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

Does your dog have behavior problems? I don't mean the ordinary things any dog owner can expect, such as a puppy who isn't yet housetrained, a dog who loves to jump up on you when you return home, or other things of this sort. But if your dog does things which appear to you to be abnormal, you may be concerned or even worried.

Normally one of the first things dog owners do in a case like this is to learn more about dog training and apply it to their situation. They might do this through classes, trainers, books, or internet websites and forums. The quality of the advice found can be rather hit-and-miss, but often this approach is adequate and the behavior issue is solved, more or less.

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.

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.

Well, that's all very well, but what if none of it stops the unwanted dog behaviors?

One puppy I know about had been trained, examined, and exercised thoroughly, yet he continued to attack and even bite the human members of his family. The mother, who emailed me that she was at her wits ends, after some months did figure out what was going on: if there was beet pulp in whatever commercial dog food the puppy ate, he would attack. When she fed a dog food without this fairly common ingredient, his attacks ended completely. They had been caused by an allergy.

Beet pulp is not at the top of the list of foods dogs are allergic to, but do remember that what you feed your dog may be affecting his behavior. This concept is quite common when thinking of people, but less widespread when thinking of 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.

The good news for dogs is that some dog breeders and veterinarians have been experimenting and keeping records for many years. They have learned that dog health and behavior is enhanced by a homemade dog food diet, and you can follow their suggestions for what to do.

While you do have to follow some guidelines given by these experts, you do not have to become a specialist yourself in order to feed your dog in this manner. And while this article has been about behavior, of course this way of feeding will also tend to benefit your dog's health. In one striking example, a breeder kept careful records of what she fed and how long her dogs lived. Over thirty years of doing this showed a substantial increase in the length of the dogs' lives... and improvement in their behavior.

For any dog with behavior problems, it's an excellent idea to try a homemade dog food diet and observe any differences that may turn up over time!

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How can you provide these benefits to your dog rapidly and without too much work? See this page on www.training-dogs.com/blog/homemade-dog-food-and-dog-behavior-when-experts-disagree.html">homemade dog food and behavior for resources and links.

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