Dogs: carnivores, not omnivores and why this matters

Why my interest in this question. I have an eleven year old Golden Retriever named Kodi who has a long history of reoccuring skin infections and ear infections. As he's gotten older he has gotten more and more itchy. The general advice I've gotten from three different veterinary practices over the years has been that it's probably a food allergy. Their advice is to determine which food is causing his allergy by doing a food trial. A food trial consists of feed him a commercially manufactured kibble made from a protein, such as fish, to which he has probably had no exposure. The novel protein is exclusively feed to the dog for three months to see if doing so eliminates or reduces the dog's itching. With three young children I've never been able to accomplish this, since he inevitably gets some other food, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, from the kids.

So I've done quite a bit of googling on itchiness in dogs. One suggestion that I've encountered over the years is the feeding of raw meat, bones and all, to dogs. Until recently I've dismissed this idea based on two assumptions. One, that dogs are omnivores, and two, that dogs would be susceptible to foodborne bacterial pathogens. I now believe both of these assumptions to be wrong.

Let's start with the question, what are dogs?

Dogs are domesticated wolves. How do we know this? Dogs are descendant from wolves, orginating more than 100,000 years before the present (1). Meaning that if you look at the family tree that includes domestic dogs and other dog-like animals (such as wolves, foxes, jackals and coyotes), the domestic dogs group split of from the others more than 100,000 years ago.


(1) Vilà, C. et al. Multiple and Ancient Origins of the Domestic Dog. Science. 276: 1687–1689 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;276/5319/1687?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=vila%2C+c&andorexacttitle=or&andorexacttitleabs=or&andorexactfulltext=or&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&fdate=1/1/1997&tdate=11/30/1997&resourcetype=HWCIT,HWELTR

Dog Poop

Ok. We have 2 Golden Retrievers. I am of the option that it is NOT ok to leave their poop where it falls (especially not on the living room carpet....). But also "not ok" anywhere outside, not in the common area of our neighborhood, not in the tall grass, not even it the woodsy areas or outright woods. Any of these outside locations, drain into the creeks and streams that drain into the waterways that are our drinking water sources. Dog feces can harbor pathogenic bacteria and parasites, and are chock-full of nutrients that can cause algae blooms in waterways. The are SO, SO, SO many pet dogs that leaving dog poop on the ground in any residential area is detrimental to the environment and a potential human health hazard.

So, what to do with the poo?

In NY we tried a Doggie Dooley system. This is a small septic-like system for dog poop. You basically dig a hole and pop on the plastic trap-door cover. In goes the poop, water sufficient for decomposition, plus some digestive enzymes and you let nature take it's course. Seemed to work well in NY. But here with our clay soil, I'm thinking that the poopy water would simply take too long to seep into the surrounding soil for the system to work properly, plus our location in a townhouse neighborhood pretty much rules out this solution for us.

So we have been bagging our dog poop in plastic bags and placing it in with the household trash. But even with double bagged bags this has resulted in a very stinky garbage can in the garage, were as per the HOA the garbage can must be kept. And then the magots last week were the last straw.

So, after a bit of googling, I have come to the conclusion that the most hygienic solution is to flush the dog poop down the toilet. At least 2 companies make water-soluble dog poop bags, and both brands are available at amazon.com.

So this is what I shall try. In addition I've e-mail the Town of Cary Public Works department to find out the official Town of Cary position on dog poop disposal.

Ok. I've heard back from the Town of Cary, and either bagging the poop or flushing it is fine in their opinion. I've also concluded that the more-expensive flushable poop bags are probably not worth it. First off, the flushable bags dissolve in water. What happens if you're out in the rain collecting dog poop? Yuck. And, what about those poops that are less-than-solid. So, I've decided to simply continue using the readily available plastic dog poop bags, and simply not tie the bags after pick-up. Upon returning to the house I simply dump the bags in the downstairs bathroom toilet and flush! The bags are thrown out in the garage gabage can.

So far this system is working well. It's been "in use" for about 2 weeks. The garage is definately less smelly. And I'm thinking there are fewer flies. Plus I "feel better" about not putting dog poop in with the household garbage that is handled by the garbage collection workers.

The Transfer

Ok. Started this second blog today. "Just Allison" is going to be my thoughts/writings. And "Crandall Academy Days" is going to be about our homeschool and what we do each day.