Bacon tastes good to dogs. No one can argue that dogs seem to be enticed by the smell and taste of bacon. In fact, people do too. There are bacon wrapped pizzas and bacon bowl kits. Internet headlines announce that bacon makes everything better. Have you ever wondered why bacon tastes good?
Scientists have explored the way mammals taste things. In middle school biology, we learned that there are taste areas on our tongues, sweet, salty, bitter, sour and now, umami (savory-the area triggered by monosodium glutamate or MSG). But even more recently, research has suggested that taste buds can also perceive fat molecules.1 Since fat contains one of the highest calorie contents, some feel that this is an adaption to drive animals to seek foods that are calorie dense to help them survive periods of starvation.
Bacon is high in fat. It is also high in salt, so based on these findings, it would be able to trigger at least three areas of taste perception (and possibly 4 with the savory area involved). It also has a strong smell which is appealing to dogs. Excessive fats can cause pancreatitis and GI upset in dogs. Cured bacon also contains processing additives that are not ideal for optimal health.
You want to make your dog happy, but bacon is notorious for its negative impact on health. Is there a middle ground? Maybe. It is possible that you could minimize the negative impact by choosing uncured bacon with fewer additives. Be sure that when you offer bacon, you offer very small tidbits and not an entire piece. A piece smaller than you thumbnail would be a good start and only one or two. Be sure that you offer the tiny pieces only when your dog is acting the way you prefer and not being pushy or jumping on you, so that you get the benefit of a high value reward.
Let’s face it, bacon is not an ideal food for us either and we know we should probably minimize it. If and when we indulge, we need to be smart about it…for us and our dogs.
Want to know more about dogs and why they do the things they do? Look me up on Facebook by clicking here.
- CD36 and taste of fat. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Mar;15(2):107-11. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32834ff19c.Degrace-Passilly P, Besnard P.
