How do you feel about dogs with a vegetarian diet?

i'm not trying to start an argument just wondering about other people's opinions.



i think it's actually a good thing... i mean, for the other animals and all, besides i don't think it would be too unhealthy. and "dogs are carnivores"... well dogs evolved from wolves, they don't hunt as much and all, instead of raw deer meat, they have cooked chicken and kibble and cooked rice? so i think dogs can get used to a vegetarian diet, just like they got used to cooked food.



i don't know. what do you think?How do you feel about dogs with a vegetarian diet?
Dogs can eat vegetables as part of their diet (There's a reason dogs eat grass and plant life when they aren't feeling well) but they also require a lot of protein in their diet. And the primary means by which dogs ingest protein is through meat.



Dogs aren't humans...they can't just decide to eat only vegetables. Watch a dog in the presence of something like a squirrel, and you will watch that dog hunt, as its species does by nature. A dog that hunts has the capacity for killing. And a dog that kills will eat its kill.



Dogs eat meat. Eating chicken is eating meat. And while dogs will eat vegetables on occasion, for the most part they must eat meat to survive.
Dogs need meat to be healthy. Their bodies are designed for it and it is very hard to find enough protein from plant sources that a dog's metabolism can utilize.



A vegetarian diet for a dog is a bad idea.How do you feel about dogs with a vegetarian diet?
the World's oldest living dog died last year, at the age of 27..she was a Border Collie, and raised on a totally vegetarian diet..Based on lentils and rice, with many garden fresh vegies. Brambles story%26lt;%26lt; http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/Do鈥?/a>



the current oldest dog is soon to be 27, and has lived his whole life eating nothing but kangaroo and emu meat! So, go figure..we know SO little about canine nutrition..

Jerry's story%26gt; http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-11-20鈥?/a>
I personally feel that they need a diet with meat in it. There are vegetarian dog foods available, I looked into this because I feel that no animal should be killed. However after a lot of time spent on it, I still come to the conclusion that dogs should be fed meat. I plan on feeding mine an expensive kibble along with some raw meat and blended veggies. If you do try to feed your dogs a veggi diet, I would recommend that you pay close attention to their weight before and after, as well as their muscle tone to make certain they don't have a problem with it. I'd be very interested to know what happens.



Edit: That BC was news to me. How interesting. Would love to see pics of him at 26! Here's the article I turned up.

http://www.peta.org/factsheet/files/Fact鈥?/a>



Edit2.0: I'm vegetarian and I look pretty healthy if I do say so. 24 6'3" and never eaten meat thank you. Just had to say :-)How do you feel about dogs with a vegetarian diet?
dogs and other carnivores really do need a predominately meat diet, without it they will go blind, have kidney failure, liver failure and a host of other ailments ultimately ending in death...why..in this hypothetical situation would a human try to force human traits and behaviors on an animal, there is no good or bad judgment call to be made about carnivores eating meat, good or bad is entirely in the brain of the human...but carnivores need meat or they will die...that is just the way they are physically made...end of story- oh and p.s.- cooked chicken IS meat



oh brother, a rose by any other name...
Dogs like humans are omnivoires. Being vegetarian won't kill one if he gets a balanced diet. Cats on the other hand will die if put on a vegitarian diet they don't have some the enzymes needed to synthethize some amino acids.



BTW Have you ever seen a healthy looking vegetarian?
Unless a dog has horrible allergies due to bad breeding and HAS to be on a vegitarian diet (and they usually aren't healthy because of it) NO DOG SHOULD BE ON A VEGITARIAN DIET. They are CARNIVORES and they will get very sick without meat. It is very irresponsible of people to suggest that.



And some dogs are fed a strictly raw diet and alot of them are in better shape than other dogs.
well Im a vegetarian, but I don't think I could ever do that to my little Shih Tzu, he loves chicken and meat way too much, so I still feed it to him, even though it is gross to me.
Most of the advice you ahve received so far is valid - and the links are fascinating. If you want to do more reading on the natural diet of dogs in the wild and how that can be adapted for pet dogs try and find the following books: Give a Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst and RawMeaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale. These both go into considerable detail about not only the natural diet of dogs but also the pet food industry and what we are really feeding our dogs when we give them commercial dog foods. I have done NO research on vegetarian diets for dogs (even though I am vegan) because the advice given in these books was very sound and made sense to me.
Not a good idea Dog's need the proteins in meat and unfortunately for dogs it can't be subsitituted the way it can for humans.