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Canine Endurance Athletes Blood Parameters & Performance Well Maintained On Plant-based Diet

Canine Endurance Athletes Blood Parameters & Performance Well Maintained On Plant-based Diet

A group of sled racing huskies fed either a plant or meat-based diet had no significant difference in their haematological parameters, clinical health assessments or performance characteristics. 

The study, which was run as a 16-week controlled experiment, found that a meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing Siberian huskies. Twelve sprint-racing Siberian huskies were fed either a commercial diet recommended for active dogs, or a meat-free diet formulated to the same nutrient specifications. The commercial diet contained 43% ingredients of poultry protein origin, whereas soybean protein made up 43% of the meat-free diet.

Dogs were fed these diets as their sole nutrient intake for 16 weeks, including 10 weeks of competitive racing. Blood samples were collected at weeks 0, 3, 8 and 16, and veterinary health checks were conducted at weeks 0, 8 and 16. Haematology results for all dogs, irrespective of diet, were within normal range throughout the study and the consulting veterinary surgeon assessed all dogs to be in excellent physical condition.

Pre-race training started with the onset of lower temperature weather in April, and involved dogs pulling heavily laden carts at low speeds. The final two weeks of this period of training were included in the experiment, during which the dogs endured seven training runs that were 6km long at an average speed of 12 km/h. The following ten weeks involved competitive racing in addition to the training runs which continued three-four times per/week. The heavily weighted carts were replaced with lighter-weight ones, and the training runs became more rapid (20 km/h) and of longer duration (6–10 km runs).

No dogs in the study developed anaemia. On the contrary, erythrocyte counts and Hb values increased significantly over time (P < 0.01) in both groups of dogs. As the meat-free diet had not been produced previously, an additional feeding trial was conducted to determine digestibility coefficients of the experimental plant-based diet. For this, eight dogs of mixed breeds were randomly selected and following an adaptation period, the plant-based diet was fed solely for 12 days and all faeces produced during the final 4 days were collected and analysed total-tract apparent digestibility.

Unlike obligate carnivores, dogs can synthesise nutrients such as taurine and Vitamin A and so the authors of the study hypothesised that dogs could thrive on a diet based solely on plant ingredients. Commercial dry foods typically contain a high proportion of plant-based ingredients so it was considered a small step to exclude the meat content all together and replace this with plant-proteins. Conceptually however it seems to be a big step in the mind of  dog owners, who often perceive that meat is a requirement in a healthy dog's diet. It is for this reason the authors chose to enrol sprint racing huskies who are under great physical strain, to challenge the notion that meat is an essential nutrient for dogs. 

The findings showing clinical and performance equivalence between the plant and meat-based fet dogs pave the way for commercial pet food manufacturers to produce nutritionally adequate vegan diets for dogs.

References 

Brown, W.Y., Vanselow, B.A., Redman, A.J. and Pluske, J.R., 2009. An experimental meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs. British journal of nutrition, 102(9), pp.1318-1323. 

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