Thanks for sharing this.

We gave vegan dog food a try several years ago when we were fostering dogs - our results were pretty mixed.

Some dogs seemed to do just fine and others developed loose stools, skin problems, and exacerbation of joint issues.

I do believe that anyone with a dog should at least give it a try to see how their dog tolerates it, but I disagree that vegan dog food is affordable like regular brands. 

While I don't buy cheap dog food, the vegan equivalent is approx. 2-3x more expensive. 

Mind you, I should add that if you have a small dog then cost won't be too substantial. Some large breeds can go through a lot of food, and that's where it can become expensive.

Hi Dona, most of the time it would be shocking to know whats in our food, you really don,t wouldn,t want to know whats in yer pets. My wife has a friend who feeds her Old English Sheep dog on veg, ye want to see the dog going BANANAS for carrots. and apples it love as a treat as well but remove the pips

Yes, I figured it would depend on the dog and the relative cost. A lot of people already spend huge amounts on their dogs trying to fix things like itchy skin etc, so for them it might be worth a try. I thought the part about how dogs have evolved to live with humans was interesting.

Our next door neighbor dog ( who we walk) loves carrots but won't touch celery. Maybe a cautionary tale. P.S. he is a 130 pound chocolate Labrador..a real sweetie too ( good thing!).

interesting,  but true??????

rendering plants are removing dead animals from the waste stream for starters.  if all pet food contained zero animal products tomorrow, the methane release would increase not decrease as stated.  cattle numbers would not decrease by 25% as suggested in article.

medium grade rendered meat in the midwest runs about 40 cents a lb, cheapest hamburg in store was $5/lb as of yesterday.  so rendered meat is over 12 times cheaper.  I really doubt pet food makers are using human grade meats.

this I found interesting:

Animal meal is made from rendered body parts not considered fit for human consumption, such as brains, hooves, snouts and genitals."""""

while this might be true, I've purchased thousand of lbs of rendered meat in the past, no signs of such parts, high quality rendered meat looks a lot like store bought hamburg.

i now get grocery store waste meats.  I have removed over 10 tons of meat from the waste stream in the years I have been supplementing dry dog food.  thats a carbon reduction!  never had skin problems or joint problems with my dogs.  its a shame that thousands of tons go to waste from stores, which turn into methane.  stores often refuse to give away  what they pay to have hauled to a landfill.  I've even offered 50cents a lb with no luck.

not all dog food is the same nor are all dogs the same.   the northern breeds have had little chance of getting grains.  

I question if nature really got it wrong.  nor do i think large dog stools are a sign of health, more likely a sign of little being digested, which translates into waste of materials, corn and soy are not carbon neutral.    dogs and wolves are survivalists, they will eat anything to survive. wolves will eat fruits/veggy's and grains if that's all there is.

vegan, if you had no choice, would you eat hot dogs to survive?

Posted by: dogtalkerer

Vegan, if you had no choice, would you eat hot dogs to survive?

Off topic, but I believe your question contains the answer. 😉

There was a recent article in NY Times ( within the last few weeks) about a new concern that the peas and legumes which  are replacing some of the meat in dog foods is actually causing damage to their hearts. Sorry I can't remember more about it. But if you see peas and legumes as a main source of protein in your dog's  food, you should check it out.

Ya, it is Racheal Ray's dog food...…………..