Melissa.
I use a dog team to haul wood, hunt, go to the store. Not because I’m secluded but because I want a small enviro footprint and of course I love dogs.
Dogs are 99% wolf DNA. Dogs are omnivores that are just about 90% carnivore. They ain’t like a bear.. …or a pig.
I have fed my dogs whole carcasses of deer, moose elk, beef, pork, goose, rabbit, you name it, whole fish is awesome, beaver, excellent.
The first thing they(dogs((and wolves))go for is the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs. The dogs then go for the fatty net looking thing around the stomach/s and guts. Of course the dogs ingest some of the plant food matter that is in the digestive tract of.
Sorta the same as when humans eat a salad.
Dogs don’t make up their own amino acids which is why I don’t feed raw eggs to mine.
I had noticed my dogs do not eat about the last 3 feet(in a larger animal)of the big gut (just before the anus).
But they do eat everything else, epecially with deer, moose and the larger wild 4 leggeds but do pretty ell the same with rabbit and fowl.
I decided to look more closely. In the gut the pellets(poop) have a greenish slimy substance on them. The closer they get to the anus the less greasy stuff until all that’s left is the brown pellets.
After talking to the vet that was here at the time, and doing some research in books at the time, that slime is essentiLly vegatable oil, loaded with amino acids. The partially digested plant material…hmph….wow
Vitamin C in the marrow, vitamin B in the brain,…..
A prey has pretty well everything in it that a predator needs to live a healthy life.
Also, a dogs body takes 11 days(or so)to engineer a battalion of enzymes to properly digest a new food which is why several dog food companies as well as a host of dog nutritionalists say to “chip” dogs on to a new food.
My dogs are very healthy.
My old leader ran in front for 14 years from the time he was 1&1/4 years old. He passed away peacefully at the age of 16 human years just before his 17th birthday. He would have 117&1/2 if he was a human.
I like to think it is in part because I had an open mind about diet for 90% carnivore 10% omnivore.
On the other end of the spectrum, I made a foolish mistake this spring thinking I would save myself some time and money and the fact that I am starting to get a little…. umm… lazy will do. I bought 2 pallets of commercial dog food instead of gassing up the truck and cruising the hiways for fresh accident killed dog food. I am 56 and used dogs since I was 6 and for the first time in my life I have witnessed hot spots/sun spots on a dog.
Back to meat for me. LOL…I am still learning.
I hope this unintentional yarn helps.
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