Homemade Dog Food: How Can It Affect Your Dog's Behavior? | Dogs

By RosanaHart
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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.

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.

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.

I'm happy to report that some veterinarians have made a specialty of studying these matters closely, as have some dog breeders. Their recommendations are to feed your dog homemade dog food within guidelines they provide.

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.

Particularly for dogs with behavior or health problems, an excellent step is to put them on homemade dog food. Stay with it for a while, and take note of what happens!

About the Author

How can you give the best diet to your dog quickly and easily? See this page on homemade dog food and behavior for resources and links.

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