The manner in which a dog eats has no similarities whatever to the way humans eat, and we don't mean the obvious scenario, in that a dog can't use a knife and fork. The physical act of eating is completely different. You might believe that the dogs jaws and teeth are used for chewing its food, but actually they are used for gripping the food and then cutting through it so that the food can be swallowed (usually without chewing). The dog doesn't have as many choking reflexes as we do or a great sense of taste. He does however, have a much more acute sense of smell.



All dogs have the same method of eating because of the make up of their mouths. I am sure than many people have seen a dog gulp its food and often believe that the dog must be very hungry or particularly like the meal that has been set down for him. This is not normally the case as a well fed dog will do this in exactly the same way as a hungry dog does. By learning how dogs eat we will be more informed as to what we should feed them.

If you study your dog you will observe that he bites into his food with his front teeth, drops it onto his tongue sliding the food to the back of his throat and a natural reflex causes him to swallow it, passing through his esophagus straight into his stomach. The food has not been chewed through this entire process. If we did this we would choke, but the dog is not able to eat in any other way, simply because that's the way nature made him.

If the dog wants to eat something which is too large to be processed via his normal method of eating, making it impossible for him to swallow, he will position the food between his front paws and rip off little pieces with his front teeth before swallowing them. Many carnivorous mammals have special incisor like teeth for food which cannot be broken down with their normal teeth. These special teeth are called carnassial teeth and will literally shear through tough meat, bones, gristle and hide using the enormous strength of the muscles in their jaws. Despite the capability the dogs jaw muscles have for chewing they are seldom used for this purpose.

Manufactures of dog food produce a wide and varied range of dog cuisine and conveniently provide dog food in several different sizes. Often the food will be matched to the breed so the modern day miniature poodle has perfect bite size pieces produced especially for him and doesn't have to eat the huge chunks which are specifically made for the Great Dane. Nevertheless, before the advent of manufactured dog food the miniature poodle was, and still is, perfectly capable of breaking down large and tough food items because he has the same resources in his mouth as any other dog, no matter how large or small