Dog Longevity Survey: How Important Is Diet for Longevity? ~ CookingFood.Org

Hardly anybody doubts the important role nutrition plays in dog longevity and health.

66.67% of people who took my Longevity Survey checked diet as extremely important and 30.77% as important. Only 2.56% believe it is not important.

I don't know why this makes me think of one horrible joke about a Scotsman who comes into a bar, clearly very angry. He orders a stiff drink and the bartender asks him why is he so upset. "For months I was teaching my horse to go without food," the Scotsman replies. "And now, when he almost got it, he just died, dumbass horse."

Naturally, nutrition is needed to sustain life. And, we learned in the previous article, the amount makes a huge difference.

So, in general, it is better to feed our dogs a little less rather than a little more. But what about the food itself?

I think that no other subject creates a bigger divide among dog lovers, advocates, and veterinarians than what is the ideal diet for our dogs. There is a real war going on out there and it's about dog food. You can just try to show up in a raw feeders group and mention the word kibble, or in a "traditional" group and mention the word raw. You shall be crucified.

There is kibble on one end of the spectrum, and raw food on the other, and several options in between.

And that's just about how the food is or isn't processed. Then there is what it should or should not consist of. And the argument about nutrients versus ingredients. All that keeping environmental and like issues aside completely.

The daunting question everybody is arguing about is what is the best diet for their dog(s).

And the answer is far from straightforward. Let's take a look at the diets of the world's longest living dogs.

Their diets ranged from fresh, raw food diet, fresh whole food vegan diet, home-cooked foods, boiled leftovers, and kibble.

Yes, one of the longest living dogs, Max, who made it to an age of 29 years and 282 days was fed nothing but kibble. So ...

... life is complex and however important diet is, it is only a part of the equation.

There are further variables not only between the types of foods but also within each group. There are differences between dogs. There are genetics, environment, lifestyle ... all these things are pieces of the puzzle.

What is my take on it?

There are a couple of things I believe in and how they can best work together depends on an individual dog.

Jasmine started out on kibble but was transitioned to home-cooked diet after she was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Carefully picked, fresh ingredients that agreed with her system went a long way in successfully managing her condition. Carefully considered supplements and herbs assisted with managing other conditions she was battling with.

JD was a kibble dog. We selected kibble for him carefully, paying attention to ingredients, nutritional value, and processing. He was meant to eat kibble and did best on it.

Cookie is fed raw. It was kind of her decision when she started supplementing her diet with freshly caught small rodents. She does great on it.

What things I consider contribute to making a diet better?

complete and balanced
whole foods
species-appropriate ingredients (for dogs that means mostly animal source with some veggies)
quality ingredients (as good as one can afford; this would mean organic, non-GMO ...)

I do believe that the less processing the better as important nutrients get destroyed by processing and need to be added back. But as you can see above, the longest-living dogs had all different kinds of diets which shows that there is no one formula that fits all.

What do you think? Is there a diet that reigns supreme? And which one is it?

How Important Is Weight Management for Longevity?