WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

In my work I am often asked to help people who have dogs with behaviour issues. Some of these ‘issues’ are no more than natural behaviours for dogs and its my job to interpret these behaviours and educate the owners as to why their dogs are displaying them. Most of the time the owners would prefer the dog not to do them. For example ‘jumping up’ whenever the dog greets someone. Its completely understandable why an owner would want their dog to stop jumping up on unsuspecting visitors to the home or people they meet in the street. Apart from the obvious annoyance to the people being set upon there can also be a danger if said mis behaving dog jumps up on someone who is easily knocked off balance like an elderly person or a child. So thats were I come in. However thats not what I want to talk about today. As well as these behaviours being natural to dogs, sometimes behaviours are caused by what we feed them.
The food we give our dogs provide the building blocks for muscle growth, healthy organs, bone structure and hormones. Food also provides component parts that are required to regulate the neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals released in the body that send messages back and forth through the brain. These neurotransmitters control mood, emotions and ultimately behaviour. Those effects we feel after a satisfying meal, our dogs feel as well. Think about how you feel after Christmas dinner. Well stuffed and ready to relax by the fire. Now think about the energy high’s you get when you have an energy drink or a large bar of chocolate. The sugar rush can be quite high. Dogs feel these short term affects just the same as humans. Furthermore our diets can have long term effects on our emotional outlook. There is ongoing research right now into what influences there might be from the dog food we feed our dogs on such things as anxiety, activity and even levels of aggression. Some of these lasting many weeks and months. So the next time you go to the pet store to get your next bag of food you might want to consider what it is your feeding him and wether or not it is contributing to some of his or her behaviour issues.





If you would like to read more on this there is an article written by Rebecca Ledger PhD. in her blog behaviour dept.

“An advanced guide to improving dog behaviour and welfare with dietary management.”

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