Vegan dog diet, what are your opinions & experiences?

Hi all. I have been hearing lately about vegan diets for dogs becoming more popular. I've heard that they can thrive on a plant diet, while cats don't do so well on it. I've also been reading that many dog foods (even the most "high quality" ones) contain the meat from rendered & euthanized animals. I don't know how true any of this is, and I'm not looking to change my dogs' diet really, but I was just very curious about all of this. Do any of you have your dogs on a vegan diet, or do you know of any dogs who have tried it??? What are everybody's oppinions on this??? Thanks for your input!!!

dogs are natural scavengers so they can 'get by' on pretty much anything..does that mean its right tho?.

I could not do it to my dog ..
When you see the pleasure he gets out of eating a meaty bone ..
A carrot does not have the same effect on him..

Dogs can survive on just about anything - dosent mean its best for them
Cats cannot survive without taurine
Dogs kinda can although there is belief there is a higher chance of heart problems in later life

so basically they might look like they are doing OK on it but you might be building up problems for later

The teeth of a canine are not designed for munching on plants!

As others have said, yes a dog can survive on pretty much anything but that does not mean it is in their best interest. I personally don't see how a vegan diet would be in any way beneficial to a dog and wouldn't dream of feeding one that way. I would actually go as far as saying that I think it is totally wrong -- pushing our own eating habits (I'm guessing the only people who would contemplate feeding a dog a vegan diet would be vegans themselves) on our animals.

Totally agree with you!
The only reason I can see them on a veggie diet is for medical reasons! (have got a customer whos dog is allergic to meat!)

I'm a veggie but I feed my dog raw!
I wouldn't dream of feeding Teg a vegan or veggie diet because I don't think it would keep him in the same condition he is in now. Plus after seeing his joy at being given meat I just couldn't do it to him.

I'm a veggie, but I certainly wouldn't force it on a dog!

I don't feed raw, but their usual food contains meat, and I can often be found checking out the reduced section for tasty meals for them. My husband is also a veggie, but we still have half a cooked chicken lurking in the fridge

I agree with the others ~ meat is an extremely important source of protein, essential fats, minerals, vitamins etc & clearly is very palatable to dogs. IMO it could be very dangerous (not to say less enjoyable for the dog) to exclude all meat based products from a dog's diet, let alone then exclude all dairy products as well.

I have vegetarian & vegan friends but they wouldn't dream of enforcing their beliefs on their dogs or cats.

If you are worried about the quality & content of commercial dog foods then what about feeding a home made diet? Or perhaps a raw, BARF or Prey Model diet? Try reading some of the threads on raw feeding on Dogsey, or just google BARF, Prey Model Diet & you'll find loads of info out there.

My dogs would leave home if I tried to feed them a vegan diet