under re-construction

Diet

Jindos as well as all dogs are carnivores with opportunistic omnivores tendencies. What this translates into is that a canine's main source of food is raw meat. However, if hungry, they will consume grains and vegetables as fillers. A dog's digestive tract is designed foremost to process raw meat and extract vitamins and nutrients from it. With the used of commercial dry dog food, some
of these vitamins and nutrients are lost in the dog's diet as the baking of dry dog food destroys these essential nutrients.

There are several kinds of diets. Here is a list, starting from good to bad according to what is the current feeling among dog-owners.

1) A BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, Bones and Raw Food) consisting of meat uncontaminated by steroids or pesticides, with the appropriate fruits, grains and vegetables, with additional supplements as needed. (Determined on an individual basis).

2) A BARF diet using store bought meats, fruits and veggies, with supplements as appropriate for the individual.

The BARF diet was introduced in the books "Give Your Dog a Bone" and "Grow Your Pup on Bones" authored by Dr. Ian Billinghurst of Australia.

It is extremely important that people research how to feed a BARF diet correctly. Feeding BARF with deficiencies can turn out to be more harmful in the long-run than feeding a dog a premium commerically-prepared dry dog food.

3) A home cooked diet from store-bought meats, fruits and veggies, with appropriate supplements, a la Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health for Dogs and Cats

4) All natural commercially prepared dog foods.

5) High quality foods not available in supermarkets.

6) Supermarket brands of dog food, with the best of the worst being the Purina Formulas.

7) Gaines Burgers, Gravey Train, Old Roy, etc.

When deciding what dog foods to feed a Jindo, consider both the recipe and the source of the ingredients. As a rule of thumb, avoid anything that has corn as its main ingredient.

As far as I know, Koreans have usually given their dogs leftovers from their table mixed with some dry dog food. This practice probably isn't that horrible as some may make it as 1) it reinforces the lower ranking of the dog in the pack (lesser eats last), and 2) it might actually add nutrients to the dog's diet. However, remember that onions are toxic to dogs and "human food" might make your dog more finicky.