CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Behaviour & Training => Topic started by: LindaW on July 03, 2003, 09:29:49 AM
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I am doing a special study on the subject of diet and how it affects canine behaviour as part of my canine psychology course. If anyone has direct experience of a change in diet directly affecting their dog's behaviour, I would love to hear about it or indeed anything else that might be relevant. Please help!! ???
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Linda
I had a direct experience of diet effecting behaviour when Jasper was a pup. He came to me on Eukanuba puppy - he was literally climbing the walls so after a couple of weeks in consultation with his breeder I tried Nutro - not a huge amount of difference in the protein levels - but no artificial additives. He calmed down so much. I add bits to the nutro to make it more interesting, eggs, cheese, tuna, real meat etc and although they are protein - it does not make him any more hyper. I can only put it down to the additives in Euk at the time.
hth --- if you want anymore - let me know
regards
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I noticed a change in Poppy's behaviour when I changed her food to Eukanuba puppy (she had previously been on Hills Science Plan puppy) She wasn't hyperactive, but seemed to have a lot more puppy frustrations to let out if you know what I mean.
After talking to other people I changed her to James WellBeloved and she calmed down again.
My boyfriend thought I was talking nonsense at first, but he noticed a change in her when she went onto JWB and agreed that maybe the Eukanuba hadn't agreed with her.
hth
Fiona
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Thanks Pammy and Fiona - the more info I can collect the better. It is not just the protein levels, the additives play a part as well. Interesting that you both have the thumbs down for Eukanuba (can't both be wrong)! :o
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Thanks Pammy and Fiona - the more info I can collect the better. It is not just the protein levels, the additives play a part as well. Interesting that you both have the thumbs down for Eukanuba (can't both be wrong)! :o
Certainly the case for me Linda - but I do know of people who swear by it - now as Iams of course and whose dogs thrive on it. :-
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Pammy thanks -it will be interesting to hear what others have to say! I do feed my dogs on Iams! :o
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We feed our girls on a kennel mix for working dogs. The mix for non working dogs seemed to make Fern (the older one) lethargic. We have to be carefull with the quantity of working mix Fern has because it makes her put on weight but i would rather cope with that then a lethargic dog.
Fern also has to have cod liver oil in hers because she gets dry skin otherwise.
I Have also been told that the Eukenuba puppy food makes them go hyper. We used Bakers complete and pedegree chum puppy meat on our puppys and they seemed happy on that.
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Big thumbs down too here for Eukanuba and also Pedigree Puppy complete.....both made Jimmy a bit hyper. JWB solved the problem. :)
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Thumbs up for Eukanuba here, and this is the first time I've ever heard that Eukanuba make pups hyper. Perhaps this is why our new pup is hyper ::). But she sleeps normally, it's only when she's awake she drives the other dogs mad. ;D our "old" cocker wasn't hyper as pup, even though she was a Eukanuba pup too.
I really don't think our new pup is hyper, I've probably just forgotten how pups are. ;D
We have used Eukanuba puppy (large breed) on our newfie, but she hasn't been acting hyper at all, but she have had more energy than all the other newfie pups I have had. but I think it's because she's from working lines.
We do try new brands quite often, cause sometimes we are lucky winning bags of food, but I have never noticed any change in behaviour.
like cbabe we do feed our cocker (the old one) on performance food, otherwise she would get too thin. She can't maintain her weight on regular food cause she uses all her energy on either playing ::) or in the field where she is used as a working dog ;D.
perhaps this was a bit out of topic.....
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Well, Pedigree Chum had an adverse effect on Vegas :- He was practically climbing the walls and very hyper. If I remember correctly, I switched him over to JWB at about 5 1/2 months old and the difference in his behaviour was astounding. The persistent mouthing stopped and he seemed to relax a lot more. Before, while he was on the Pedigree, he just seemed to be anxious and didnt want to sit down for more than a couple of minutes and didnt sleep much during the night. He was up a lot, moving about, playing etc. Even his vet suspected that his food was causing the problem - and all the time I was thinking I had the puppy from hell ;) ;D He was switched from JWB to Burns a few months ago for health reasons but as that has no artificial additives and a decent protein level, things are still fine.
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hmm this topic has been very interesting!!
Millie is on Euk puppy food for medium dogs - she is constantly mouthing you when you try to fuss her, jumping around like a maniac, has seemingly endless amount of energy (although when she sleep, she SLEEPS - if you know what I mean) she chews the walls occasionally and strips wallpaper, she has recently been taking her, erm, energy out on a cushion I have given her and doing it in a not so lady-like manner! :o ;D
I won some little packets of JWB at the shows I have been too and she seemed to like it a lot - perhaps I will change her on to that and see if there's any difference.
How long do you have for your project Linda, would you like a test subject?? ;D ;)
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How long do you have for your project Linda, would you like a test subject?? ;D ;)
Kelly - I can't see me finishing it for a few weeks yet as I want to give it my best shot so yes Millie could be a good test if you don't mind! :D I look forward to hearing whether there is a change in her behaivour. Strange business about the cushion :o
Thanks Linda
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no problem - I'll let you know the results ;)
yes the cushion and its daily harassment... its, well, kinda .. not what a young lady should be doing, and thats for sure!! ;)
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This is really interesting. I changed Phoebe to JWB as she was on pro plan when we first got her. After reading lots of information on here I changed her to JWB to avoid any allergy problems.
We have had allergy problems with cats and I sure it was related to Lister's (cat) diet. The other cat that is still with us has also been changed to JWB.
I didn't notice a difference in behaviour with phoebe but people alays coment on how placid and good natured she is - maybe the food does help?
Good luck with the ressearch. Please let us know what you come up with.
Anita
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Please let us know what you come up with.
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far - all the info is useful.
Anita - I will eventually report back with my findings! :)
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well the JWB has been bought and we are beginning the slow transfer process - I read online last night that it can be difficult to wean dogs off Euk and onto something different, although there was no indication as to why :-
I have to say though, she has been eating the JWB first and then the Euk!! LOL it must be tastier :)
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well the JWB has been bought and we are beginning the slow transfer process -
I await the progress report and hope you notice a difference!
Linda :)
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I have tried various foods with Buttons....not really due to behaviour more down to her being a fussy little madam ;) ::)
She has been on JWB for a couple of months now and does seem to enjoy this more than any of the others she's tried, which include Supadog Puppy, Pedigree Puppy and Bakers Puppy :-X I haven't really noticed any change in behaviour tho..so I'm not probably any help am I ::) ;D
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my previous lab meg was on eukanuba ,for about nine years,she was a very nervouse dog ,frightened of her own shadow,she also had a grass allergy,it was very bad her legs would be red raw and her hair fell out if she came in contact ,so for years we had to walk her on roads . ::)then i read about JWB decided to give it a try ,after about eight weeks her skin improved to the point were we could walk her in the fields. ;Dher nervousness improved as well :Dso its thumbs down to eukanuba and a BIG thumbs up to JWB ;D.
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Indiesnan - Thanks for your report, that is really incredible and helpful.
Linda ;)
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Linda
I have just found this and it may be of interest to you
http://www.damascusroad.ca/Pet-Food.htm#Fo...ts%20Die%20For: (http://www.damascusroad.ca/Pet-Food.htm#Food%20Pets%20Die%20For:)
i hope you have a very strong stomach!
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Clare - Thanks for that, everyone should check that website out. I do have Ann Martin's book and it contains some very shocking facts that I am sure most people are not aware of! :)
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hiya!
just a quick update on Millie's diet change ...
well she's on about half and half now and tbh I haven't really noticed much in the way of behvaiour change, but I suppose it takes a bit longer for the eukanuba to get out of her system, plus she isn't totally off it
She does seem to be more responsive to commands, especially when off the lead - but that could just be a co-incidence as she's getting older etc
so all in all not much to tell yet .. but keep watching this space ;D
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Well - here's the final report on this experiment ;)
Right then she has been on full JWB now for about 2 weeks or so and I have to say that I think it has made a difference in her behaviour :)
She is definately much calmer on the lead and when let off for a run about she is quicker to respond to commands, even though she sometimes still has selective cocker hearing ::)
She still has her mad half hours - but then I guess that's just a cocker thing ;D
However I suppose I have to take into account the fact that she is getting older aswell .. this could be having an effect on her behaviour.
I have to say that the itchy face / coat seems to have gone though - which is a good thing anyway :)
Hope this helps you somehow Linda - email me if you want any specific or have any questions - unless you think others would be interested ;D ;D
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Well - here's the final report on this experiment ;)
Hi KellyP,
Thanks for taking the time to "trial" JWB and see what effect it had (if any) on Millie. :)
It does seem that the result as far as your Millie is concerned would agree with what others have said and therefore I am convinced that food does affect behaviour but in various ways. I think the mad half hours are a cocker thing - even the older ones seem to have odd bursts of playfulness!! :o
I'm grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to conduct the experiment :-*
If anyone else has any useful comment to make about the effect diet has on their dog's behaviour then I would still be very interested to hear from them.
Linda