March 31st, 2010
Blame it on my liberal arts education, but I find having historical or societal context fascinating. A while back, I tackled the history of dog toys for one of the American Kennel Club’s magazines. Today, I’m in the mood for a little dog food history. So, let’s fire up the WayBack Machine and see what we can find.
As far as we know, prior to the creation of commercial pet foods, dogs and cats pretty much lived on table scraps and things they could scavenge or catch on their own.
The First Dog Food
But, in 1860 an American living in London, named James Spratt, devised something he thought better than the dog biscuits fed to the canine’s aboard the ship he took across the Atlantic. It sold well to huntsmen in the United Kingdom, so Spratt expanded into the United States about 10 years later. (In the 1950s, General Mills bought what was Spratt’s company.)
Dog Food for A New Century
Industrialization had really taken hold in society, and by the early 1900s, more companies got into the dog food game. In fact, Milk-Bone launched in 1907 in New York City by F.H. Bennett. (The kinds of biscuits we now feed as treats were sold back then as a complete dog food.)
The 1920s saw the introduction of canned Ken-L-Ration, which was ground up horse meat, and later a dry food. About the same time Gaines Dog Meal got started. It was the first food that ground up a bunch of ingredients into food sold in 100-pound bags (and later as semi-moist Gaines Burger).
How War Made Dry Dog Food King
Because the government classified pet foods as “non-essential,” the tin used for cans went into the WWII effort. Goodbye wet food. Hello dry. 
In fact, by 1946, dry food dominated with 85% of the market. (Today, dry food still outsells canned in America — based on dollars spent — about $7.5 billion to $1.8 billon per year in 2008.)
Dog Food in Grocery Stores Controversy
Early dog foods were sold beside livestock rations in rural feed stores, but as our culture became more urban, the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), which bought Milk-Bone in 1931, made its entree into grocery stores.
And, it caused a ruckus.
Seriously.
Since dog food was made almost entirely from byproducts, it really creeped people out to think it would be on shelves in close proximity to their own food.
Take a minute to think about that and what it means in the context of how we think about dog food today.
Go ahead … I’ll wait, while humming The Girl from Ipanema.
Dog Food Convenience Wins
It didn’t take long for the convenience and economy of buying dog food at the grocery store to overcome any sanitation fears.
So, that’s how we got from there to here.
Pondering the Narrative Arc
I would argue that dogs’ lives, in general, improved with the introduction of commercial pet foods. And, yet, in some ways, we’ve come full circle with many consumers (and even modern-minded manufacturers) looking derisively at the ingredients of so-called “grocery store brands.”
Some may no longer fuss about having dog food near people food, but there are plenty who’d NEVER feed a byproduct-laden dog food to their canine pals.
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Tags: dog food, Dog Food Dish Blog, dog food history, history, industrialization, K9Cuisine.com
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 22 Comments »
22 Responses to “Dog Food History”
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A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
This is fascinating. I never even thought about how and when dog food might have been invented.
This was really interesting to me as I love history. I have sometimes wondered what my father found to feed his bulldog Bullo during the Russian Revolution. They escaped with his pet. At one point, my dad almost missed a boat because he had stopped so Bullo could “do his business.”
When I went to live abroad in 1969, everyone in the USA used dog food for their dogs, but I found numerous families I visited in France still fed scraps or leftovers from the dinner table to their pets ….
How fascinating! I always learn the most curious things when I read you, Roxanne. Who would have guessed there’s such an interesting history here?
Somehow I never expected to laugh whilst reading a post about dog food! Great post and very interesting to read. Of course, I’ll be stuck with The Girl from Ipanema in my head all day. Thanks for that…
See … I’m always giving you that little extra something-something. I wanted to embed the music so that people could really listen to it while pondering, but it became a complicated copyright thing, so … you are proof … as I had hoped, that it would still work since so many people know that melody.
Sorry about the mental soundtrack problem, though. It happens to me a lot.
Thanks, Ruth. As you know, a lot people think, “Well, I’m not a ‘dog person,’” but the whole dog culture truly does inform our greater society and our families at large.
That’s a neat story, Alexandra. You should write about Bullo’s adventures sometime, if you can piece it together.
My dogs do often eat a bit of what we’re having, usually the last bite or two, and there are MANY people who homecook all of their pet’s food these days … for many of the environmental and product topics you often cover on your blog.
It really isn’t that old, when you think about it. These days we giggle about dogs using underwater treadmills for orthopedic rehab, but when I worked on that dog toy article, I came across references to ads from the 1800s for dog treadmills for urban dogs.
This post brought back childhood memories of something called Pal, sold in Australia and served to our golden retriever Prince.
It looked horrible and jelly-like and I never ever tasted it — even if I did have to have dinner in the laundry with the dog for being naughty:)
What an interesting piece of information, Roxanne. As I open up a can to feed my dog, I’ll now think about its history…never would have wondered about that before reading this!
Very interesting post. Really good read. Thank you so much.
I learned more than I expected from this odyssey through dog food history; I’d honestly never thought about life before packaged dog food, or what people thought about it when it was introduced as a product. I’ll never peruse the pet store aisles without thinking about this!
Wow, Roxanne! I’m impressed by the amount of research that went into this and how you weaved it together so well with a dash of humor.
Nice ride on the Way Back Machine, Roxanne!
Thanks, gal!
This is so interesting. I’ve wondered about dog food. I had friends who hiked the AT and brought dogs and dog food. I always thought they should let the dogs hunt! But when the dogs caught squirrels and tried to eat them, my friends would make them spit them out…
Well, I think most dogs wouldn’t be good enough hunters to feed themselves. Mine hunt mice and voles in our pastures, and I’ve watched them compared to the coyotes around here. Trust me … the coyotes are MUCH better at it.
And, yes, mine do sometimes eat what they catch, which is icky.
Still … one of my best LEAVE IT ever was when Lilly caught a baby bunny, and I got her to put it down unharmed (from a distance, no less).
Hun, so cool to see how dog food was influenced by the political events–the the social norms–of the era. I must say the last time I bought dog food at the grocery store it did seem a little strange to have a 10-lb bag next to the ice cream, eggs and such. But hey, it was convenient!
Roxanne — You are amazing with the ideas you come up each week about dog food! I learn so much from you — and you have the coolest clip art with your posts too! I enjoy coming here each week. Keep up the good work.
This is really fascinating. Dog food, it seems, continues to evolve. I think many pups actually eat better quality food that their humans do which is good for the dogs but, well, not so good for their people! And Roxanne, I love the picture of you and Lily up top. So cute!
So true. It’s somewhat easier to help our pups through food than it is to help ourselves.
Thanks. That’s my favorite picture of me and Lilly.
interesting article!i wouldn’t have thought about how dog food originated.