Newbie here, and I joined just to ask this one question. I hope this hasn’t been covered before, because I couldn’t find a search link.
I’m trying to find out why dog foods don’t taste anything like what they’re labeled as. In fact, most of them are pretty disgusting, which is strange since dogs seem to favor a lot of the same things people like. I assume there are some foody scents added to dog food that only a dog can smell, but that doesn’t explain why dog food should taste so rank. I’m talking specifically about dry foods and treats. I’ve never worked up the courage to try canned food (although some of it doesn’t look half bad).
This is just my opinion so I probably shouldn’t be posting in GQ, but I wonder if dogs actually do like dog food.
If most dogs had a choice between dog food or ‘people food’, I’ve never seen a dog that would chose to eat dog food. Probably if I was hungry enough and wasn’t given a choice, I’d eat dog food too.
This is what I feed my dog and I don’t know about the taste, but it does smell like actual food.
My dog has some “beef jerky” treats which smell strongly of smoked meat. (So strongly that you can smell it across the room when I open the beg.) But when I tasted one it actually had a sweet flavor-- not meaty at all.
I’ve tasted one type of canned dog food. (Chicken in gravy. I won’t even consider trying the minced meat mush.) It tasted much like the human version of shredded chicken and gravy but with considerably less salt than humans like.
Try this: offer your dog a milkbone in one closed fist, and a hunk of roast beef in the other. Check out which hand your dog tries to maul open…
I am an obedience instructor and dog trainer. Long ago, my mentor challenged me to not try training a dog with a treat I wouldn’t try. So, I started checking them out. Milkbones, and almost all “biscuits”, are truly tasteless. Some dogfoods have taste (at least to a human’s perceptions) and some are cardboard.
Dogs love milkbones because they know that when you have one in your hand, or when you go get that box out of the cupboard, they ARE going to get a treat. How could they not be excited?
Dogs will act very pleased with almost any food they are offered - but if I’m in a class next to you offering my pup salmon jerky, and you’ve got cheerios, I’ll bet I’ve got your dog’s attention!
If you do some reading you will quickly find that regularly feeding cat foods to dogs is not a good idea. The balance of proteins, fats and other nutrients are different and you could be setting your dog up for health problems.
My friends dog would lap up human spit. /gag. If someone spit around him, it was like mana from heaven. I did taste a little bit of Purina once as a drunken dare. From what I remember it tasted like cold Dinty Moore.
I never really did convince my dog after moving to the US that dog food was actually food if she’s not starving. If all you give her is dog food she will hold out for at least two days before eating it. She’ll eat some if served with meat and cheese though. I can’t blame her, the stuff tastes like stale croutons (I don’t feed my dog anything I haven’t tried myself). We raised her on raw and cooked meats from different animals, broth, egg yolks, cooked oatmeal and rice and little bits of fruit, cheese, bone and beer. I wouldn’t say it’s more expensive than dog food, and honestly I don’t think a homogenous “chow” can ever be as nutritionally complete as an actual balanced diet. I mean she’s a dog, she can survive really well on whatever she can catch and grass already - everything else is just extras for taste and nutrition, but don’t tell me a “scientifically engineered” diet that’s predominantly cooked rice or corn is better for a predatory omnivore than meat and non-starchy vegetables. Hell, I’m not convinced grains should even be considered proper ‘people’ food :dubious:
