Breed Specific Diets: A Simple But Effective Marketting Ploy

For  the most part, commercial kibbles aren’t designed with your pet’s  health at heart.  They are created to keep your dog alive with the  cheapest ingredients possible!  At the end of the day, it’s a business,  and they want to make money.  In order to get around people finding out  this unfortunate fact, they dress their products up in fancy packaging,  ambiguous language, buzz words and worse still… ‘breed specific’ foods!

Breed  specific diets, whether they’re marketed for greyhounds, spaniels or  any other dog (or cat), are one of the biggest scams in the pet food  industry.

A very simple, but  effective, marketing ploy, these diets do not contain anything that  specifically benefits the breed they are ‘designed’ for.  But, pet  owners, thinking they’re doing the right thing for their pets by seeking  these foods are inhibiting their hound’s nutritional intake,  contributing to poor dental health, obesity and other long-term health  problems.

But how did greyhound  specific diets come around?  Who knows.  But we can hazard a guess that  it relates to the long-standing misconception that greyhounds must have a  low protein diet…but as we’ve discussed before, this is not the case!

There  are many myths and misconception around protein, for both greyhounds,  and dogs overall, which ties into a more widespread problem within the  pet food industry. Such as how easily things can be taken out of  context, spread like wildfire and influence the production, marketing  and buying habits of dog food around the world.
Such  as the implication that grain free food causes heart problems (it  doesn’t, by the way), high protein causes kidney problems (only if they  already have health issues or are pre-disposed to kidney problems), that  low protein diets prevent obesity (they are more likely to cause  obesity), and that raw diets are dangerous and likely to spread bacteria  (bacteria contamination and recalls are substantially more common in  kibble diets).

While we are about  to go on to rip greyhound specific diets to bits, please understand  that when it comes to providing for your hound, there is no one size  all.  Every dog is individual in what works best for them.

So,  if you have a hound who is in pristine health, a great weight, with  great teeth, no dandruff, no brittleness to their nails, a wonderful  shiny coat and only doing a couple good solid poos routinely every day,  and is on a greyhound specific diet, you go right ahead and continue.

But  understand that our hounds do not have the freedom to choose what they  eat, they will eat what is presented to them.  If you want to consider  their long-term health…read on!

As  hound owners, we need to be able to make informed choices to be able to  provide them with the best diet and care we can within our budgets and  lifestyle.  A big problem for a lot of people, especially now with the  cost-of-living crisis, is that greyhound specific diets are undeniably  cheap.  But, for many people, if it’s a choice between cutting costs on  the dog’s food to be able to make sure the children get a balanced diet,  they’re going to prioritise the kids.

Thankfully, for those of us without children, we are still able (within reason) to spare a bit more to feed our hounds well.

But,  to do that, we must first break away from long standing myths. In  specific relation to greyhounds, the myth that they must be maintained  on a low protein diet after retirement is so ingrained across the  greyhound community, further encouraged by rehoming centres and  greyhound food manufacturers, that it feels impossible to change it.

While  the original source of this concept is unknown, it likely dates back  well beyond any recent history, possibly even before the creation of  commercial kibble or the minimum nutritional requirements. For instance,  in a publication about hunting called Livre De Chasse, written in the  14th century, Gaston III, Comte de Foix wrote about the care of his  hunting greyhounds. Stating that they were fed bread, and some meat from  the hunt. Hardly a balanced diet…but it is, in effect, what they are  still fed today.

Greyhound  specific kibbles are cheap, very very very cheap. Questionably cheap.   Why? Because they are made with low quality grains, and other fillers,  with a sprinkling of meat…at best!  Then on top of these grain heavy  foods, it is still routinely recomended to give things like weetabix,  cornflakes, pasta or other unnecessary cereals which just add to poor  dental health and obesity!  But that's a whole different subject...

Back  to 'greyhound' diets.  Here is an example; a food labelled as  ‘exceptional quality for retired greyhounds’.  It has the following  ingredients:

“Cereals, meat &  animal derivatives, derivatives of vegetable origin, oils & fats,  minerals, products from the processing of plants.”

For  anyone that missed our post on deciphering dog food labelling, here is a  brief recap to explain why this particular ingredient panel is a  problem!

Umbrella terms such as  ‘cereals’, ‘meat and animal derivatives’ or other generic terms like  ‘oils and fats’ or ‘derivatives of vegetable origin’, which is all this  food lists, is a big red flag.

Using  these umbrella terms allows a producer to use whatever ingredients they  want every time they make a new batch of food without having to notify  customers of an ingredient change or change the packaging. This allows  them to use whatever ingredients are the cheapest at the time of  production.  
So, one batch may be made up of wheat  and chicken, the next may be maize and beef, and the next may be soy and  pigeon…who knows!  There is also a lack of clarity beyond umbrella  terms.  As there are no percentages on the ingredient panel indicating  how much of each type of food is in there, they can also massively alter  the make up of the food at every batch.  

This  often results in sudden an unexplainable gastrointestinal issue (and  lots of wind) in dogs even though owners “haven’t’ changed their food”

When  put through the AADF calculator, determined that this food contained  less than 1% meat. Similarly, other greyhound kibbles that we  investigated had meat contents of 0.5%, 0.3% and the highest being 4.4%.   But there is hope, a food marketed as a ‘greyhound and lurcher’ kibble  had a far superior 14.7% meat…but failed to meet the minimum legal  requirement regarding protein, coming in at only 17%, and consisting  largely of wheat and maize.  So, while the protein content was higher,  the quality of it was likely poor.

If  this isn’t setting off any alarm bells, it should.  Greyhound specific  diets are rated amongst some of the worse quality diets on the market,  with supermarket own brand foods coming in above them!  

While  a high protein diet is not recommended in some instances, such as dogs  with pre-existing kidney issues, universally deciding that retired  greyhounds cannot have more than 20% protein is ridiculous. Because if  that 20% is lacking in the essential amino acids, and the protein source  overall is not bioavailable during digestion, the dog will suffer in a  state of malnutrition.  

While  you may not believe your hound to be malnourished, as they may be a good  weight (if not overweight), malnourishment can in different forms such  as bald thigh syndrome, dandruff, or digestive issues.

You  cannot standardise an entire breeds health; while low protein may work  for some, it won’t work for others. Greyhounds can have more than 20%  protein. While they don’t need to have a ‘high’ protein diet, they can  absolutely have higher than what is standardised in greyhound kibble.

The  reason pet food manufacturers use large quantities of these plant-based  protein sources, is to ensure their kibbles meet the legal minimum  protein requirement (18%) while keeping the product as cheap as possible  to produce and sell.

Why is this an issue? When it comes to protein, it isn’t about the quantity, but the quality!

While  greyhounds can digest plant-based protein sources to a degree, a lot of  the nutrition is lost.  Much of the product is passed from the body as  waste, after building up quite a bit of gas within the digestive system.  Basically, high grain diets result in a lot of poo, and farting. Lots  and lots of poo and farting.  It’s because of these foods that  greyhounds are renowned for their farting and pooping for Britain!!

There  are 20 amino acids, the different combinations of which make up the  proteins that dogs utilize. 10 of them are naturally produced within the  body. The other 10, which are referred to as the essential amino acids,  must be provided in a dog’s diet. Unlike other nutrients, like fat or  carbohydrates, the 10 essential amino acids are unable to be stored  within the body. If even one of them is missing from your dog’s diet,  their body cannot work efficiently.

Grain  is primarily a carbohydrate, and better utilised as a quick energy  source than a protein source, as not all grains contain all the  essential amino acids or have them available to the dog during  digestion. Meat and other animal-based protein sources are far easier to  digest, are bursting with the essential amino acids and are readily  available to the dog.

While there  is a minimum requirement for protein in dog food, it is not a goal, and  there are numerous advantages to feeding more high-quality protein:

-  Protein is an energy source that can limit the need for other nutrients  such as fat, so facilitates weight loss in overweight animals.
-  When provided in an easily digestible format (meat), it provides  benefits to senior and aging dogs such as helping maintain muscle  condition, joint health and a healthy weight.
- It’s beneficial for skin and coat health, reducing dandruff and bare thigh syndrome in greyhounds.
-  Maintains muscle condition, growth, and repair, which is important for  heavily muscled dogs like greyhounds, whether working or not.
-  As protein, or rather amino acids, are essential building blocks in the  body, they help ensure the constant and efficient replacement and  replenishment of cells within the body to maintain overall health.

Greyhounds  are dogs (even if they don’t act like them!) and don’t need to be  restricted to ‘greyhound food’. Broaden your horizons!

Yes,  changing food may well come with a higher price tag as nothing is going  to be as cheap as greyhound kibble, but for your hound’s health, isn’t  it worth it? Frankly we think it’s worth it just to live without the  farting!  Also, think how much money you’ll save on poo bags!

We  aren’t saying you need to go full raw, fresh or fork out for some fancy  cold pressed food.  We’re simply saying that there are far greater  options for your hound without breaking the bank.

But,  if you don’t want to change onto a higher quality kibble, that’s  absolutely fine.  You can only do what you can within the budget you  have.  If that’s the case, there are loads of ways of boosting your  hound’s health by adding things to their existing kibble such as giving  them fresh fish, egg, meat, vegetables, some fruits and other things  like seeds, botanicals and natural supplements.

Doctors tell us that fresh is best, avoid ultra processed foods…the same applies to our dogs!

Do  your research, read the labelling on the back of the dog food bags, and  consult websites like the All About Dog Food directory, or books like  The Forever Dog Life to make informed decisions about what the best food  is for your hound!