From Table to Bowl – Nourish your dog naturally with the foods you love.

Written by UK dog nutritionist Gerald Pepin, From Table to Bowl is the first in a series of books to be published by speciality publisher Canine Nutrition Press, on the subject of dog nutrition.

The best way to feed your dog

In today’s world, there is a considerable confusion about how dogs should be fed. About what is and what is not safe for man’s best friend to eat. The fact is that prior to the relatively recent introduction of commercial dog food, there was no ‘human food’ just as there was no ‘dog food’. Food was food. Dogs and human beings ate the same foods. And if we didn’t eat exactly the same meals, we certainly ate the same foodstuffs.

Simple logic would dictate that ancient human beings did not go out and source one set of ingredients for themselves and another for their dogs. They had their hands full defending themselves, protecting their homes and families and sourcing their own food. They faced climatic challenges, harsh weather and dangerous predators. And they faced food insecurity, disease, infection and territorial clashes with other human groups. The last thing on their minds was sourcing specific dog-safe ingredients in order to make complete and balanced meals for their dogs!

Dogs self-domesticated

We know today that dogs evolved from a long-extinct species of wolf. We know that members of that species self-domesticated somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. And we know that the thing that initially motivated those wild canids to venture into human settlements was food waste. Human food waste provided a reliable source of food for bolder, friendlier wolves who were less wary of people than others of their species.

This amenable approach greatly increased their chances of survival and reproduction. Over many generations, natural selection favoured these less fearful and more tolerant individuals. This in turn allowed “proto-dogs” to emerge as a distinct population from their wilder counterparts. Those “proto-dogs” later became today’s domestic dog.

This relationship was mutually beneficial. Humans gained a form of pest control as a result of the wolves disposing of their food waste. They also gained an early warning system for approaching predators or rival human beings.

Why dogs self-domesticated

In addition to gaining access to a stable, high-protein food source, wolves gained significant evolutionary advantages. Increased safety drastically improved their survival and reproductive rates compared to their wild counterparts. As the human wolf relationship developed, wolves also gained protection from the elements as human beings began to actively care for their new “best friends”. Providing them shelter further enhanced the mutually beneficial bond of the two species. It not only ensured the wolves survival, it ultimately resulted in the domestic dogs with whom a great many of us share our lives today.

Knowing all this helps us understand a little more about the dietary needs of today’s dogs. Wolves and human beings established their relationship largely because of food. Wolves ultimately became dogs. And until around 160 years ago and the birth of commercial dog food, continued to enjoy that shared diet that had initially brought them together.

Studies prove that dogs have always eaten fresh food

This fact is further evidenced by science. Scientists have discovered that around the time of the First Agricultural Revolution, somewhere around 12,000 years ago, human beings underwent genetic changes. This enabled their digestive systems to process a farmed diet that was more limited than the foraged diet they had previously enjoyed. A diet that was less diverse and based more on the consumption of carbohydrates, particularly from newly domesticated cereal grains and starchy roots compared to the pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer diet which contained fewer carbohydrates and had more varied sources of protein and fat.

But here’s the thing. Those same scientists made yet a further important discovery. They discovered that at precisely the same time human beings underwent those genetic changes, dogs underwent exactly the same genetic changes. In other words, at the time of the First Agricultural Revolution some 12,000 years ago, dogs and human beings were sharing the same diet. They were eating exactly the same food!

Of course all this changed around 160 years ago when commercial dog food was invented by American lightning rod salesman, James Spratt. Spratt’s “Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes” were made from a mixture of wheat meals, vegetables, beetroot and beef blood. His product’s success led to the establishment of the modern pet food industry. This has subsequently erased thousands of years of history and led to today’s consumers believing that dogs have always eaten little else but dry dog biscuit when in point of fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Why your dog will benefit from this book

From Table to Bowl is an attempt to turn back the clock to a time when dogs and human beings essentially ate the same foods. A time when dogs not only ate the same foods as human beings, but lived longer, healthier lives as a result of it. Within its covers, you’ll find 100s of ingredients you can safely share with your dog.

It’s not to say that every dog will eat every ingredient listed in From Table to Bowl, but that every thoroughly-researched ingredient is at least 100% dog-safe should it happen to tickle your particular dog’s individual taste buds. I hope you enjoy reading it and that your best friend will enjoy a more varied diet as a result of it.