A Brief History of Dog Food

During the thousands of years dogs have been our companions, they've been fed a variety of diets from fish heads to left overs. Farm and other working dogs supplemented their diet through hunting and scavenging, an option that is not available to our house bound pets.

Commercial dog food, introduced in England by James Spratt in 1860, is a relatively new idea, Today, the notion of one food product that can provide our pets with "complete and balanced" nutrition for life is supported by a number of expensive ad campaigns. The idea of scooping some kibble into a bowl and the dog is fed certainly fits into our "fast food, fast paced" culture.

While many dogs survive for years on kibble, the dog's digestive system is not designed to digest corn, rice and wheat as its main sources of nutrition. In fact, studies have demonstrated that consumption of commercial dry dog food is thought to play a role in the development of gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) also know as bloat, a condition that can kill a dog in less than an hour.

Despite pretty packages depicting meat, eggs and vegetables, most dry foods do not contain the level of nutrition that raw fresh food does. Many popular brands are laden with preservatives, additives and fillers that can contribute to allergies.