First Rate Foods - What Dogs Like; What Dogs Need ::
If I were the Queen of the World, and could have anything I wanted, every dog would be eating the food its body and brain were designed to eat; the food its ancestors way back when, before man invented fire; before man became agricultural, were eating — meat, bones, a little vegetable matter. Whew! That’s a long sentence, isn’t it? The stuff prayers are made of. I guess a big reason driving this wish of mine is the stream of dogs entering my office who not only behave in some bizarre ways, but also have a physical appearance and health history that bespeaks a diet of doggy junk food.
Our dogs’ brains are getting smaller, not, in my opinion, as a consequence of lack of need for problem solving, but rather because of the deficient food they’ve been eating for millennia, almost since their association with man began. This is my hypothesis and has not been proven. There is, however, abundant and elegant research by a dentist, Weston Price, which argues that human brains are getting smaller as a result of what we eat. During a 2-year study of primitive peoples around the world, Price found that as long as primitive peoples ate their traditional diets, for example, Eskimos eating fish and seal, they were healthy and strong with perfect dental arches, cavity-free teeth and fully-formed skulls that allowed the necessary room for brain development. Their societies included neither doctors nor mental health professionals. When these people began to eat a Westernized diet based on refined flour and sugar and polished rice, within the first generation of offspring facial structure began to deteriorate with narrower dental arches, taller, thinner skull bones and uneven, sometimes double rows of teeth. Dr. Price’s book contains a lot of very graphic and often disturbing photo comparisons of the results of native versus Western diets. Glancing through Ackerman’s The Genetic Connection: A Guide to Health Problems in Purebred Dogs, I’m hard pressed to find any breed that doesn’t have some hereditary musculoskeletal issues, including cleft and elongated palates. Bulldogs are perhaps the worst illustration of this, and Price describes talking with a veterinarian who says he’s had more trouble with head defects in bulldog pups than any other breed. Price also discusses a water spaniel who whelped litter after litter of pups with cleft palates. “Her diet had been reinforced with mineral calcium phosphate hoping to insure normal offspring. This is not nature’s method,” and pups with cleft palates continued to be born. If brains are indeed getting smaller, how are emotional states affected, and what might this do to behavior? According to Price, who studied several prison and special school populations, unsocial traits and inappropriate behavior might be related to “incomplete brain organization associated with prenatal injury.” The term “prenatal injury” means that mothers were eating deficient diets which didn’t provide adequate nutrients for proper brain development in the babies they were carrying, such as essential fatty acids and high quality proteins. Behavior problems were the result.
Recently a dog came to me that was perhaps the worst case of skull and facial deformity I’ve ever seen. A cross between a Pug and a Shih-tzu, her lower jaw protruded at least a half-inch in front of her upper jaw. My first question was, “How can she possibly eat?!” Her head was very small for her body, giving her the appearance of one of those bobble-headed toys we see in the back seat of some cars. Her aggression was extreme, lunging, barking, and biting if given the chance, which she briefly had when her owner lost her grip on the leash for an instant. Fortunately for me she only weighed 15 pounds and was content going after my shoe. She displayed a hair-trigger intolerance for anything in sight that moved. I sent a note to the veterinarian who had referred this dog, to the effect that she should not be allowed into the clinic without a muzzle. An example of “prenatal injury?”
Another notable recent case involved an older English Setter, “Corrina,” with some anxiety issues involving house soiling, and a history of urinary tract problems and seasonal allergies. I always ask clients to bring with them the labels from the foods they feed. For several years this dog had been eating a kidney function diet made by a very well known pet food manufacturer. This food was available only by prescription from a veterinarian, and the client indicated it was very expensive. The first five ingredients of this “scientifically formulated and . . . backed by extensive testing . . . high quality diet” included whole grain corn, brewers rice, egg product, animal fat and sugar. Farther down were animal digest and vegetable oil. Let’s take a look at the behavioral implications of such a diet.
Whole grain corn: significant magnesium (155 mg/cup), low in zinc (2.1 mg/cup); relatively low in tryptophan (.07 mg/cup); relatively high in glutamic acid (1.86 grams/cup). Corn is not a complete protein because it does not contain sufficient amounts of all essential amino acids. Magnesium is needed in the brain for hundreds of enzymatic reactions. One point for corn. But so is zinc and there’s not much in corn. Corinna craves bread, pizza crusts and pasta. In humans, one of the signs of zinc deficiency is cravings for bread and pasta. Zinc sulfate has been added to this food to bring the level of this mineral up to a dog’s dietary needs, however, it is an inorganic form of zinc which is not readily absorbed. In addition to being used as a supplement in animal feeds, zinc sulfate is also used in fertilizers, agricultural sprays and coagulation baths in the production of rayon. There are more uses for zinc sulfate, but you get the picture by now. Don’t think I’d want my dog eating that stuff.
Anyway, back to the corn. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. In the brain it helps form serotonin which helps us and our dogs be calm, and melatonin, a neurohormone which helps us go to sleep. Corn doesn’t have much tryptophan. It does, however, have a fair amount of glutamic acid, another amino acid, which is needed by the small intestine to maintain the health of the mucus membrane. Alas, glutamic acid is destroyed by heat and processing, leaving the intestine hungry for its preferred food. This makes digestion and assimilation more difficult.
Now corn is something that the dog’s body was not designed to use. It’s one of the hardest grains to digest, and is considered a major allergen. While dogs need a source of energy, studies don’t support that the dog has a specific need for carbohydrates for energy production. They manage quite well with protein and fat, thank you, except in extreme conditions. Alas, grains, particularly corn, are cheap and abundant, and since dogs can digest and use starch, particularly if it’s cooked starch, using grains as the major component of dog food keeps the supply up and the cost down, except, of course, for this particular prescription item!
On to brewer’s rice. This consists of fragments of rice kernels left over from larger kernels of milled rice. It’s a “food fragment” that’s mostly starch, breaks down into sugar, and has little nutritional value. Shall we try eggs?
Eggs are considered the perfect protein. They contain all essential amino acids. In their unprocessed state they’re a high quality food item. They’re also an allergen for many dogs. But what’s to be done with all the eggs that are damaged and don’t make it to market? Pet food to the rescue! According to AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials), these damaged eggs may be converted to “egg product” that may be “dehydrated, handled as liquid, or frozen . . . This product shall be free of shells or other non-egg materials except in such amounts which might occur unavoidably in good processing practices (italics mine) . . .” So egg product may contain bits of shell, chicken manure, chicken feed, etc., and the processing into dog food necessarily destroys all enzymes inherent in the food. So what could be a really nice, easy to digest food for a dog with a deficiency disease is just another poor-quality ingredient.
The terms “animal fat” and “animal digest” have also been coined by AAFCO. Animal digest is a cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. Any kind of animal can be included: goats, pigs, horses, rats, etc. The animals can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any source means road kill, zoo animals, and the remains of euthanized cats and dogs which some shelters sell to processors to raise money. AAFCO specifies this material must be “clean,” however, the term “clean” is not further defined. Animal fat, a byproduct of meat meal processing, comes from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. The origin of the contributing animals is unknown, and the resulting oil is very low in linoleic acid — an essential fatty acid that is important for skin and coat health. Vegetable oil is added, probably to compensate for this; however, the mystery veggies are not revealed and processing renders the oils toxic.
The most appalling ingredient in this food is sugar. It’s probably added to enhance the taste of a food with questionable palatability. Let’s look at what sugar does in a body. To metabolize any kind of sugar, including the sugar that starches like corn and rice break down into, the body needs B vitamins. Most diets, dog and human, don’t provide enough B vitamins for both good digestion and good brain function. Minerals such as chromium, zinc, and magnesium are also needed to metabolize sugars. If these are used for digestion, in the average dog or human diet not enough are left to fuel brain processes. Even though synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to the food, these are generally cheap, inorganic forms (remember that versatile zinc sulfate?) that the body has trouble using. We know that a meal containing sugar can cause blood sugar levels to rise just by creating a sweet taste in the mouth. The pancreas begins to dump insulin into the bloodstream to arrest sugar levels before they can harm the brain. Excess sugar ends up in the liver to be stored as glycogen for brain fuel, but when the liver is full excess sugar is turned into fat. In foods with high sugar content, the reaction of the pancreas is exaggerated, causing a sudden drop in blood sugar. The brain responds by creating the conditions which we observe as irritability, lack of concentration, or listlessness. When blood sugar falls too low, the adrenal glands begin to secrete cortisol, a stress hormone, attempting to raise blood sugar to normal levels. Extra cortisol creates the conditions which we observe as hyperactivity, stubbornness and defiance. I wish I had a dollar for every client who used the word “stubborn” to describe her dog’s behavior. Eventually the extra cortisol will damage the hippocampus of the brain, the place where memories are made.
And man invented fire! Earlier I mentioned that humans and dogs were eating pretty well until fire and agriculture happened. At that point all of our diets began to deteriorate since cooking destroyed the enzymes in our food. While digestibility is said to be enhanced by cooking (except for corn), when food is heated above 118 degrees F, all enzymes are destroyed. Enzymes are needed for digestion as well as all metabolic processes. Our dogs’ ability to make digestive enzymes decreases with age. Noted biochemist Dr. Edward Howell cites numerous animal studies indicating that diets deficient in enzymes eventually cause pancreatic enlargement and decrease in the supply of enzymes available to run body metabolism. The results range from allergies to mental disorders. English Setters are predisposed to hereditary pancreatic insufficiency. Feeding food deficient in enzymes is probably a bad idea. Poor Corrina!
Agriculture poses yet another threat to the dietary health of us and our dogs. When some peoples of the earth became agricultural and began to eat a grain-based diet, the grain was left in the fields for a period of time after harvest. This allowed the germ to sprout slightly, releasing enzyme inhibitors and creating a whole new batch of growth enzymes. The grain was actually stored in the slightly sprouted state, and when ground and baked into bread not only contained all the grain components, including the germ, bran and starch, but was loaded with enzymes. Did it occasionally spoil? Sure. But modern farming practices don’t allow for this sprouting of the grain, and many grains are refined to the point of being nothing but starch, lacking in enzymes and nutrients to the point insects won’t even eat the flour. Great for long-term storage, but pretty damaging to those who try to live on it. The B vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids needed for brain development and health are simply not there. The resulting emotional states can include anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, and fear, with lack of impulse control and inability to learn and remember. Because of this nutrient deficit, I formulated a supplement called “Essfacid 36″ which mixes freshly ground flax, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds to provide omega-3 essential fatty acids, B vitamins and minerals. Many clients have commented on increased focus and decreased anxiety in their animals, as well as a fuller, softer, shinier coat.
As I mentioned, Corrina’s prescription kidney diet contains a couple of potential allergens, corn and eggs. Alfred Plechner, a veterinarian who’s extensively researched allergies in dogs and cats, terms processed pet foods “unholy, unnatural mixtures,” with combinations that promote the development of allergies. He believe there is a link between the gut and the urinary tract, where undigested particles of food can damage the filtration system of the kidneys and create an over-zealous immune response causing kidney inflammation. We’ve now crossed the border between Behavior Land and Veterinary Medicine Land. But with so much potential and hard to see or assess damage from food, it’s very easy to imagine how the level of irritability of an animal can increase when she’s not feeling well, even if she looks healthy, when her gut and kidneys don’t work the way they should because we’re not providing a high-quality, natural diet.
The premise upon which I base my work is that I can’t accurately assess the behavior of an animal until that animal is eating the diet it was designed to eat. Anything other than what Nature intended has too much potential to change the brain chemistry which creates the emotions which drive behavior, or create a physical condition which also may alter behavior. For example, I don’t believe it’s fair to the animal to attempt a house training protocol, especially an older animal, when what that animal is eating may cause urinary tract issues. And in such cases it’s so very important to work with the veterinarian, doing the testing needed to insure inappropriate behavior is truly a result of learning rather than driven by an underlying physical condition.
The conclusion I’ve reached, after years of working with my own dogs and those of my clients, is that the only first-rate diet is one that provides what Nature intended. That means raw meat, bones and a bit of plant matter. It’s what they like and it’s what they need to be physically and behaviorally sound.
Now you know some of what you can expect if you elect me Queen of the World. Your dogs will love you for it!
References
Ackerman, L. The genetic connection: a guide to health problems in purebred dogs. Lakewood, CO: AAHA Press. 1999.
Coppinger, R. Coppinger, L. Dogs: a startling new understanding of canine origin, behavior & evolution. New York: Scribner. 2001.
Dunne, L.J. Nutrition almanac, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2002.
Hand, M.S., Thatcher, C.D., et.al. Small animal clinical nutrition, 4th ed. Topeka, KS: Mark Morris Institute. 2000.
Howell, E. Enzyme nutrition: the food enzyme concept. Wayne, NJ: Avery Publishing Group Inc. 1985.
Moore, M.L., Fottler, H.M., et.al. Utilization of Corn-Soybean Meal Substituted Diets by Dogs. Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Urbana, Illinois 61801. StratSoy Research Database Internet site. No date given.
Natura Pet Products, Inc. Internet site. 2001.
Overall, K. Clinical behavioral medicine for small animals.St. Louis: Mosby - Year Book, Inc. 1997.
Plechner, A.J., Zucker, M. Pet allergies: remedies for an epidemic. Inglewood, CA: Dr. Goodpet Laboratories, Very Healthy Enterprises Inc. 1986,
Price, W.A. Nutrition and physical degeneration, 6th ed. La Mesa, CA: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. 1939.
Simontacchi, C. The crazy makers: how the food industry is destroying our brains and harming our children. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam. 2000.
Standard Process. A comparison of whole vitamins and synthetic vitamins. Palmyra, WI: Standard Process. 2003.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2006.
Categories: Physical Animal Health, General Information —
