What Do Lost Dogs Eat?

Many owners worry that their lost dog will not find enough to eat. A couple of things to remember: dogs (like people) are omnivores; not carnivores (like cats). Dogs can survive without meat (of course they would prefer meat, but they don’t need it).

When you are looking for your missing dog, keep in mind that these readily available food sources are where your lost dog could be eating:

• outdoor cat food (someone feeding barn or feral cats)

• spilled grain around feed bins at farms

• bird seed from bird feeders

• corn fields

• vegetable gardens and fruit trees

• restaurant dumpsters and cooking oil dumpsters

• convenience and grocery store dumpsters

• trash cans at picnic areas, rest stops, parks and campgrounds

• fire pits at campgrounds

• nuts, berries, grass, horse poop (and other sources of animal waste)

• barbecue  grills (they lick the drippings under the grill)

• mice and rabbits, eggs in waterfowl nests, chicken eggs and chickens

• road kill, hunting remains, fish guts and heads

• food processing plants or pet food processing plants

• feed mills

• June bugs, earthworms, grasshoppers

  
  

Use your nose! If you can smell it, your dog definitely can. Even though he may not be getting food from the nearest fast food restaurant or steak house; he will keep checking in there, lured by the smell; to see if any tidbits have been dropped. Leave a flyer and talk to the restaurant staff at every restaurant in a 10 mile radius of where your dog was last seen.

Don’t give up! Your dog has the instinctive ability to survive for weeks, months and even years on his own.

1-9-2026