Our poodles are currently on a good quality chicken and rice kibble. That's not exclusive. They also get fruits, vegetables, pasta, rice, eggs, and cooked meat from the kitchen.
"Grains?"
Yes, dogs eat grains and here's why.
Imagine any wolf pack out hunting. They take down and kill a deer. The first access point on the body to the nutritious organ meats is the stomach. They consume the partially digested contents of the stomach which contain almost entirely vegetable matter except for the odd insect, and that means grains, the seeds from plants. So, even wolves, whilst being classified as carnivores, technically consume some herbaceous matter via the stomach contents of their prey.
Now, domesticated dogs we all know came from wolves. But they are not wolves. In fact, most would be a tasty meal for a hungry wolf. A few curious wolves watched what humans were doing as they also hunted and gathered around the campfire for warmth and to tenderize and make their food more appetizing and digestible by cooking over the fire. Vegetables gathered by the females of their species were on the menu too. As the nomadic humans carried on, the wolves investigated their abandoned campsite and scavenged any leftover scraps of food. They were not just carnivorous hunters, they were scavengers too! Why pass up free food?
A symbiotic relationship developed as these curious freeloading wolves began following humans around. Humans were likewise curious of the presence of wolves but soon realized there was an advantage to having them around. They didn't come too close to the fire and they kept other larger predators like lions and bears away because they hunted in teams called packs.
Women began stealing the tamer, friendlier wolf pups and teaching them to stay with her human family as a resource guarder. The human-canine bond was taking shape.
When humans learned to farm crops they needed to stay in one place and keep livestock that needed to stay in one place too. Over time, domesticated canines learned to keep the livestock near the human family. Their pups were raised on these new farmsteads and each generation got better at working for humans in return for free food daily. This was a huge advantage for both humans and what had become the first dogs. They symbiosis strengthened as dogs became protectors, herders, guardians, and hunting companions. They were a team, a new kind of pack.
In the wild, wolves were always at risk of starvation. On the farm, with humans, they were guaranteed food daily! They were entitled to every scrap from the woman's kitchen or the butcher's block, yet another service as there would be less trash to entice vermin(another topic in itself, "verminators").
The never ending story the human-canine bond starts there and eating anything and everything that was leftover on the farm created an omnivore. Hence, dogs eat grain.
Very well written, Linda! Keep up the good work! Jane K.