Author Topic: Hyperactivity & Diet ?  (Read 3861 times)

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Offline Shell

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Hyperactivity & Diet ?
« on: November 03, 2002, 09:18:47 AM »
I have just had a very hard day with Bailey being extremely excitable - This led me to think about what could be causing his hyperactivity ... I read the back of the packet of the Pedegree Puppy food (soft food that comes in a sachet) that we are mixing in with his dry food and it says that it containes colouring agents.  

My question is - could Bailey's diet be causing hyperactivity and over-excitability and therefore contributing to his biting ??

Should I begin feeding him just dired food or dired food with a little bit of raw mince mixed in ? (we have a special puppy dry food called Supercoat for puppies which is balanced and in theory should be good for a puppy Bailey's age) This is what we had him on when we first got him home and when I look back he seemed much easier to amange then!

Has anyone had an experience with this in the past ?                    

Offline Jane S

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Hyperactivity & Diet ?
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2002, 10:16:20 AM »
It is well-known that some highly processed commercial dog foods contain lots of additives & colourings that may contribute to hyperactivity, which is why I only feed a complete that is free from artificial additives. Also some foods are too high in protein content & this too can cause increased hyperactivity. It would certainly be worth trying a diet that does not contain colourings & see if there is any difference - if you were happy with the diet Bailey was on when you had him, then it makes sense to go back to it. Having said that, temperament is largely influenced by genetics & rearing/training so you may not notice a huge difference. Often (but not always) puppies that are sold at 6 weeks age tend to be more "nippy" as they do not learn bite inhibition with their littermates & some puppies are just generally more exciteable than others anyway. I think you must just persevere with the training & the instant Bailey starts to get OTT, then put him in another room on his own for a few minutes - you must keep repeating this over & over again until it sinks in that his behaviour leads to him being removed from your company. Also don't play any kind of "rough" games with him, so no pulling on tug toys with him for example.                    
Jane

Offline Pammy

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Hyperactivity & Diet ?
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2002, 01:32:07 PM »
Shel

When Jasper was a baby - he was on Eukanuba(Iams) puppy - this had him literally climbing the walls. I changed him to Nutro and noticed an immediate difference in his activity levels. He is still a very active and excitable dog - that comes from his breeding without a doubt - but the diet did make it worse.

Like Jane says - you must keep up the training with him, never let any undesirable behaviour go unreprimanded - but do look at his doet and see if that could be worth changing.

Nutro is one of the foods they reckon you can change over immediately to - without doping it over a period of days. I did and had no problems at all.

hth                    
Pam n the boys

Growing old is compulsory growing up is optional

Offline Shell

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Hyperactivity & Diet ?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2002, 04:54:05 AM »
Just a quick update ...

I took Bailey off the Pedigree puppy food and saw an improvement almost immediately. We have been feeding him dry food in the morning (softened in a bit of water) and then dry food with a little bit of beef mince (human grade as per Jane's advice) mixed in for lunch and dinner.  

It would appear that his food was indeed making him hyperactive !. I can't believe that they would be allowed to include ingredients in puppy food that would do this !  Just goes to show how careful you have to be I guess.

Anyway, he has calmed down a lot and it much more manageable.  I can actually cuddle him now !

Thanks so much for your advice ! I am soooo relieved !  ;D