Over the years of dealing with a lot of dogs it has become very apparent to me that the quality and kind of food you feed your dog directly affects their behaviour. Today I am going to discuss high protein/grain free dog foods which seems to be very trendy right now.

High protein dog food is meant to be fed to working dogs or dogs who exercize more than 3 hours a day. When it is fed to a dog who does not exercize that much it makes for an extra energetic dog. When it is fed to a breed that is already extra energetic such as a Labrador, Standard Poodle, Golden Retreiver, Border Collie or Australian Shepherd who is not exercizing 3+ hours a day you can end up with a Tasmanian Devil on your hands.

In fact some of these dogs have so much excess energy and they do not know how to channel it. As a result I actually think they feel uncomfortable. So they end up playing rough with other dogs, running away to get that extra exercize their body knows they need on their own and just misbehaving.

I had a lab client who was on a good quality meat/grain mix food and then switched to the high protein no grain food without telling me. It became very apparent that something had changed in this dogs life. He was hyper, unmanageable, agressive in the car with me and the other dogs as we drove to our walks, playing too rough with the other dogs on the walks and when I returned him home acting like he had never been walked. I talked to the owner to see what had changed. Had she stopped exercizing him morning and night or was there a food change. Turns out it was the food. So I requested he go back to his old food. He did and immediately he calmed down and was a lovable young lab again. He still hada lot of energy but he was controlled and happy.

About 2 months later he started exhibiting the same crazy behaviour and sure enough he had been put back on the high protein/no grain food. I had to explain to his owner that his behaviour was so disruptive to me and the group that I would not longer be able to walk him if he continued on that food. So he immediatly changed back to the other good quality lower protein/grain mix food and again he calmed down.

This is one example. I have seen this behaviour pattern frequently. I also realize a lot of breeders are recomending this high protein food when people are purchasing puppies. Exactly this happened when my parents got their Leonburger puppy a year ago. They thought her frenzied behaviour was normal puppy behaviour. When they switched to a lower protein food they still had an energetic puppy but she was no longer out of control.

If you have a dog on this food who is exhibiting some of the above mentioned behaviours I would recomend switching your dog over to a lower protein dog food for a month or two and make note of any behaviour changes. If after 2 months you are not convinced put your dog back on the high protein food and again make note of behaviour and energy changes.

There are plenty of good quality foods out there where the first ingredient is protein (ie fish,lamb,chicken) followed by a good quality grain (that is not just a filler like wheat gluten) that is good for your dog. So please before you put your dog on a high protein food examine his breed tendencies and your daily hours of exercize before choosing his food.

I would also go to a few reputable sellers of dog food ( I am not talking about the Vetrinarian’s office as they usually just push 1-2 brands whose ingredient list usually starts of with a low quality grain filler). Go somewhere where there is a big variety of dog food of good quality where the owners or employees are long term employees and know what they are talking about. Have a good discussion about your dog’s breed, energy level, exercize level etc and what food would best suite your dog.

Some manufacturers of high protein dog food such as Orijen also make a lower protein food such as Acana. Both high quality just different protein levels.

Locally I would recomend both Dog Elegance in Chelsea and Critter Jungle in Ottawa for such expertise. I would not recomend the chain pet food stores that are out there in abundance. Their employee turn over is usually high and true knowledge of dog food is usually quite low.