The Wild Dog Diet

Bones splinter in the stomachs
of wild and domestic dogs.

Wild dogs are omnivores, not carnivores. It seems a small distinction, but really is not trivial. This means that they do not live on meat alone, but also feast on vegetation. Cats, by contrast, are true carnivores. Second, the meat they do eat is consumed as soon as it is caught and is obviously not a frozen product. Wild dogs have evolved somewhat of a resistance to the dangerous bacteria and parasitic infections to which they are exposed, which our domestic dogs have not. It is a documented fact through zoos and wolf experts such as Jennifer Sheldon, quoted above, that even wild dogs die and/or become ill from consuming raw meat. Not necessarily every time they eat it, but often enough for it to be of grave concern for your dog. We also know from the wild dogs taken into captivity that they are often found malnourished and unhealthy.

There is well documented evidence in the carcasses of wild dogs, and a well-known fact among veterinary doctors and scientists, that wild dogs DO choke on the bones of fowl or have them splinter in the stomach - even baby backs and necks (Washington State University, located in a rural area verifies this statement). Cooking a bone may make it more likely to splinter, however, raw bones sometimes do splinter in the throat and stomach. A more likely event is that the raw bone will be broken into small, jagged pieces which can tear the lining of the throat and stomach or become lodged in the palate.