Homemade Dog Food - Does It Improve Your Dog’s Behavior?
Thursday, July 24th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Do you worry about behavior problems your puppy or dog is displaying? Not regular dog training issues, like housetraining or stopping a dog from jumping on people, but more serious issues such as aggressiveness or other difficulties? If your dog is doing things you don’t know how to stop, this can be quite stressful for you… and often for the dog too.
Normally one of the first things dog owners do in a case like this is to learn more about dog training and apply it to their situation. They might do this through classes, trainers, books, or internet websites and forums. The quality of the advice found can be rather hit-and-miss, but often this approach is adequate and the behavior issue is solved, more or less.
It’s often suggested that you have a veterinary examination for your dog because that could either find or rule out various health issues that could be affecting behavior. One example is that any dog in pain, anywhere in his body, is more likely to be irritable.
Consider how much exercise your dog gets. Is it really enough? In today’s world, few dog owners give their dogs enough exercise. If you and your buddy go out for long walks together, chances are you will both benefit. You may notice significant diminishment in behavior problems if your dog is tired out in this way.
But in many cases none of these approaches will solve the behavior problem.
I once had a lengthy email correspondence with a dog owner who found herself in this situation. She had already tried everything I’ve described above, but none of it solved the problem of her large puppy attacking and biting her and her children. She was an outstanding sleuth and ultimately she triumphed. Who’d have guessed that the beet pulp often used in commercial dog food was triggering allergic reactions? Once she only used dog food without that ingredient, the puppy became the dog of their dreams, sweet and loving.
The point is not to avoid beet pulp, as most dogs are not allergic to it, but to realize that whatever a dog eats can be affecting how he behaves. The public is generally aware of this with regard to how sugar can make many children hyperactive, but it is much less common for people to even think about a dog reacting to his food.
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.
The good news for dogs is that some dog breeders and veterinarians have been experimenting and keeping records for many years. They have learned that dog health and behavior is enhanced by a homemade dog food diet, and you can follow their suggestions for what to do.
While you do have to follow some guidelines given by these experts, you do not have to become a specialist yourself in order to feed your dog in this manner. And while this article has been about behavior, of course this way of feeding will also tend to benefit your dog’s health. In one striking example, a breeder kept careful records of what she fed and how long her dogs lived. Over thirty years of doing this showed a substantial increase in the length of the dogs’ lives… and improvement in their behavior.
Especially if your dog is showing any behavioral problems, it’s well worth your while to try out homemade dog food!
How can you provide these benefits to your dog rapidly and easily? See this page on homemade dog food and behavior for resources and links.
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