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Why satisfying your dog’s primal MIND urges are as important as satisfying their primal nutrition.
Its going to come as a rude shock to some people that a ‘whole and complete’ kibble dog food … isn’t always considered whole and complete by many dog nutritionists or dogs.
We have discussed this ad-nauseum in many other posts on our healthy dog treat site, but not everyone inherently will understand that the process of eating meat/ bone/ and offal in its most natural form can do for their dog’s mind.
To put it into perspective .. take a moment to reflect upon this : “Just like Big Macs and French fries and white bread aren’t optimal food for humans, kibble isn’t optimal food for dogs.” (Marksdailyapple).
Kibble that is classed as “dog food” means it passes the bare minimum nutrients in quantity, but not in quality, nor in natural enzymes, whether it is bio-available to the dog, and whether it satisfies any deeper urges.
Lets not make this a lecture – but assume for a moment that meat is included in dog food as more than a filler. More than just so that the vegetable matter can reach the bare 18% minimum protein (aafco says – from any source). Yes meat, wonderful carnivore craved meat at around 60% protein in dried form is the TASTIEST thing a dog will ever NATURALLY enjoy or encounter. But what makes it so?
NO ONE will recommend to you that your dog should eat less meat
That’s because dogs are carnivore at their base. Human omnivores can pull back on meat if they want, but dogs don’t have a lot of say in it. THEY always need MORE than 90% of the dog food on the market can provide.
But it’s important to match your dogs chewing style with the treat they get:
Believe it or not, even the smallest, cutest, dog couch loving dog breeds, deep down love a good piece of meat or bone.
After-all only 20,000 years ago, in China, the first human friendly wolves were being transformed into what we now know as the domestic dog. You don’t change base instinct in that time frame.
Originally dogs ONLY caught and ate raw meat, not cooked kibble. Over the last 5,000 years as man moved more to farming did a lot more cheaper grains enter dog’s diets – and yes, they evolved to handle eating these to some extent, but it was never a dog’s main game plan to give up the hunt and become completely reliant on man, AND change their whole diet.
That really accelerated over the last 70 years, post war, as mass media advertising and ways of making vast empires by reducing the cost of inputs came into vogue.
Dogs, endorphins and the joy of ripping meat
It is the truest sense of primal (what they used to do for a living), and if they still cant go on a dog pack hunt, dogs can still enjoy the spoils of the hunt by ripping apart a nice solid part of meat, and letting the endorphins roll.
Their whole mouth jaw and teeth were designed for ripping meat off the bone. They don’t have a lot of flat molars at the back of the mouth for long grinding like cows, they like to get the food in fast, and expel it fast, after quickly stripping and using the bio-available protein.
It IS as simple as that.
The reality in the dog treat market though, is that because many of our domestic dogs are not that wolf like anymore, or might not have huge heads and jaws, a whole raw leg of bison would be wasted in most of them. That, plus drying time is why jerkies come sliced flat and in relatively small pieces. That plus it makes packaging easier, and most people don’t exercise their dogs enough to double their calory intake, and prefer not cutting back on a dog’s kibble to any major extent.
You should note though, that most dogs can replace up to 25% or more of their kibble with meat dog treats and still get the required vitamins and minerals – AND a whole lot more very useful protein and Omega 3 for their bodies.
We do supply things like roo jerky natural, and big bones for the big dogs out there, but even the smallest, youngest or oldest dogs will still get profound enjoyment out of learning how to tackle even a small piece of hard dried meat (instead of the very easy to vacuum down small pieces of grain pellets that most dog food companies make – (to ensure its easy for a dog to over consume).
DOG OCCUPIIER TREATS
This really is about how big or old your dog is, and how easy then can eat a treat.
If you want a treat to last a long time, you either hide a small meat ball in a toy, or match it in size and rip-ability to your dog.
Too easy to eat, and your dog won’t be occupied for long. Too hard to eat, and most dogs give up and or bury it in the garden. So, if its about a time thing, not just a nutrition thing, or enjoyment thing (that primal urge satisfaction) – then gauging the right treat to give you both the right amount of chewing time can be vital.
This is why finding the 100% natural meat treat is important for you and your dog if you are going out and have to leave them at home.
You do want them to enjoy themselves and get something equal or better than the kibble you spent all that money on, right?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you solve your dog’s primal urges and occupy them, just by trial and error while you choose right, and evolve your choices as your dog matures.
Good luck on your journey – and ask us if we can help you solve the puzzle for your specific dog. I am sure we can!