Is the Dog a Carnivore or an Omnivore?

You've probably wondered whether your dog is a carnivore or perhaps even an omnivore. There are many opinions on this topic, and in this article, I want to finally shed light on the matter and show you exactly how it works for your dog.

Do You Know the 3 Dietary Types?

Carnivores are meat eaters. The word comes from the Latin terms carnis (flesh) and vorare (to devour). Carnivores feed on prey animals.

Omnivores, on the other hand, eat everything (from Latin omnis = all). The third dietary type consists of herbivores, from the Latin herba = plant, meaning pure plant eaters. It is well known that dogs are not pure herbivores. However, to determine whether our beloved four-legged friend is a carnivore or an omnivore, we need to examine both the anatomical features and the living circumstances more closely.

The dog belongs to the biological order of predators, the Carnivora. Many people therefore initially assume that a dog must naturally be a carnivore. However, the biological classification as a predator must not be confused with the actual diet. The classification as Carnivora does not automatically mean that man's best friend also feeds in a carnivorous manner.

The Dog's Teeth

The dog's teeth are a typical carnivore dentition. It has very sharp canine teeth designed for tearing and gulping down large pieces of meat. Its jaw is a scissor joint and therefore cannot perform the typical grinding movements observed in herbivores, for example. The dog also does not possess any teeth with a grinding function.

The dog's stomach is a large cavity with glands that secrete fluid. Unlike omnivores and herbivores, the dog has no fermentation chambers in either the small or large intestine. Its intestine is significantly shorter than that of a herbivore. However, the ratio of intestinal length to body size is comparable to that of humans. At first glance, the dog's digestive tract appears to be designed for consuming meat.

Carnivore Digestive Tract = Carnivore?

These anatomical indicators point towards a carnivore. However, the dog's teeth do not rule out the suitability of other food. After all, it still needs to be able to crush large pieces of meat and bones with its teeth.

The digestive tract also initially seems to suggest a pure carnivore. However, there are further factors to consider. If you take a look at the digestive enzymes of our four-legged friend, the classification as a carnivore no longer seems so clear-cut. The dog's saliva contains low concentrations of alpha-amylase. These enzymes are primarily responsible for breaking down carbohydrates, which is why they are not found in pure carnivores.

Furthermore, the dog produces additional digestive enzymes responsible for, among other things, breaking down carbohydrates into glucose. In our best friend, who descends from the wolf, a genetic adaptation has taken place. This adaptation allows it to digest other food in addition to meat.

While the dog's ancestor cannot digest starch, a dog has significantly more copies of various genes necessary for processing starch. On average, a dog has approximately five times more copies of this gene than a wolf. The exact number of gene copies depends on the breed. This genetic adaptation suggests that the dog has also adapted to human nutrition.

Adaptation to Human Life

Throughout domestication, dogs have also adapted their diet to that of humans. They frequently had to feed on human food scraps. As a result, the dog's digestive tract has adapted to the available food supply, enabling it to also digest starch and use it as an energy source.

The fact that dogs are not pure carnivores can still be observed in feral dogs today. Various studies on the diet of these wild-living animals show that only a very small proportion of their food consists of self-caught prey. The majority of their diet consists of human food waste. Carrion, usually carcasses of animals consumed by humans, or even human faeces are also on the menu. Fruits are also a popular food source. The arguments listed above show how difficult it is to assign dogs to a single dietary type. Dogs like to try different things. They can therefore be described as carni-omnivores, meaning meat-omnivores.

Although they primarily feed on meat, they are also capable of eating and digesting plant-based food. Since many plant-based scraps were on the menu during domestication, they have adapted to these circumstances. The dog ate everything it found or received. The dietary spectrum of our beloved four-legged companion is therefore very broad, as it can perfectly adapt to the most diverse living conditions.

This makes it a functional omnivore. Man's best friend can digest much of what humans can digest. However, this does not apply to everything, as some foods are very toxic to dogs and should therefore never be consumed by them. Anyone who observes their pet will quickly notice that dogs are very adventurous when it comes to eating. Dogs tend to vomit easily, as they often gobble up everything they find. A dog vomiting is not a cause for alarm – often the vomited material is eaten again to test its digestibility once more.

Our Conclusion

Dogs are by nature carnivores, but they can also consume other types of food. The dog is far from being an omnivore like humans. For a species-appropriate and healthy diet, a distribution of 80% animal-based and 20% plant-based ingredients would be ideal. If you would like to learn more about this, I recommend looking into the topic of Biologically Appropriate Raw Feeding (BARF). You can find more about this in our Hundeo App.