| g Food Evolution. The secret of dog food and the | | | | Manufacturers took advantage of the availability of |
| evolution of dog food ingredients! | | | | inexpensive ingredients like grain hulls and discarded |
| Most dog-owners today probably put down the dog | | | | meat from slaughterhouses—basically discarded |
| dish without giving much thought to what we are | | | | waste not fit for us humans to eat but apparently |
| actually feeding our pets. Pet food experts call it dog | | | | good enough for our pets. |
| food as opposed to human food, touted as the only | | | | From being a mere economical option, manufacturers |
| complete and nutritious way we can feed our dogs. | | | | were then set on marketing dog food as the sole |
| We don't think twice after reading the Nutritional | | | | nourishment fit for dogs, rationalizing that table |
| Information on the label, not imagining what harmful | | | | scraps were not adequate for a dog’s |
| dog food secrets could be packed within. | | | | complex nutritional needs. |
| There used to be a time when dogs ate real food. | | | | Labeling became more elaborate and attractive, and |
| This is a short account of the evolution of what dogs | | | | different kinds of diets were introduced for special |
| ate, from real food to so-called dog food. | | | | health conditions and different stages in a |
| Until processed dog food was introduced, dogs have | | | | dog’s life. |
| lived well and long on a natural diet of table scraps or | | | | Throughout the years, the evolution of dog food has |
| leftovers from their owners. Owners who were | | | | gone further in so-called development as to include |
| more particular would even make specially prepared | | | | more and more preservatives and other secret |
| meals for their beloved pets, just as they would take | | | | ingredients. |
| the time to feed their own children. | | | | Along with these advances in manufacturing that |
| That was before the 1940s, before commercial dog | | | | ensures longer shelf-life for the products is the rise in |
| food became widely popular for reasons of cost and | | | | the number of early dog deaths due to diseases |
| convenience. Prior to that, in the year 1860, an | | | | caused by these substances. Chemicals used in the |
| electrician named James Spratt introduced the first | | | | processing of dog food have been found to cause |
| processed dog food or dog cakes made from | | | | various cancers, kidney failure and heart disease. |
| beetroot, wheat, vegetables and beef blood. | | | | These days, people are becoming more and more |
| Other companies followed suit, coming up with canine | | | | aware of the nutritional requirements of their pets, |
| food that was mostly baked. There were not too | | | | but are still often deceived by tricky dog food labels. |
| many secret ingredients back then in those early | | | | It is a fact that back in those simpler times when |
| stages of dog food manufacturing, unlike the amount | | | | dogs ate natural food, their average lifespan was |
| of untold items now being put in processed dog food. | | | | much longer that what it is today. |
| During the Depression, the traditional practice of | | | | A good number of dog owners now go by a more |
| feeding dogs human food began to change as dog | | | | enlightened way of feeding their pets, and have seen |
| owners sought more economical options. | | | | positive effects in the health of their dogs. |
| Meat was increasingly substituted with more grains, | | | | These owners share the idea of turning back to |
| which were introduced with canned processed meat | | | | traditional ways of feeding and other beneficial dog |
| and dehydrated dog food in the 1940s. After World | | | | food secrets. The result should be longer and happier |
| War II, the production and consumption of | | | | lives for our favorite companions. |
| commercial dog food rose. | | | | |