Species appropriate diet?

I thought it would be handy if you could add info to this thread (with links if you use quotes) with information about species appropriate diet for dogs - ie what they would have eaten in the 'wild' or what their genetic make-up is attuned to eating.

This would be handy for people posting threads asking about brands of food and what we think of them - as very often our answer would be "Is it what dogs are 'designed' to eat?" (and obviously we can link to this thread to give that info).

It may also serve as a good thread to support why many of us feed raw.

I will start it off. This is more breed specific than species specific.

Bernese Mountain dog. Native Swiss diet would of contained Sheep, pigs, goats and chicken along with locally grown veg.

Due to the cold climate they developed more fat and taking that into consideration a higher fat content is recommended. Best recommended foods are a mix of lamb and poultry and wheat. Avoid beef or beef by products soy, ocean fish and yellow corn.

I found the infromation on this site. www.dogvitaminfacts.com/bernese

Most of it I would agree with as I have seen these recommendations on another site last year but cannot find it now. Some of it I would ignore as they are trying to sell their product. Personally with the Bernese I would avoid the wheat or any grain and would not necessarily agree with them needing more fat in our climate. Their weight does need to be watched.

Apart from those couple of things I agree with the diet on the whole.

I would think that would be a pretty good diet for most breeds of dog personally.

When mine goes off in the "wild" of our heathland and parks in Norwich he seems to survive by eating large sponge cakes he finds. Don't think this is a "Species Appropriate" diet for any living thing myself

Ollie would eat plastic bags if thy had the smell of food on or in them. Couldn't convince him they weren't good for him.

Azz do you mean species appropriate or breed specific?

Thanks Lynn!

Either or both - think they'd both be interesting

Well I am not a proponent of breed specific diets as it puts many owners at a bit of a disadvantage not having (insert relevant food) at their disposal.

I believe that if we transplanted any dog anywhere (with perhaps the odd exception) they would hunt, catch, kill and eat whatever was around.

We do not feed pandas convenience food, when zoos fed convenience foods to their carnivores they got very ill.

When we fed cows dead sheep and chickens, they (and us) got very ill.

When we fed pigs various products they got ill.

I believe we feed animals convenience foods at their (and our) peril.

I know comparing foxes and dogs is silly when it comes down to it but I kind of like to base what my dogs eat on what our only native wild dog would eat. Obviously, they eat the usual chicken, turkey, lamb etc which is available in the supermarket but I dont think meat like that can surpass whole prey items in raw feeding terms.

I do prefer my lot to eat rabbit, hare, pigeon, pheasant, squirrel etc but in reality, items like this are far more difficult to obtain than supermarket sourced meat. My dogs will dig up field voles and eat them and I see no harm in that because it's little prey items like that which keep wild dogs going. I also feed day old chicks because, again, foxes and the like would eat things like that.

Also, in terms of allergies and food intolerances, some of our wild game could be of benefit to dogs suffering in this way.

There is the alternative argument that dogs have been domesticated for such a long time that their digestive system has changed and is no longer suitable for a diet fit for a wolf. However, their teeth havent evolved any differently and they are still primarily carnivores so I believe that the most appropriate diet for a dog is RMB's.