Feeding, an evidence of the humanization of the dog?

by François Vallat, Docteur vétérinaire, Docteur en Histoire, Adel. francoisvallat@hotmail.com
A review of documents available on the feeding of hounds from Antiquity to the present suggests a change in practices around 1830, when meat gradually takes the place of bread, reflecting a reversal of the image of this animal. For the worrying dog, whose bloody temperament used to be mended by vegetable food, the Romantic period substitutes a companion whose carnivorous nature no more frightens.