International Journal of Zoology Studies

Authors
Tanima Choudhury

Abstract
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the three macronutrients needed by animals to survive. Although the dogs have descended from wolves they have undergone physiological changes to survive on starch based foods. Indian free-ranging dogs survive mainly on a starch based diet. Protein foods are only infrequently encountered by them. Animal fat based are almost never encountered by them. When given a choice between carbohydrate, protein and fat based foods the dogs showed a preference for protein based foods over the other two types of food. The dogs exhibited neophobia and preferred to consume the rarely encountered fat based food last. They also showed a preference for more familiar raw meat over the unfamiliar cooked meat. The sex of the dogs did not affect the food preference of the dogs.