The Dog Spot
Healthwise Dog Food Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Healthwise Dog Food. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
The Dog's Mechanics For Eating
from: Kyle BesserMany dog owners think that different breeds of dogs must be fed differently, but the eating behavior of dogs is characteristic of the whole species, not of any individual breed. All dogs eat the same way.
There are certain general considerations to take into account when feeding any dog. A dog cannot eat its food the same way a person does. A dog has no hands. A dog's jaws are suited for biting and cutting rather than chewing. A dog's teeth are few in number and poorly equipped for chewing. Dogs have fewer gag reflex nerves at the back their mouths than a person has at the back of the throat. A dog has fewer taste buds on its tongue but a much greater sense of smell than a person has. There are many other differences as well.
While the eating behavior of a dog may seem strange or awkward to some dog owners, to the dog it is the most comfortable and satisfactory way of getting its food from its bowl into its stomach. The normal pattern of swallowing in a dog is often described as "bolting." The dog picks up a piece of food with its front teeth and with a short, quick thrust of its head, tosses the piece of food back onto the top of its tongue. The piece of food is then rolled without being chewed to the back of the mouth. As the piece reaches the base of the tongue, a reflex causes the back of the tongue to push the food upward and backward into the esophagus. From there it is carried directly into the stomach.
When a piece of food is too large to be swallowed, the dog holds the food with its paws and uses its front teeth to tear off smaller pieces that can be swallowed. If the food is too tough to be torn, the dog will carve it into pieces small enough to be swallowed using two specialized jaw teeth.
These teeth are called carnassial teeth and have large shearing surfaces that act like scissor blades which can cut through tough substances such as muscle, hide, gristle and even bone. While the powerful jaw muscles of a dog are useful for cutting chunks of food into swallowable size, these muscles are used very little for actually chewing those pieces.
Dog-Food Online News
Nasdaq Points Up Regrets in Launching Facebook IPO - Wall Street Journal
 New York Times | Nasdaq Points Up Regrets in Launching Facebook IPO Wall Street Journal By JENNY STRASBURG And JACOB BUNGE A senior Nasdaq Stock Market official told customers Tuesday afternoon that it would have pulled the plug on Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering had it known the full extent of the technical problems that plagued ... Facebook investor sues Nasdaq over stock offering Regulators looking into Morgan Stanley role in Facebook IPO Morgan Stanley defends Facebook IPO procedures |
Egypt's revolutionary fervor gives way to wish for stability - USA TODAY
 USA TODAY | Egypt's revolutionary fervor gives way to wish for stability USA TODAY By Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY An Egyptian woman walks under banners supporting Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday. By Amr Nabil, AP CAIRO – On a road lined with buildings plastered by posters of presidential ... Egypt's presidential race is haunted by the past Egypt's presidential election: Facts about the historic post-Mubarak vote Egyptians choose a leader – and for once their votes will count |
Top Dem leader: Romney was 'raping companies' - USA TODAY
 USA TODAY | Top Dem leader: Romney was 'raping companies' USA TODAY By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY President Obama has said Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital is fair game in the campaign, but his team is drawing the line at the use of particular words by an ally. Rep. James Clyburn, the House's No. Cory Booker: Have the Democrats figured out how to respond? Obama's anti-Romney Bain ads dividing Dems When it comes to the economy, Obama and Romney are tied |
No explosives found on diverted US Airways flight - Los Angeles Times
 AFP | No explosives found on diverted US Airways flight Los Angeles Times By Brian Bennett WASHINGTON — The crowded US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, NC, had just reached the northeastern tip of Canada when one of the passengers, a French citizen who was born in Cameroon, handed a flight attendant a cryptic note ... Woman's note causes US Airways flight to be diverted with fighter jets Flight diverted to Maine after passenger note cites surgically implanted device 'Device' claim causes France-US jet to divert |