Is there some evolutionary reason why dogs eat out of a bag? Can we just feed the dangdog our leftovers?! Let's SCIENCE THIS THING!Hey pet people! This is DNews, I'm Trace. Dogs are probably the oldest domesticatedanimal, with mitochondrial DNA evidence suggesting they split from wolves 100,000 years ago[a]. At the time, humans didn't have extra food laying around, and would usually kill competingcarnivores like wolves. Smaller, less-aggressive wolves would likely scavenge near human encampments,eating from trash piles and snatching leftovers. Over generations, humans purposefully fedthe cuter, friendlier wolves, and we set ourselves on a path of domestication to create the dog. But, if dogs evolved alongside humans, as evidence suggests, then they were eating thesame things we were eating! But today, Americans often avoid giving dogs, "People Food," sowhat changed? In short, nothing. As dogs and humans grew together, we shared food. But, as human society advanced and petownership grew, we couldn't simply feed them table scraps in our cave. In 116 BCE, MarcusTerentius Varro wrote a farming manual which included advice for feeding working farm dogs-- barley bread soaked in milk, and bones from dead sheep. During the middle ages, commonfamilies who needed work dogs, fed them whatever was leftover -- so we're still following thatancient system -- but by the 19th century, Empress Tzu Hsi of China fed her dogs sharkfins, quail breasts and antelope milk, and the royalty of Europe fed their pups roastduck, cakes and candies. The rich got kinda cray with their puppy chow. During the Industrial Age, dog food started to show up in the West as the middle classprospered. As they cost both money and time, pets were considered a luxury item, and peoplewanted to show off their climbing of the socioeconomic ladder by purchasing a prime pooch. Entrepreneurslearned these nouveau caninophiles needed help to feed their new friends -- and in the1850s James Sprat of Cincinnati invented dog biscuits from wheat, beet root and vegetables,bound with beef blood. The dry food was a hit, and by the 1920s canned wet food wasalso in production -- it was mainly horse meat, and by 1941 canned food was 90% of themarket. Then due to rationing during World War II, dry food became hugely popular again. At the same time, people around the world still fed their dogs what they evolved toeat, table scraps and leftover people food. In the 1960s, to protect and grow their giantindustry, the Pet Food Institute, a lobbying group for pet food -- campaigned the Americanpeople by funding "scientific studies" and running radio and TV ads touting the "dangersof table scraps. " Thus, we began to shy away from feeding dogs the same things we wereeating. However, dogs CAN EAT people food if it's healthy. They probably shouldn't eat fastfood, or a mass of cheese (a little is okay), or candy… But on the other hand, if you'reeating roasted chicken, green beans and potatoes… Table scraps might not be so bad. Dogs cansafely eat flax, green beans, eggs, pumpkins, peanut butter, carrots, apple slices, andsweet potatoes… But they CAN'T eat chocolate, coffee, yeast, alcohol. They can eat grains,but they're better off with meats. And that's not entirely off from where the pet food industryis going. These days, you can buy luxury dog food akin to those Victorian princes and empresses -- duck,squash, salmon, turkey and berries. It's literally just PEOPLE food in dog packaging. Or if you'drather save some coin, you CAN stick to the bagged dry food. A professor of veterinarynutrition at Ohio State University says, his students have studied the diet history ofthousands of animals and haven't found any evidence that one dog food is better thanany other. What do you feed your pet? Tell us in the comments, and be sure you clicksubscribe to get more science news every day of the week. Thanks for watching!
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