The teeth of a dog are the teeth of a carnivorous or meat-eating animal, like those of the dog’s wild cousin, the wolf or the fox. For this reason the more meat we give to a dog the longer it will live and the healthier it will stay. But we can also vary its food so that it receives two-thirds meat and one-third vegetables.

Dogs should be given nourishing meat either raw or cooked, in lumps or minced. The meat can be liver, tripe, fish, rabbit or chicken. Other food suitable for dogs includes broth, cheese grated over other food, an occasional raw beaten egg and a few teaspoonfuls of honey. At least once a week a dog should be given a lump of unsalted butter or fat. This fat in the diet helps to keep a healthy sheen on the dog’s coat.

Dogs need large bones to gnaw from time to time for they are easy to digest and keep their teeth healthy. They should never be given splintery bones, though, such as those of chicken, rabbit or game. Neither should dogs be given salt but they need vitamin drops in their food.

Most commercial dog foods contain a balanced diet with all the necessary nourishment. If this is the dog’s basic food it should be supplemented with small amounts of meat and fat.

Vegetable-based foods recommended for dogs include: rice broth seasoned with olive oil, vegetable broth or rice and milk broths, bread in small quantities and a little macaroni, carrots finely grated on to the rest of the food and occasionally fruit such as apple or pear. A few drops of orange or lemon juice can be added to the dog’s drinking water.