Regarding whether a dog is carnivore or omnivore...

My thoughts are that most dogs will eat just about anything at some point in their lives, mine as pups as many others wanted to eat rocks and plastic plant pots...lol

Does that also mean they are plastivors....haha I couldn't resist that one.

I think the fact that dogs are said to not be able to digest vegetable matter without it being broken down for them first suggests to me that they are not true omnivores. Yet if they do receive vegetable matter it doesn't do them any harm and some goodness can be derived from it.

But also they can do without any omnivorous type food or my dogs would not still be here as day to day they are fed solely on raw meat and bones and offal Aside from the odd occasion I either give them a few left over veg or chuck a carrot out.

Please try to take the time to read posts correctly SBT it does save confusion, I said the dogs we have today are not true carnivores and that statement was correct....

Carnivores - eat food material derived from other animals
Herbivores - eat food material derived from plants, ie they are vegetarians
Omnivores - eat food material derived from either other animals or from plants. Some omnivores can obtain all their nutritional requirements from a vegetarian ration.

..it also helps to take your facts from more than one souce ....here is just one source of my facts.

http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/hea...etarianism.htm

When I used to feed kibble, one of mine would always bring it back up hours later. Sometimes even after 6 hours that kibble came back up after a large intake of water, and the amount looked more than what went in The other one had a prescription diet, RC, and when she was poorly with sloppy poop for weeks, I took a sample off to the vets he said she must have been eating sand? I checked every where in the garden for sand, but couldn't figure out where it had come from. So, I put some kibble in a dish and added water. Hours later the kibble was still quite hard but the sandy like grains that were in the water were the same that we'd found in the sample and the vet confirmed this! Anyway to cut a long boring story very short, since excluding kibble from both neither has had a problem from either end But I have no problem whatsoever with people who do feed kibble or cooked or scraps etc. I never tell people that raw is best - even though for my dogs' it is - each to their own. And I apologise if I come across that way. All anyone can do is try to advise and guide which ever route they take. We should never try and tell people to feed raw/kibble just because its what we do

There are dogs that are fed a completely vegetarian diet, aren't there and seem to manage?

"I think the fact that dogs are said to not be able to digest vegetable matter without it being broken down for them first suggests to me that they are not true omnivores. Yet if they do receive vegetable matter it doesn't do them any harm and some goodness can be derived from it."

you said two things that contradict each other, either they CAN digest veg (and get some goodness out of it) or they CAN'T and it's useless giving it to them.

Personally I steam, boil, fry, juice (use the pulp) and give them raw. Just whatever i feel like. On neither of the occasions do i see whole bits of veg coming out the other end, leading me to the conclusion that yes they can digest the veg in a certain way, whether they can or can't get any goodness out of it is a different matter, but it ain't coming out whole
sweetcorn is different, those ******s won't die will they!

"There are dogs that are fed a completely vegetarian diet, aren't there and seem to manage?"

yup different type of protein, not convinced myself, as 'survive' and 'thrive' are very different...

Leospride,

i think it sounds like your dog couldn't digest the kibble. As you said, each to their own, obviously some can and do well on it, but others, as you own, need something a little different

What happens to a dog like yours, who's owner doesn't know any different, and their vet won't mention a more natural diet.....
I think more vets should have an open mind on the subject, as we know there are many dogs out there being fed a raw diet and doing well.

I feed Royal Canin Maxi dog most of the time ( can't always get hold of it though) but I do add some cooked food and juices etc to it. I feed it specifically because large breeds have a lower digestive tolerance and this food is of low volume and high energy.
Although Raw feeding does not appeal to me it also does not appeal to my dog. I took a rump steak out of the freezer last night and left it to defrost and promptly forgot about it, This morning the cat had it on the kitchen floor pulling it out of the pack and growling away eating it, blood smeared round the floor and Syd stood there looking at him with a very quizical look on his face but made no attempt to eat the meat. It was a different story though when the chicken came out of the oven.

Hi LS my Vegan neighbour feeds her five dogs on a vegetarian diet that seems to consist mainly of weetabix and milk This is not to say the dogs don't eat a variety of things when they raid the dustbins (this person has an ASBO and is monitored by the RSPCA, she has some kind of medical condition that makes her behave oddly) the dogs are cross collie/lab and appear to be quite fit.

Trouble, it depends on the way you introduce it. Some dogs get addicted to the sugars that are put into the feed. If you offered a child water or coke, what would most go for? The sweet one, as it is addictive...
Pups on the other hand take to raw meat almost immediatly, which is a joy to watch, tiny teeth knowing exactly what to do and slowly munching at it, not gobbling...amazing.

Also, leave that kibble piece in a glass overnight, and see what it looks like tomorrow. It won't still be hard...