Does brand of puppy food affect behaviour?
Discussion
Apologies if this has been covered before, don't usually frequent the pets forum.
We have a 20 week old Vizsla pup who is fed on a good quality commercial kibble (Purina ProPlan puppy). This is the food the breeder uses (20+ years breeding Vizslas) and recommends, so we happily continued with this. The pup loves it, is growing rapidly, and is very healthy, no issues whatsoever. Like all Vizslas he is very 'lively' and has the occasional 'mad dog' 2 minutes when he rushes around like a maniac.
Started puppy training a few weeks ago, practically the first thing the trainer asked was 'what do you feed him on'? When we replied 'ProPlan' she looked at us like we'd just said 'deep fried Mars Bars' and gave us a long spiel about ProPlan (and other 'mass market' commercial dog foods) containing ingredients such as cereals and, worst of all, sugar beet pulp. Her thinking(?) is that these ingredients give the dog a 'sugar rush' which leads to manic behaviour, similar to that postulated for young children. Recommended replacement foods (not raw food feeding BTW, that's a whole other debate) were Eden, Green Pantry, Lily's Kitchen or Millies Wolfheart, all significantly more expensive than ProPlan or similar. Incidentally I don't disagree that really cheap and nasty food is not desirable, but Purina, Hills, Eukanuba etc are not in that category.
I'm very sceptical, (a) as I understand it sugar beet pulp is essentially the fibre remaining after British Sugar have gone to great lengths to extract almost 100% of the sugar and (b) the popular belief that kids get a sugar rush from high sugar foods has been conclusively disproved by carefully controlled studies, but many (? most) people still believe it.
Anyone got any opinions on this? Are there any studies in dogs which provide objective evidence for this alleged effect - I suspect that this is largely anecdotal, and 'gut feel' (no pun intended) but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Trainer says she 'knows it for a fact'. Right.
We have a 20 week old Vizsla pup who is fed on a good quality commercial kibble (Purina ProPlan puppy). This is the food the breeder uses (20+ years breeding Vizslas) and recommends, so we happily continued with this. The pup loves it, is growing rapidly, and is very healthy, no issues whatsoever. Like all Vizslas he is very 'lively' and has the occasional 'mad dog' 2 minutes when he rushes around like a maniac.
Started puppy training a few weeks ago, practically the first thing the trainer asked was 'what do you feed him on'? When we replied 'ProPlan' she looked at us like we'd just said 'deep fried Mars Bars' and gave us a long spiel about ProPlan (and other 'mass market' commercial dog foods) containing ingredients such as cereals and, worst of all, sugar beet pulp. Her thinking(?) is that these ingredients give the dog a 'sugar rush' which leads to manic behaviour, similar to that postulated for young children. Recommended replacement foods (not raw food feeding BTW, that's a whole other debate) were Eden, Green Pantry, Lily's Kitchen or Millies Wolfheart, all significantly more expensive than ProPlan or similar. Incidentally I don't disagree that really cheap and nasty food is not desirable, but Purina, Hills, Eukanuba etc are not in that category.
I'm very sceptical, (a) as I understand it sugar beet pulp is essentially the fibre remaining after British Sugar have gone to great lengths to extract almost 100% of the sugar and (b) the popular belief that kids get a sugar rush from high sugar foods has been conclusively disproved by carefully controlled studies, but many (? most) people still believe it.
Anyone got any opinions on this? Are there any studies in dogs which provide objective evidence for this alleged effect - I suspect that this is largely anecdotal, and 'gut feel' (no pun intended) but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Trainer says she 'knows it for a fact'. Right.
Some foods use cheap cereals, sugars and too much protein that can possibly cause behavioural issues but that is definitely an ongoing debate!
Pro plan purina has a sl lower meat content but having had a lot of experience with this particular brand I know a lot of dogs that have done incredibly well on it and it has a lot of science behind the ingredients it uses.
These are the points to consider.
Is your dog a healthy lean weight for their age, breed? And showing muscle development?
Does your dog have a good skin, coat condition?
Does your dog pass firm regular stools? And doesn't have wind (unless been given treats!)
Does your dog behave as you would expect his breed to?
If you have answered yes/no accordingly so giving positive responses it is a good indicator that his diet is doing a great job a suiting his personal needs and no need to change.
Personally as a vet nurse I don't mind what a dog is being fed on if that dog presents to me fitting the above criteria. If they are on a dirt cheap diet I will offer why they may not be the best but I am not going to lecture someone if I am staring at the fittest looking dog at the same time! (I have to consider owners budget etc at the same time)
If the dog doesn't look so great then diet is one area to look at.
I think your trainer was wrong to lecture you in such a way tbh.
Oh and you can tell your trainer that the sugar rush theory has been studied (in children) and found to be incorrect!!
In fact a very high protein diet may cause this behaviour. Plus if they knew the breed they would know they are a high energy breed with a working background so I would be inclined to say the mad few minutes behaviour is nothing to do with food but more the breed!
Ask your breed if the behaviour matches what they would expect.
The brands she mentioned are great but actually Lily's Kitchen was a bit too rich for my whippet!
Pro plan purina has a sl lower meat content but having had a lot of experience with this particular brand I know a lot of dogs that have done incredibly well on it and it has a lot of science behind the ingredients it uses.
These are the points to consider.
Is your dog a healthy lean weight for their age, breed? And showing muscle development?
Does your dog have a good skin, coat condition?
Does your dog pass firm regular stools? And doesn't have wind (unless been given treats!)
Does your dog behave as you would expect his breed to?
If you have answered yes/no accordingly so giving positive responses it is a good indicator that his diet is doing a great job a suiting his personal needs and no need to change.
Personally as a vet nurse I don't mind what a dog is being fed on if that dog presents to me fitting the above criteria. If they are on a dirt cheap diet I will offer why they may not be the best but I am not going to lecture someone if I am staring at the fittest looking dog at the same time! (I have to consider owners budget etc at the same time)
If the dog doesn't look so great then diet is one area to look at.
I think your trainer was wrong to lecture you in such a way tbh.
Oh and you can tell your trainer that the sugar rush theory has been studied (in children) and found to be incorrect!!
In fact a very high protein diet may cause this behaviour. Plus if they knew the breed they would know they are a high energy breed with a working background so I would be inclined to say the mad few minutes behaviour is nothing to do with food but more the breed!
Ask your breed if the behaviour matches what they would expect.
The brands she mentioned are great but actually Lily's Kitchen was a bit too rich for my whippet!
Edited by bexVN on Tuesday 30th January 09:54
Edited by bexVN on Tuesday 30th January 09:57
bexVN said:
Some foods use cheap cereals, sugars and too much protein that can possibly cause behavioural issues but that is definitely an ongoing debate!
Pro plan purina has a sl lower meat content but having had a lot of experience with this particular brand I know a lot of dogs that have done incredibly well on it and it has a lot of science behind the ingredients it uses.
These are the points to consider.
Is your dog a healthy lean weight for their age, breed? And showing muscle development?
Does your dog have a good skin, coat condition?
Does your dog pass firm regular stools? And doesn't have wind (unless been given treats!)
Does your dog behave as you would expect his breed to?
If you have answered yes/no accordingly so giving positive responses it is a good indicator that his diet is doing a great job a suiting his personal needs and no need to change.
Personally as a vet nurse I don't mind what a dog is being fed on if that dog presents to me fitting the above criteria. If they are on a dirt cheap diet I will offer why they may not be the best but I am not going to lecture someone if I am staring at the fittest looking dog at the same time! (I have to consider owners budget etc at the same time)
If the dog doesn't look so great then diet is one area to look at.
I think your trainer was wrong to lecture you in such a way tbh.
Oh and you can tell your trainer that the sugar rush theory has been studied (in children) and found to be incorrect!!
In fact a very high protein diet may cause this behaviour. Plus if they knew the breed they would know they are a high energy breed with a working background so I would be inclined to say the mad few minutes behaviour is nothing to do with food but more the breed!
Ask your breed if the behaviour matches what they would expect.
The brands she mentioned are great but actually Lily's Kitchen was a bit too rich for my whippet!
Thanks for your very informative post, much appreciated.Pro plan purina has a sl lower meat content but having had a lot of experience with this particular brand I know a lot of dogs that have done incredibly well on it and it has a lot of science behind the ingredients it uses.
These are the points to consider.
Is your dog a healthy lean weight for their age, breed? And showing muscle development?
Does your dog have a good skin, coat condition?
Does your dog pass firm regular stools? And doesn't have wind (unless been given treats!)
Does your dog behave as you would expect his breed to?
If you have answered yes/no accordingly so giving positive responses it is a good indicator that his diet is doing a great job a suiting his personal needs and no need to change.
Personally as a vet nurse I don't mind what a dog is being fed on if that dog presents to me fitting the above criteria. If they are on a dirt cheap diet I will offer why they may not be the best but I am not going to lecture someone if I am staring at the fittest looking dog at the same time! (I have to consider owners budget etc at the same time)
If the dog doesn't look so great then diet is one area to look at.
I think your trainer was wrong to lecture you in such a way tbh.
Oh and you can tell your trainer that the sugar rush theory has been studied (in children) and found to be incorrect!!
In fact a very high protein diet may cause this behaviour. Plus if they knew the breed they would know they are a high energy breed with a working background so I would be inclined to say the mad few minutes behaviour is nothing to do with food but more the breed!
Ask your breed if the behaviour matches what they would expect.
The brands she mentioned are great but actually Lily's Kitchen was a bit too rich for my whippet!
Edited by bexVN on Tuesday 30th January 09:54
Edited by bexVN on Tuesday 30th January 09:57
I'm happy to say that the answer to all of your points to consider is a definite 'yes', he is our third Vizsla and is in lovely condition, lively, intelligent and very affectionate. Mrs V. tells me I shouldn't argue, just nod and smile, but it winds me up when people are so, dare I say, dogmatic
bex has covered it really but I’ll just add that our Springer pup is doing extremely well on Millie’s Wolfheart, she’s full of energy when we want her to be but nice and calm in the house.
Of course different foods will suit different breeds but Springers and Vislas are similar types of dog so I’d strongly recommend it for yours.
Of course different foods will suit different breeds but Springers and Vislas are similar types of dog so I’d strongly recommend it for yours.
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