Why more pet owners are feeding their dogs like wolves

The raw dog food diet attempts to replicate the wolf's diet, which consists primarily of meat, organs and bone but also includes the fruits and vegetables often found in the stomach of prey. The raw dog food diet attempts to replicate the wolf's diet, which consists primarily of meat, organs and bone but also includes the fruits and vegetables often found in the stomach of prey.

By Sunny Montgomery February 25, 2019 4 min read

Dry dog kibble is like cereal, says Colleen Smith, doctor of veterinarian medicine at Chattanooga Holistic Animal Institute. And would you feed your children only cereal?

“If Fruit Loops were all you ate, you could survive, but you’re surviving, not thriving,” Smith says.

When it comes to food, Americans are becoming more conscious, and just as parents have traded their children’s sugary cereals for more balanced alternatives, pet owners are elevating their dogs’ diets, too.

The problem with a diet of conventional dry dog kibble is that 50 percent of its ingredients are carbohydrates, Smith says. Meat is expensive, she explains, so companies often use rice, corn or legumes as filler.

“We’re feeding dogs like omnivores, but they’re really just wolves in different pajamas,” Smith says. In fact, she continues, genetically speaking, the domestic dog is 99 percent identical to the gray wolf.