Research has shown that the evolution of dogs was a two-stage process: first, they were domesticated from their wild relatives, possibly the grey wolves of Southeast Asia. That’s when dogs and humans started sharing the same living environments and food resources. The second stage only spanned the last few hundred years, when intensive breeding created many modern breeds and selected for an assortment of human favourable characters. A recent study into dog genome sequencing has shown that genes related to digestion and metabolism differ in wolves and dogs. As dogs spent their time with humans, they started adopting agricultural based living conditions. This led to large changes in the food source for dogs as they transitioned from being a carnivore to an omnivore. This change might even have been the driving force for the positive selection of these dogs in the process.

A Chinese study on positive selection in humans and dogs found an extraordinary amount of parallel evolution, which was likely driven by their similar environments. And modern dogs are 30 times better at digesting starch than wolves, showing just how different the two species are.

So, to come back to the original question … technically speaking, dogs can live on vegetarian and vegan diets. Wolves can’t. BUT it is not really possible for dogs to do this with food prepared at home. This is only really possible with commercially prepared pet food.

Creating a meat-free food for dogs that contains all of the necessary nutrients for them to thrive is extremely difficult, even for veterinary nutritionists (which have had at least 4 years of training!!!), so trying it at home yourselves is nigh on impossible. While the canine digestive system can get nutrition from plant matter, it has a much easier time processing animal matter. And of course fruit and veggies are great for providing vitamins and antioxidants that can help your dog thrive, but they lack the necessary amounts of fat and protein. Dogs need collagen, elastin and keratin (and others of course) – proteins derived from animal products. These proteins are vital for healthy skin, muscles and joints, but are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to derive from a vegan diet. For more info on this, see here.

So, the bottom line is that, unless it’s done very carefully under the guidance and supervision of a veterinary nutritionist, making your dog vegan could lead to severe health complications and malnutrition.

However, feeding vegan and vegetarian treats alongside a non-vegan diet is a good option. Dehydrated fruit and veg are a good treat, as our our vegan and vegetarian biscuits of course! So, head over to the shop and have a look at our range and treat your dog to some nutritious biscuits!