In light of the contaminated pet food scandal that rocked the industry earlier this year, I thought I would share some insights from my own experience with a different feeding regime.

This is Asta, my 10-year old Briard (French Shepherd). Briards are a terrific breed, with the best qualities of a German Shepherd (we’ve had two G.S.’s) and the added advantage that they don’t shed. If there is a downside it is that they are too smart - they can reputedly differentiate more than 200 words – and I swear, when you say something to a Briard, you can almost hear their brain analyzing and decision-making (”Uh, like what’s in it for me Man?”). An uncommon breed, Briards have so far been spared many of the genetic deformities due to over-breeding for specific traits (e.g. hip-dysplasia in German Shepherds) common to more popular dogs.

Asta has never been sick…not even a cold. According to our vet, her teeth still don’t require cleaning, even though we never brush them. The only intervention she has had was the removal of a small fatty cyst under the skin of her underbelly. People in the park routinely mistake her for a much younger dog….although she has started to slow down lately as she passes 70+ in human years.

We are often asked what we feed Asta, and people are usually perplexed when I tell them the Mount-Athos Plan (or Greek Plan as I also call it).

Around the time that we got Asta from the breeder I also happened to be on one of my visits with the monks and hermits of Mount-Athos. The hermits I was staying with had a number of cats for “mousing” and dogs for hunting (some hermits do in fact hunt and eat meat, although it is generally frowned upon by the monasteries). I noticed that throughout the day the hermits would collect, in two separate bowls, the various vegetable cuttings and meal leftovers – meat, fish, etc. in one bowl for the cats, and just about everything else for the dogs (including some meat and fish). At the end of the day, the two bowls would be put out in the courtyard and the animals would gather for their “feast”. Having been brought up on Alpo and other pet-food commercials, I was skeptical! I asked one hermit about these feeding practices and he seemed puzzled by my question. The very notion of throwing out good food and then buying stuff to feed the animals was inconceivable and probably, in his mind, downright sinful! The animals all seemed very healthy, affectionate, and energetic…and I was inspired.

When I got home I discussed this with my wife and it seemed worth a try. Asta was about 6 months old then and used to being fed “premium” dog food recommended by the vet. We made the transition to feeding her raw vegetables and meal leftovers – not all “scraps” mind you, but good human food, the same as we were eating but usually in the form of leftovers that wouldn’t be eaten by us another day. If there were not enough (rare in a family of four serious eaters), her bowl would be supplemented with some dog food. Our vet was scandalized! She felt that “scientifically” designed dog food was perfectly balanced for the optimal health of the animal and that what we were doing ran the risk of illness for Asta.

During the last ten years I have worked on a number of consulting projects in the animal health area and have interviewed dozens of opinion-leading veterinarians. When possible and after the work interview, I have queried them about the Greek Plan and have reached a fairly good consensus (especially relevant in light of recent developments!):

• While cats are true carnivores and require primarily a meat-based diets, there is some controversy about dogs, who seem to straddle the line between carnivore and omnivore;
• There is no reason that a dog, fed a healthy human diet (vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, whole grains, fruit, etc.) can’t be perfectly healthy. On the other hand, feeding dogs a typically unhealthy human diet of junk food will produce a result not far from the human one. Grapes and chocolate are of course forbidden, since they are highly toxic to dogs. Dogs also require a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio, so care needs to be taken with too much pasta and rice (although I think Asta must have some Italian blood in her because she loves pasta!)
• Not all dogs and breeds will respond well to this approach, especially in light of the over-breeding that has compromised many breeds’ “natural” characteristics such as digestion, immunity, etc.
• Feeding dogs in this way is environmentally and ethically sound as they participate in the chain of recycling and waste reduction rather than increased waste production.
• You save a bundle of money!
  

In the intervening years we have seen the emergence of the BARF (raw-food) diet, and a host of other “natural” approaches to feeding pets, better aligned with their biology and evolution. And to paraphrase the VP Research and Development for one of the mega pet-food companies when asked by a TV interviewer about what dogs like to eat: “Well, if we gave dogs what they really like….you couldn’t have it in your home [because of the smell and appearance]!”

Leisureguy has an excellent post on the raison-d’etre of dog food and it turns out to have far less to do with taste than it does with poop, i.e. the creation of solid, dry waste that is more acceptable to pet owners (for those that pick up – the rest are all swine!).

My vet is a little more sheepish these days about pet food, especially when I ask her, “Who’s really crazy now?”