the meat through the body quickly before it rots. With their short intestinal tract they are not able to have carbs in the intestines long enough to digest. This item alone makes digestion of starches very inefficient or maybe even impossible because fermentation is a necessary chemical process in digestion of starches.
8. Omnivores/herbivores chew their food into a mush before they swallow it. Digestion in an omnivore begins in the mouth. Carnivores only rip, tear, and crunch their food until it is small enough to fit down their throat. They can fit some amazingly large pieces down their throat. Much larger than an omnivore is capable of. Lack of chewing (lack of crushing cellulose) alone prevents dogs from digesting starches.
So there you have your biology lesson in a nutshell. There is no arguing the fact that dogs are carnivores. They have all the physical characteristics of a carnivore and none of the omnivores characteristics. A few strands of DNA does not alter any of the facts above.
Another reason that dogs/wolves are the same is that DNA evidence shows that wolves did not breed with any other animal to create a dog. Therefor, anytime you breed two wolves together, the resultant offspring is always a wolf. Never anything else.
One more piece of evidence about dogs/wolves ... Google "Russian Fox Experiment". There you will find a lot of stories about some Russian fox farmers breeding meek foxes together for many generations. After many generations, the offspring began to develop floppy ears, tails that curled up, differing coat colors, and the ability to bark. Sound like maybe the same thing happened to wolves to create our dogs? It is the only believable explanation I have heard about how wolves became dogs. Also, no matter how these fox offspring differ from the original foxes, they are stil foxes. They are not called anything else. They are still called foxes. Some lable them as domesticated foxes but still foxes. Our dogs are domesticated wolves but still wolves. You can also see video's of the fox experiment on youtube.com.
I'm sure a lot of people will find it difficult to abandon their belief system but the proof is there. Dogs are wolves. Dogs are carnivores. Dogs should eat meat, bones, and organs. Dogs should not eat plant matter.