Evidence-based dog nutrition is essential for preventing diet-related welfare problems, with misconceptions about raw feeding and grain-free diets causing preventable harm.
Canine nutrition misconceptions are causing preventable welfare harm at significant scale. Dogs fed nutritionally imbalanced home diets — particularly all-meat diets — develop severe metabolic bone disease with pathological fractures. Grain-free diets fed without understanding the potential cardiac risks have contributed to preventable heart disease deaths. Raw diet contamination exposes dogs (and households with children or immunocompromised members) to serious foodborne pathogens. The commercial pet food industry, despite its imperfections, has developed rigorous nutritional science that prevents deficiency diseases that were once common. Evidence-based nutrition — informed by board-certified veterinary nutritionists rather than internet influencer claims — provides the safest foundation for dog dietary welfare.