Mum-of-three Alice Austin-Grant weaned her chihuahua Diesel off meat at eight weeks old, and claims his vegan way of life also makes him look much healthier than other 'stinky dogs'.
Alice, from Hayling Island in Hampshire, is a vegan herself, and says the meat-free diet has helped her feel energised and healthy.
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While Alice admits that not allowing her pet to eat any meat does prompt criticism from sceptics, she reckons her 10-month-old pooch is also a vision of health with a 'glistening fur coat, 'lovely' breath and bags of energy, and says he's never passed stinky wind.
She says Diesel also now 'loves tofu', along with specially-made kibble (dog food), seaweed treats, couscous and pasta.
"In the sunlight Diesel's coat just glistens. It looks like glitter.
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"He's very, very pretty with his long fur and his coat just catches the light and glistens.
"When he was a very little puppy I did worry if I was doing the right thing, like you would, but no, he's just so healthy and has got so much energy that I don't worry about his diet now.
"If his coat had started to deteriorate then I would have questioned what I was feeding him. I know that his diet must be really good if his coat is this good so I don't worry about it now.
She added: "He goes to the vet regularly and he's the right weight. He's healthy and his teeth are in good nick. He's got tons of energy, so whatever I'm doing is right."
However, despite Diesel being happy and healthy, his diet does spark criticism from haters.
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Alice said: "People do have a go at me about me. I have had people get funny with me when I say my dog is vegan. They say, 'what do you mean he's vegan? You can't not feed a dog any meat'.
"But if you just look at him, you can see how healthy he is. His coat is immaculate, I don't even brush him that much, and it just glistens in the sun. It shows that he's eating well.
"It's just the fear of the unknown, I think, because people will do that with me and my dietary choices too.
"When I got Diesel, I did a lot of research into if a dog could do well on a vegan diet. I didn't want to be back around meat again.
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"You look at a tiny chihuahua and you think, they're not going to go and eat a whole cow, are they?
"I researched it a lot and I started to find a lot of information that found that dogs do far better on a vegan diet than a meat diet because of the amount of processing it takes them to digest meat.
"You smell dog food and it smells appalling before you've even put it in the dog.
"A dog isn't going to end up with a salmon every day, so for them it is far more natural to have a primarily vegan diet."
She added: "He doesn't have any issues with his tummy or being able to poo.
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"If my friends have looked after him and have maybe given him a little bit of meat off their plate or something, I will really notice it.
"His poo will go really loose and horrible and he will get uncomfortable. You can see it's harder for him to go to the loo whereas [when he is vegan] it's so much easier [for him]."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy NewsTopics: Dog, uk news, News, Vegan