Nutrition and Aggression

[keller27]

Putting aside all of the obedience and the dog is fine with all of that, has anyone ever experimented with adding vitamin/mineral suppliments to the diet and saw improvements in behavior? Do you think that a dog can be missing something in their body to cause them to become aggressive or just grumpy?

[mjfish]

My mom has a little black Lab that she thought became more grumpy when she was feeding Eagle Pack Holistic vs. another super premium. She said that the dog seemed to be hungry more often too. Not sure what the food may have had or been missing that would have caused this, but she changed foods again and the behavior went away. Sorry, I can't help on what supplements may help.

What are you feeding, how much, and what supplements are you currently giving, if any?

[debbiej]

I don't know if this is the info you are looking for, but I think one of my dogs is more focused and attentive now that he is on a different food.

I don't know for sure if it is the food although that is really the only thing that has changed. I know he is calmer in the house on a day to day basis too.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by mjfish

My mom has a little black Lab that she thought became more grumpy when she was feeding Eagle Pack Holistic vs. another super premium. She said that the dog seemed to be hungry more often too. Not sure what the food may have had or been missing that would have caused this, but she changed foods again and the behavior went away. Sorry, I can't help on what supplements may help.

What are you feeding, how much, and what supplements are you currently giving, if any?

I was on Innova Large breed adult. He was dealing with food agrression since he was 4 weeks old. So its been there. He does better when he gets fed more time a day. Was on 2 and now on 3 times. But because of his reoccuring ear infections, I have switched him to California Natural. Has been on this one for 3 weeks I guess.

Like the other day, he is laying on his bed in the other room and my shih tzu and I were together. You could hear him do this growling at absolutely nothing. Not a loud growl. He would do that when he was on the 2 cups a day. His blood sugar fluctuates, so we feed him another meal during the day. Now he is on his new food, and I have noticed he is doing it again. So it seems like there is something missing that he needs nutrition wise. He is not on any suppliments, but it was a thought to go that route to see where it took us.

If he has like alot of activity, say, doing meet and greets, walking, etc. His limit is only an hour. Then he is done and doesn't want to be messed with after that. He can growl at someone who he totally loves to see. After an hour, leave me alone. You would think that he would last longer than that.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by debbiej

I don't know if this is the info you are looking for, but I think one of my dogs is more focused and attentive now that he is on a different food.

I don't know for sure if it is the food although that is really the only thing that has changed. I know he is calmer in the house on a day to day basis too.

What food were you feeding before, and what are you feeding now?

[keller27]

Originally Posted by mjfish

My mom has a little black Lab that she thought became more grumpy when she was feeding Eagle Pack Holistic vs. another super premium. She said that the dog seemed to be hungry more often too. Not sure what the food may have had or been missing that would have caused this, but she changed foods again and the behavior went away. Sorry, I can't help on what supplements may help.

What are you feeding, how much, and what supplements are you currently giving, if any?

I will feed him at 10am (this way, he goes out to go potty, goes for his walk, and cool down period) 2 cups

Then before I go for work I will put him in his kennel with about 1/2 cup.

He gets 2 cups at 6pm

Then he gets 2 cups at 10pm (we put in this feeding this late, because if it use to be just at 6p, he would wake up in the morning not himself, no energy, just this look like he wasn't feeling well, which made him grumpy. His 10p feeding, he wakes up in the morning alot happier.

he gets like 3 plus walks a day, and playing ball, so I keep up the exercise. He could probably lose acouple lbs. even tho the vet said that he was fine.

[debbiej]

he was on Canidae, and my other two dogs still are. I think it is my best choice of foods available, and I really wish he did better on it. I am trying different foods, and he is doing pretty well on everything I've tried. I'm trying to pin point the ingredient (s) that make him act like his stomach is upset, make him frantic to eat grass, leaves, sticks, etc. but I'm not having much luck, he seems fine on almost any of the other foods we've tried. those foods are: Fromm, Evo, Nature's Variety prarie chicken and brown rice, and taste of the wild. I'm thinking one of the grains or one of the meat sources..maybe lamb is the problem. of course there are just too many variables to really figure it out for sure.

[brunie's mom]

This dog is getting 6 1/2 cup of food per day??? That's an awful lot of calories when you are feeding California Natural. I think you said he weighed in at 140 lbs. Try feeding him 4 cups a day split into 3-4 meals.

As far as aggression and food, I've not see it. I've seen dogs calm down and be less hyper when they start eating a meat based diet, instead of mostly grains and by-product meal (cheap dog food).

Have you got a holistic vet around? You may just try taking him to one and see if there is something missing.

I've got a feeling that his temperament is poor and that you will just have to learn to adjust your life around him as well as keep on training and working with him.

Gina

[mjfish]

Have you had his thyroid checked and blood-sugar levels? It sounds like you could be dealing with a medical imbalance of some sort. Other than that, maybe others can chime in with supplements. One that comes to mind is Missing Link, but there are lots out there.

[fostermom]

Originally Posted by keller27

He does better when he gets fed more time a day. Was on 2 and now on 3 times. His blood sugar fluctuates, so we feed him another meal during the day. If he has like alot of activity, say, doing meet and greets, walking, etc. His limit is only an hour. Then he is done and doesn't want to be messed with after that. .

Dunno but sounds like my husband who is diabetic...VERY grouchy when his sugar is off or he hasn't taken his meds. Just a thought.

[debbiej]

how do you test a dog's blood sugar on a daily basis?

[fostermom]

I was doing a search to see if I could find any literature linking aggression and diabetes...I couldn't...but it might be worth checking anyway...checking might be something as simple as having a urine analysis done as that includes things like ketones, glucose and specific gravity which would all be useful in diagnosing diabetes. It just SO sounded like hubby....he came home last night and was obnoxiously grumpy...an hour later he came down and appologized and was his normal sweet self...said he forgot to take his medicine. And he gets super grumpy if his meals are delayed, but once he eats, is his normal cheerful self....also the fatigue rang a bell also. Good luck with figuring this out.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

This dog is getting 6 1/2 cup of food per day??? That's an awful lot of calories when you are feeding California Natural. I think you said he weighed in at 140 lbs. Try feeding him 4 cups a day split into 3-4 meals.

As far as aggression and food, I've not see it. I've seen dogs calm down and be less hyper when they start eating a meat based diet, instead of mostly grains and by-product meal (cheap dog food).

Have you got a holistic vet around? You may just try taking him to one and see if there is something missing.

I've got a feeling that his temperament is poor and that you will just have to learn to adjust your life around him as well as keep on training and working with him.

Gina

When the trainer was experimenting with his food, he has to have enough to keep him feeling good. Now California Natural (herring) has more calories, but less fat than the Innova has. I was giving him a chewie before I left for work, (Busy Bone-the large are cute in 4 pieces) but because we are going basic on his food, I didn't want to add anything to see what he could be allergic too. Blood work done. Sugar levels will go up an down. Don't know how long on a food before we see a difference, but its only been 3 weeks and part of that was switching him over to it.

Yeah, Gina, I just want to do the best for him all other ways. This is the way he is, I can't change his personality, but I will always have to manage his behavior. He's my learning dog! I am learning alot from him in the last 3 years. My trainer said that he is sensitive boy. He will have like a lousy day, and can't deal with stuff. Then these last two days he has been very good, happy, playful. I have excepted who he is. He is a beautiful dog, and can be very sweet and he listens, he is a calm dog, will play with his toys, and we play. But there has to be a cause for the times he has a problem coping. Enviromentally when he gets grumpy, I can't figure it out. There might be no one in the room and he isn't doing it because he hears anything. Trying to teach him at those time, to just go to his room and detox himself.

There is a holistic vet, and I have a vacation in acouple of weeks, so that I can take him. I think I will fax her something on what is going on with him, and so that she has something more detailed.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by fostermom

I was doing a search to see if I could find any literature linking aggression and diabetes...I couldn't...but it might be worth checking anyway...checking might be something as simple as having a urine analysis done as that includes things like ketones, glucose and specific gravity which would all be useful in diagnosing diabetes. It just SO sounded like hubby....he came home last night and was obnoxiously grumpy...an hour later he came down and appologized and was his normal sweet self...said he forgot to take his medicine. And he gets super grumpy if his meals are delayed, but once he eats, is his normal cheerful self....also the fatigue rang a bell also. Good luck with figuring this out.

This will be my mission in life. He just had the blood sugar checked. Will periodically have it checked, so that we can compare to the others. Now that he is on a different food.

Maybe instead of the extra food 1/2 cup, I will get some carrots and give him that for that snack in between the 10a and 6p feeding. Then just cut back just alittle on how much. Start with 1 3/4 cups and see how he feels. Don't want to do anything too fast for him.

[keller27]

Originally Posted by fostermom

I was doing a search to see if I could find any literature linking aggression and diabetes...I couldn't...but it might be worth checking anyway...checking might be something as simple as having a urine analysis done as that includes things like ketones, glucose and specific gravity which would all be useful in diagnosing diabetes. It just SO sounded like hubby....he came home last night and was obnoxiously grumpy...an hour later he came down and appologized and was his normal sweet self...said he forgot to take his medicine. And he gets super grumpy if his meals are delayed, but once he eats, is his normal cheerful self....also the fatigue rang a bell also. Good luck with figuring this out.

He has had the blood checked for sugar, but I don't remember them doing urine. I will have to get that for them and bring it in. Another reason to have your dog pee on command! :)