greatdaneservicedog @ 7:44 am
This is another guest article by Rosana Hart, concerning the effect that food can have on a dog’s behavior. Or more acurately, their strange behaviors when training and vet check ups rule out physical causes or just a lack of exercise, discipline, and enough attention.
The topic can sometimes cause a controversy, but being a “whatever works” sort of gal, if food allergies, health issues, and appropriate training isn’t doing the job, I have no problem looking at other possibilites. In human medicine, there is a saying “If you hear hoofbeats in the park, you look for the horse, not the zebra”. But sometimes the problem IS a zebra!
I’ve had a couple “zebra” problems in my 37 years with dogs, so I know it’s very possible to encounter the unusual. Thank you, Rosana, for taking the time to write this article for us all.
Homemade Dog Food May Improve Your Dog’s Behavior
by Rosana Hart
Does your dog have behavior problems? I don’t mean the ordinary things any dog owner can expect, such as a puppy who isn’t yet housetrained, a dog who loves to jump up on you when you return home, or other things of this sort. But if your dog does things which appear to you to be abnormal, you may be concerned or even worried.
One natural way to deal with your dog’s behavior problems is to get him or her better trained. You could take a dog training class locally, or consult a trainer if you find one whose approach you like. There are a lot of excellent dog training books. The internet is full of advice, of varying quality, though! If you work at it and Lady Luck shines on you, you will solve the behavior problem through one of these means.
Do take your dog to your vet for an exam, to be sure there aren’t any health problems the veterinarian will find. For example, a dog with an abscessed tooth could suddenly became very grouchy.
Another factor which can improve your dog’s behavior is getting him plenty of exercise. This could mean lots of long walks, for example, which would likely also be good for your health! Or use a dog walker if you don’t have the time or capability to take the dog out yourself. You could be very pleasantly surprised at how much easier your dog is to live with when he gets good exercise.
But in many cases none of these approaches will solve the behavior problem.
One puppy I know about had been trained, examined, and exercised thoroughly, yet he continued to attack and even bite the human members of his family. The mother, who emailed me that she was at her wits ends, after some months did figure out what was going on: if there was beet pulp in whatever commercial dog food the puppy ate, he would attack. When she fed a dog food without this fairly common ingredient, his attacks ended completely. They had been caused by an allergy.
Beet pulp is not at the top of the list of foods dogs are allergic to, but do remember that what you feed your dog may be affecting his behavior. This concept is quite common when thinking of people, but less widespread when thinking of dogs.
In general, veterinarians are not particularly well informed about the pros and cons of feeding dog foods that contain additives and other questionable ingredients. They received little training back in vet school and most are far too busy to explore the topic now. Also, if they sell dog food in their clinics, their inclination is going to be to trust that they made a good choice of food to sell.
Fortunately for all of us, there are veterinarians, dog breeders, and others who have been paying close attention to these questions for many years. They agree on recommending homemade dog food over the standard commercial choices, and they tell you how to do it.
By feeding a homemade diet to your dogs, you may well be enhancing not only their behavior but also their health. One breeder has seen the longevity of her dogs increase gradually over the more than thirty years that she has been developing a natural diet which she shares freely on her website.
Especially if your dog is showing any behavioral problems, it’s well worth your while to try out homemade dog food!
very nice website thank you for all the interesting info ..