Homemade Dog Food: How Can It Affect Your Dog's Behavior?
Are your dog's behavior problems worrying you? We're not talking here about puppies who piddle on the carpet, dogs who jump up on visitors at the front door, or other similar issues which all dog owners deal with. But if you have a dog who seems to be showing unusually difficult behavior to control, you may be wondering how to handle it.
Perhaps the most common way to tackle a dog or puppy behavior problem that seems serious is to do some training targeted at the particular issue, and also some general dog training as well. You can learn how to do this from local classes or trainers, books, DVDs, or the internet. If you work at this and if you have some luck, you might solve the problem this way.
A good next step is a vet exam to rule out all sorts of common or obscure ailments that you might never think of yourself. And if the vet should find that your dog is experiencing pain somewhere in his body, taking care of that could solve the behavior problem.
Plenty of exercise can also improve your dog's behavior. Does your dog really get a lot of exercise? Dogs are meant to be active a lot of the time, yet their modern lifestyles in our homes rarely provide this. Make sure your dog gets abundant exercise and you may be quite amazed at the changes in his behavior.
Well, that's all very well, but what if none of it stops the unwanted dog behaviors?
I have blogged at length about one such case. A dog owner with whom I was in connection by email did everything she could to stop her large breed puppy from attacking her two children. It was biting them pretty severely, and the kids had become afraid of the dog. After trying everything else, she did a detailed examination of what was in the commercial dog foods she was feeding the pup. Luckily, she discovered that if the dog ate no beet pulp (often found in dog food), then the dog showed no attacks. Allergy was the culprit.
An allergy to beet pulp isn't at all that common, but the point to keep in mind is that dog food can and often does have an effect on dog behavior. We often think this way about people; for example, it's well known that when children eat a lot of sugar, they may be hyperactive. But most people don't think this way regarding their 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.
If you think about feeding a homemade diet to your dog, you may wonder if you will need to become an expert in nutrition. No, you won't... you can draw on the work done by these people. For example, one well-known breeder has seen the longevity and the behavior of her dogs improve over the thirty-plus years she has been feeding a more natural diet.
Especially if your dog is showing any behavioral problems, it's well worth your while to try out homemade dog food!
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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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by: RosanaHart
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