What Would Your Breed Of Choice Have Been Fed Traditionally?

[poodlefan]

As the title suggests, what diet would your dog have been fed in its country and historical period of origin?

Thinking things through, a dog that did not do well on the food available in that place and at that time would be unlikely to bred on. Therefore I think that perhaps there are foods that from a breed perspective, dogs are more likely to do well on or at least tolerate.

Lets take Whippets as an example. While small greyhounds have been around for centuries, Whippets as a breed are a product of 19th Century, working class, Northern Britain.

As valued race dogs, chances are they ate as well as, or indeed better than the family but what was available at the time?

It seems that dog biscuits or cereal would have formed a significant part of a dog’s diet, puppies may have gotten milk also. The most readily available cereals would have been barley, oatmeal and wheat imported from the USA. Horse meat and the odd bunny may have made it into the food bowl and no doubt table scraps also. Later 19th Century working class diets tended to be cereal based although meat quality and availability and canned goods started to feature and this improved over the period.

So I’d say early Whippets were probably accustomed to a cereal based diet, supplemented with some meat, the odd wild caught meal if available but nothing fancy.This Irish Wolfhound website provides some idea of what dogs got fed although I imagine Wolfhounds weren't the dog of choice for a working class family! A Whippet with cereal intolerance seems unlikely to have continued in the gene pool.

Anyone else care to offer their thoughts on the issue?

Edited May 26, 2011 by poodlefan

[Christina]

Goodness knows what toy poodles would have been fed & they weren't ever in the wild.

All sorts of bad little snacky things off owners plates I guess.

Like people they probably adjust to modern diet, I doubt we would like or thrive on what they ate 200 years ago in our country of origin. The diet in England was tragic for rich & poor Gout & clogged arteries or malnutrition & vitamin deficiency was likely depending on your social status.

Modern diet with a good dose of common sense sounds ideal.

We do worry & fuss so much about food & everything else being bad now the stress of it all can be more damaging than the food itself. Meanwhile dogs live longer lives generally.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

It varied, but the key point for me is that there was no fancy supplementation regime or top shelf puppy food and they often lived on very short rations in harsh environments. I think it is important not to over feed a Saluki, and by that I also mean not overloading their systems with things their liver and kidneys just have to filter out, as well as not giving them too many calories.

When Pat Hastings was here she talked about the marketing game of dog food, and how additional stuff is added to it and played with on the label to influence the consumer to think that they are buying the best for their dog when in fact a good quality dog food is a good quality dog food and doesn't need ground yak's toenails in it to be any better than another dog food. She didn't mention the yak, that is my embellishment

[RallyValley]

My kelpie hates kangaroo

[Staranais]

It's an interesting thought. A dog that didn't survive on whatever food was on offer, probably didn't live long enough to breed (or perform well enough to be selected to breed). So, dogs that could thrive on whatever diet was available probably were preferentially selected when our breeds were being developed. I expect the process has been going on a long time - back in the day, wolves that couldn't stomach human waste probably wouldn't have hung around our campsites to become domesticated in the first place.

However, I think it's also relevant that going back decades or hundreds of years, dogs weren't as well contained as they are today, so plenty of them were probably able to supplement their diet with scavenging & hunting. Unlike todays pets, where what you choose to give them is all that they get.

We do tend to be a little precious about our dog's food, I think, myself included. It's understandable - we want to give them the best. But I've travelled in the 3rd world & seen street dogs in a lot of places, and some look reasonably healthy while living on garbage and scraps. One lecturer of mine even liked to claim that dogs could probably survive and thrive upon human excrement. They really are highly adaptable creatures.

[Diva]

Hunting with Borzoi moved from being a practical task to a sport indulged in by nobility, so I imagine their diet improved over time too and had pretty reasonable protein levels. Especially as the Russian nobility liked their dogs beautiful as well as impressive hunters.

I've found a description of puppy rearing in one of the big rich hunt kennels from the early 1900s that talks about milk, wheaten porridge, oatmeal, cooked meat and 'beef tea' for puppies, and they were given calves' hooves to chew on. Supplements mentioned were cod liver oil and bone meal. There is not as much detail given for the older dogs but a dedicated kitchen for cooking their meat and 'meal' is mentioned.

Edited May 28, 2011 by Diva

[rebelsquest]

going back centuries mine would have lived off whatever they caught in the way of game. And if they didn't catch anything then they would have raided fruit trees and birds nest etc

just a century or two ago then it would have been mainly grains, scraps etc as game was expected to be handed over to the humans

[poodlefan]

My kelpie hates kangaroo

I have long suspected that poodles contributed to the kelpie breed.. now I know for sure.

Mine won't touch kanga either.

Edited May 26, 2011 by poodlefan

[poodlefan]

It varied, but the key point for me is that there was no fancy supplementation regime or top shelf puppy food and they often lived on very short rations in harsh environments. I think it is important not to over feed a Saluki, and by that I also mean not overloading their systems with things their liver and kidneys just have to filter out, as well as not giving them too many calories.

When Pat Hastings was here she talked about the marketing game of dog food, and how additional stuff is added to it and played with on the label to influence the consumer to think that they are buying the best for their dog when in fact a good quality dog food is a good quality dog food and doesn't need ground yak's toenails in it to be any better than another dog food. She didn't mention the yak, that is my embellishment

Yaks toenails might be important for the Tibetan breeds. ;)

There are, as far as I can figure, breeds were cereals would NOT be a common feature in their traditional diet. Arctic breeds spring to mind... not much oatmeal available for Sibes or Malamutes I suppose.

Other breeds would be more traditionally accustomed to rice based diets rather than other cereals...

Edited May 26, 2011 by poodlefan

[whiskedaway]

Sibes traditionally had to survive on little food while still running for long long distances, and this is still in the breed today. We closely monitor Akira's food intake, because she doesn't need much at all and if she gets too much she puts on weight easily. Their food would have been meat, primarily small animals caught themselves/by their humans.

Edited May 26, 2011 by whiskedaway

[Paptacular!]

Papillons?

Caviar, snails and frog's legs, fed from sliver bowls by a well-to-do French Madamoiselle. ;)

[poodlefan]

Sibes traditionally had to survive on little food while still running for long long distances, and this is still in the breed today. We closely monitor Akira's food intake, because she doesn't need much at all and if she gets too much she puts on weight easily. Their food would have been meat, primarily small animals caught themselves/by their humans.

Fish or seal might also feature. It does suggest that Sibes might be expected to be more tolerant of a high protein, high fat, less cereal based diet than many other breeds.

Edited May 26, 2011 by poodlefan

[whiskedaway]

Sibes traditionally had to survive on little food while still running for long long distances, and this is still in the breed today. We closely monitor Akira's food intake, because she doesn't need much at all and if she gets too much she puts on weight easily. Their food would have been meat, primarily small animals caught themselves/by their humans.

Fish or seal might also feature. It does suggest that Sibes might be expected to be more tolerant of a high protein, high fat, less cereal based diet than many other breeds.

Yes, definitely, didn't think of that. And I think that's definitely the case - Akira has issues with chicken, which would be fairly unlikely to survive in such a cold climate, but she thrives on her new salmon based kibble. We keep her cereals down, and she gets a small amount of kibble and then raw mixed in at every meal.

[mackiemad]

miniature schnauzer?

sauerkraut!

[kelpiekaye]

My kelpie hates kangaroo

So does mine.

[poodlefan]

miniature schnauzer?

sauerkraut!

And knackwurst

[kelpiekaye]

Dairy farm dogs would of and still do drink a lot of milk. I wish mine didnt as she looks quite bloated but it soon goes away. It dosnt seem to upset her stomach though, milk used to go straight through my previous Kelpie.

[poodlefan]

My kelpie hates kangaroo

So does mine.

Do they like lamb?

[luvsdogs]

That is what I would imagine border collies ate back in the borders of England & Scotland, sheep. ;)

Pre-killed of course by the shephards.

Edited May 26, 2011 by luvsdogs

[poodlefan]

That is what I would imagine border collies ate back in the borders of England & Scotland, sheep. ;)

Pre-killed of course by the shephards.

And here I was thinking it would be oatmeal and haggis.

And Scotch Finger biscuits washed down with single malt. ;)

Edited May 26, 2011 by poodlefan