dog our leftovers?! Let's SCIENCE THIS THING!

Hey pet people! This is DNews, I'm Trace. Dogs are probably the oldest domesticated

animal, with mitochondrial DNA evidence suggesting they split from wolves 100,000 years ago[a].

At the time, humans didn't have extra food laying around, and would usually kill competing

carnivores like wolves. Smaller, less-aggressive wolves would likely scavenge near human encampments,

eating from trash piles and snatching leftovers. Over generations, humans purposefully fed

the cuter, friendlier wolves, and we set ourselves on a path of domestication to create the dog.

But, if dogs evolved alongside humans, as evidence suggests, then they were eating the

same things we were eating! But today, Americans often avoid giving dogs, "People Food," so

what changed? In short, nothing.

As dogs and humans grew together, we shared food. But, as human society advanced and pet

ownership grew, we couldn't simply feed them table scraps in our cave. In 116 BCE, Marcus

Terentius Varro wrote a farming manual which included advice for feeding working farm dogs

-- barley bread soaked in milk, and bones from dead sheep. During the middle ages, common

families who needed work dogs, fed them whatever was leftover -- so we're still following that

ancient system -- but by the 19th century, Empress Tzu Hsi of China fed her dogs shark

fins, quail breasts and antelope milk, and the royalty of Europe fed their pups roast

duck, cakes and candies. The rich got kinda cray with their puppy chow.

During the Industrial Age, dog food started to show up in the West as the middle class

prospered. As they cost both money and time, pets were considered a luxury item, and people

wanted to show off their climbing of the socioeconomic ladder by purchasing a prime pooch. Entrepreneurs

learned these nouveau caninophiles needed help to feed their new friends -- and in the

1850s James Sprat of Cincinnati invented dog biscuits from wheat, beet root and vegetables,

bound with beef blood. The dry food was a hit, and by the 1920s canned wet food was

also in production -- it was mainly horse meat, and by 1941 canned food was 90% of the

market. Then due to rationing during World War II, dry food became hugely popular again.

At the same time, people around the world still fed their dogs what they evolved to

eat, table scraps and leftover people food. In the 1960s, to protect and grow their giant

industry, the Pet Food Institute, a lobbying group for pet food -- campaigned the American

people by funding "scientific studies" and running radio and TV ads touting the "dangers

of table scraps." Thus, we began to shy away from feeding dogs the same things we were

eating.

However, dogs CAN EAT people food if it's healthy. They probably shouldn't eat fast

food, or a mass of cheese (a little is okay), or candy… But on the other hand, if you're

eating roasted chicken, green beans and potatoes… Table scraps might not be so bad. Dogs can

safely eat flax, green beans, eggs, pumpkins, peanut butter, carrots, apple slices, and

sweet potatoes… But they CAN'T eat chocolate, coffee, yeast, alcohol. They can eat grains,

but they're better off with meats. And that's not entirely off from where the pet food industry

is going.

These days, you can buy luxury dog food akin to those Victorian princes and empresses -- duck,

squash, salmon, turkey and berries. It's literally just PEOPLE food in dog packaging. Or if you'd

rather save some coin, you CAN stick to the bagged dry food. A professor of veterinary

nutrition at Ohio State University says, his students have studied the diet history of

thousands of animals and haven't found any evidence that one dog food is better than

any other.

What do you feed your pet? Tell us in the comments, and be sure you click

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