Origins of Dog Diet
As part of the Canidae family, dogs are assuredly descended from wolves, jackals, foxes, coyotes, as well as wild dogs. Though once obligate carnivores, the modern domestic dog has evolved over the years to be a scavenger.
Since as early as the Stone Age, dogs have shared a hearth with man: dated between 10,000 to 7,000 B.C., their bones have been discovered throughout the world, including Israel, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Russia with the earliest thought to be in Asia.
Some studies even suggest that dogs walked alongside man across the Bering Strait into the New World about four thousand years ago when the Eskimos were migrating east from the cold barren lands of Siberia.
The domesticated dog had proven to be a valuable asset to humans: he could protect property and people from other carnivores as well as hunt, herd animals, pull loads and carry food and equipment. In return, these dogs were given companionship and shelter and were able to scavenge for food.
In such an environment, the typical dog would have eaten a variety of meat sources including scraps of fish, chicken, lamb, deer, boar, over ripe vegetables and fruit and leftover cooked cereals.
Studies have shown that the Alaskan Malamute would have eaten scraps of raw whale, salmon, halibut, and seal. The Basenji, raised in Central Africa, would have hunted African desert partridge and rabbit.
In the 1860's, the first commercial biscuit was introduced in England. James Spratt came up with the wheat meal, vegetable, beetroot and meat cookie designed as treats for dogs.
The industry in the United States began shortly afterwards. The canning of horsemeat unsuitable for export began in the 1920s, and within ten years, nearly 200 brands of canned food were made available to dog owners.
In the 1930s dry meat meal dog foods were introduced. The 1950s saw the introduction of kibble. The 1960s marked the diversification in the types of food available today for pet owners.