Normal handling of diets--are all dogs created equal?

Observations on food tolerance in dogs have shown that differences occur between breeds--especially in the giant breeds which can have an increased frequency of soft stools. This may be explained, at least in part, by differences in the dogs' ability to utilise a diet. To investigate this phenomenon, four digestive trials were conducted using two canned and two dried commercial diets. The ability to digest most nutrients was lower in the great danes in three out of the four trials. The great danes also had a significantly higher faecal loss of water, sodium and potassium. The underlying causes should be associated with the relationship between body-weight and the gastrointestinal tract or with differences in transit time of the ingesta, particularly through the large intestine.