The Truth About Dog Food No One (Especially Your Vet) Will Tell You
By Jennifer Stoeckl, MAT - Dire Wolf Project CEO, July 21, 2025
Gather close, packmates.
This message might ruffle some fur.
And that’s exactly why I’m sending it.
Because if no one else is going to say it… I will.
Dogs are carnivores.
Period. Full stop.
Not omnivores.
Not grain-loving, veggie-slurping kitchen gremlins.
Carnivores.
And yet, if you wander down the average dog food aisle today, you'd think our beloved companions were meant to thrive on cornflakes and canola oil.
Everywhere you turn, you see bags of “wholesome whole grains,” “sweet potato medleys,” and “fiber-rich beet pulp.”
It’s a fantasy.
A complete marketing farce.
And frankly?
A betrayal of the canine genome.
“But wolves eat the contents of the prey’s stomach!” they cry.
“And dogs have evolved to digest human food!” they howl.
No.
What dogs can digest and what they should be eating for peak health are two entirely different tracks across the tundra.
Just because a starving Ice Age predator might gnaw on bark in a famine, does not make bark a superfood.
And just because modern dogs can survive on carbs doesn’t mean they thrive on them.
Let’s call this what it is:
A slow march toward chronic disease, arthritis, organ failure, cancer, and heartbreak.
And let’s talk about the $87-$115 thirty-four pound bag of Purina Pro Plan sitting in your vet’s office like it’s the holy grail of dog health.
You know what it actually is?
A commercial-grade, biologically inappropriate, vet-endorsed bag of long-term customer acquisition for the veterinary industrial complex.
It’s not about your dog’s health. It’s about their bottom line.
And the fear tactics? They work like a charm.
“If you don’t feed this dog food, your dog might get pancreatitis…”
“This food is vet recommended and specially formulated…”
“Grain-free diets can cause heart issues…”
Enough.
If you’re buying kibble from your vet’s office, you’re not supporting your dog’s biology; you’re supporting their business model.
Here's the real truth:
If you can afford that overpriced bag of so-called “scientific” kibble, you can afford to feed your dog what it was born to eat.
- Meat.
- Fat.
- Organs.
- Bone.
- Clean water.
- A de-wormer every now and then.
That’s it.
Your dog doesn't need chia seeds.
It needs a species-appropriate diet built on the back of ancestral biology.
That’s why I wrote The Informed Dog Owner’s Guide to Canine Nutrition.
Because I’ve lived this.
I’ve watched puppies and elders heal before my eyes just weeks after switching to a proper diet.
I’ve made all the mistakes.
And I’ve found the way back to truth the hard way.
If you’re an Inner Circle member, you already know how deep this rabbit hole goes.
And this e-book?
It’s your way out of the dog food nightmare.
Obesity related diseases could be completely eliminated.
Tooth decay... could be literally shattered for brighter, whiter teeth.
Inflammation around the joints causing arthritis could be significantly reduced or gone altogether.
And your vet bills?
You might even finally stop needing them.
If you would only follow the advice in this e-book.
You just have to turn off the noise, find a quiet space to really concentrate with a cup of tea or coffee, and read this book on canine nutrition that I put together specifically for all of you:
This isn’t fluff.
It’s a life-altering, pack-defending howl into the wild.
Take it seriously.
Because the future of your dog’s health starts right here.
And it starts with real food.
MOVIE MONDAY
This week’s movie is all about the amazing progress the Happy Days litter puppies have had in their confidence and overall stability in stairs training.
Unfortunately, we had a huge setback on Sunday, which meant I wasn’t able to complete the movie editing.
A few days ago, we had a big wind storm that literally blew the roof right off of the puppies’ nursery.
So I had to get a neighbor out on Sunday to help me fix it in anticipation of Monday and Tuesday’s rain storm.
Luckily, everything is back to normal and the puppies have a nice roof once again.
But then…
BAM!
Our D.C. inverter, which turns direct current solar power into A.C. so that I can run the Internet, refrigerator, and freezer, went KABLOOEY!
So, that meant I had to figure out how the heck to fix it.
I think the inverter blew a fuse which is inside the inverter, of course.
Trying to get that thing open was impossible and took me way too long, so I decided to get fuel for the generator and plug in that way.
Then, Jay reminded me that we have a second inverter!
YAHOO!
Switching out electricity is scary to me, but Jay walked me through the process and an hour later, I had power to the R.V. once again!
By the end of all that, it was already time to get the dogs tucked in for the night with no more time to finish the movie…
I’ll finish it up today and get it out as soon as I can.
Maybe even by tonight, let’s see how it goes.
Have a great day, everyone!
Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.