Soule: Why I'm Feeding My Dog Real Food

For over 15,000 years, your dog's ancestors, the wolves, have been dining on raw meat they kill themselves. Wolves didn't have kibble as an option, and if your dog could talk, he would tell you he prefers chicken, stolen from the kitchen counter, over dry dog food. Canine digestion systems evolved on a diet of uncooked meat and occasionally undigested vegetables from the stomachs of their prey. The digestive systems of wolves, coyotes, and dogs kill bacteria better than human systems, which means canines don't need their food cooked. So what happened? Why are we feeding dry, cooked, processed food to our pets?

What Is Kibble?
In 1860, the first dry pet food was invented, and in the 1950s, it became popular as kibble. Even the premium kibble is overheated, commercially processed, and made from meat that's unfit for human consumption. And that's what most pet owners serve. Processing lengthens shelf-life and kills bacteria but also destroys nutrients. So vitamins are added. Unfortunately, these are often hard for the animal to digest, and they pass right through the dog to create piles of you-know-what. Watch your step!

So why do we feed kibble? Is it just for convenience, or is it because house pets are "civilized" and should eat food that has also been subdued?

A Kibble Alternative

When Flora, my mixed-breed rescue dog, wiggled into my life, I decided to challenge the kibble theory of convenience.

* * *

Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, N.H., where she raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products.

Read More