The Dog Life Span

What happened to the dog life expectancy? The dog life span gets shorter by the decade. Instead of longevity, we should call it short-evity. I can't believe it's only ... ten years.

Well, that was back in 1994, when only 10% of large dogs lived past the age of ten. Now I often talk to people who think their dogs are old at six or seven!

Look I don't know your age or experience with this, but I am 55 (and don't give a rat's bum-bum who knows it) and I can remember dogs living to be in their 20's. With such a short dog life span, by the time we get the potty training, basic obedience and good manners taken care of, they're turning gray! (Have you noticed? It's not uncommon for a two or three-year-old dog to start graying around the muzzle.) Yikes!

A fascinating source of information about pet foods began back in 1940. Dr. Pottenger began a study feeding two groups of cats. One was fed raw foods, the other cooked. His study went on for several generations of cats. Here are some highlights:

• Cats on the entirely raw food diet were completely healthy, never needing veterinary attention. (Don't stop reading, I'm not saying you HAVE to feed raw.)
• The more the food was cooked, the less healthy were the cats that ate it.
• The health problems for the cats on the cooked diet were remarkably like those commonly seen in cats and dogs today.
• Over a period of three generations, the cats on the cooked food diet continued to deteriorate until they could no longer reproduce and had shorter life spans.
• When cats were put back on a raw food diet, it took three generations for the animals to totally recover from the effects of poor diet.

All this was BEFORE cat and dog foods became popular after World War II! Holy smokes!

This makes me wonder if we were ripe for the picking when packaged dog foods made their debut. Why? Because the Great Depression began in October 1929. It eased because of increased production of war materials at the start of World War II. By the end of the war we were still frugal.

• Several marketers of the new dog products were stating that their products were superior, as they were able to utilize waste products such as grain hulls, sweepings, and meat unusable for human consumption.
• Another argument was that fresh meat was just too expensive to feed dogs, and that it actually made them too ‘finicky’. While it was noted fresh meat and vegetables were superior, they argued that dogs could be fed more economically with these factory waste products, and still do well.

Now, what do you think? No wonder dog longevity is a thing of the past! And dog food manufacturers say not to feed table scraps!

Dog life expectancy is not the only thing we need to address. Quality of life is as important as a dog life span. We should learn a lesson for our own health as well as our dogs. The more processed our food is, the less nutrition available. Without nutrition, we WILL get disease.

Even making your own cooked dog food is far superior to major dog food brands in a bag, can or packet. The secret to cooked foods? Quality, variety and supplements.

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