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Hey friend,
For thousands of years, dogs ate like… well, us.
Scraps from the fire. Meaty bones. Hunks of fat tossed their way without a second thought.
🐶 A few examples from history:
Roman farm dogs dined on barley bread soaked in milk.
War dogs got raw meat and garlic…like four-legged little gladiators.
Medieval royalty’s hounds ate better than most humans…stews of grains, veg, and offal prepared by dedicated kennel cooks.
18th-century city dogs often ate horse meat scavenged from the streets and sold to wealthy pet owners.
And the really pampered pups?
Empress Tzu Hsi’s Pekingese dined on shark fins, quail breasts, even antelope milk.
European aristocrats served roast duck, pastries, and a dash of liquor in the bowl.
Liquor aside….. dogs ate real food. Always.
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So what changed?
🧨 Enter James Spratt.
In 1860, this Ohio lightning rod salesman (yes, really) was in London when he spotted stray dogs scarfing down hardtack….rock-hard sailor biscuits made from flour, salt, and water.
💡 Lightning struck…(see what I did there?)
“What if I made something like that… but for dogs?”
So Spratt whipped up a “recipe”: wheat flour, beetroot, vegetables, and beef blood.
He called it Spratt’s Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes…which honestly sounds like a Victorian ghost snack, not food.
And just like that… the first processed commercial dog food was born.
But here’s the real question:
Did Spratt fill a genuine need?
Did dogs need something “better” than scraps, stews, and real meat?
Or…
Did he invent a problem so he could sell a product?
(Spoiler: Spratt was a marketing genius and the industry followed his lead.)
Next time, we’ll peek behind the curtain at Spratt’s advertising tricks… and how they laid the groundwork for today’s kibble industry.
Sláinte,
Linda
Founder, Dog Blueprints 🐶