Dog Food: Personality Characteristics, Feeding Points and Frequently Asked Questions

Dog food, or kibble, is food used by humans to feed dogs. Due to changes in human lifestyles, dogs have become household pets. Humans then invented feed products that can be stored for a long time and are convenient for feeding. This invention has a history of about 60 years. In the United States alone, dog breeders spent a total of $8.5 billion a year on commercially manufactured dog food in 2007. Some people make their own dog food or buy it from a grocery or health food store. Although the ancestors of dogs are wolves and belong to the order Carnivora, in addition to being called carnivores, dogs are also called omnivores in many documents. Unlike strict carnivores, dogs have been domesticated by humans and can adapt to a variety of diets. Dogs do not need animal protein, nor large amounts of protein, to meet their basic dietary needs. Dogs can healthily digest a variety of human foods, including vegetables and grains, even if they comprise a large portion of their diet. Pure meat diets lack calcium and are not suitable for dogs. Comparative genetic analysis of wolves and dogs pointed out that there are some mutations in dog genes that enhance amylase activity, making dogs more adaptable to high-starch diets, which may be an important step in early domestication. Some dogs even have salivary amylase. Dogs still need some nutrients that are primarily provided by meat in nature, such as taurine for the synthesis of bile acid, vitamin D for calcium absorption, and arginine for nitrogen balance.