link between agression and high protien food for dogs?

[sesa70]

Has anyone heard this connection?

We just had an evaluation with an applied animal behaviorist for some issues we are having with Carlos and people coming to the house.

One of her thoughts was to put him on a lower protien diet, because there is supposedly a link between aggression and high(er) protien foods. He is on a kibble now that has 25% protien and she suggested going down closer to 18%.

I wonder if anyone has heard of this before?

[stormborn]

TSubbing 'cause I'm curious now. I could understand behavior issues if a dog was allergic to wheat or corn but protien makes no sense to me.

[Oubliette8]

My understanding of this was because higher protein foods are often associated with higher energy. for instance, working dogs are often on high protein/high energy formulas. And hunters often switch to a performance, high protein kibble for hunting season for their dogs. I think the thought is that for aggressive dogs, the extra energy is funneled into aggression. Thus they think that lower protein makes a "calmer" dog, and a calmer dog is less likely to be aggressive?

[sesa70]

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2000.217.504 

I found this study, I suspect this is what she was thinking of, since she also suggested we start him on a tryptophan supplement.

At this point we are desperate. He has gotten really bad when people come over, and my dh and I are worried he is going to bite someone :( This is really concerning, since he is only 9 months old and we have had him 3 months. His current food (and one I took a long time to settle on and reasearched heavily) is about 25% protein. I have seen major improvements in his skin and coat, so I have been very happy with it. The only dog foods I can find with a protein level around 18% are light foods, and I can't imagine feeding something like that to an active puppy.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can use or any experience with either low protein diets or tryptophan supplements?

[greenmagick]

That seems odd to me, honestly.  25% really isnt that high.  I believe Natural Balance makes some lower protein but still fairly good quality foods, there are others as well.  They are all grain inclusive though that I know of

Raw is actually fairly low protein because of all the water.

I am assuming she is also having you do behavior modification?  Is he fearful and acting aggressive because of that?

ok, wait...that is a weird study if I am reading it right?  Only a week on each food?  It takes longer to acclimate to a food than that, usually 4-6 weeks.  Good chance when they had lower protein (which tend to be grain heavy) after a higher protein they just were more sleepy from the change.  And a week worth of behavior doesnt seem like much either...just odd to me.  I also wonder about long term. 

[Ola_]

Honestly, I don't really buy it.  But just from personal experience I can tell you that my reactive dog did seem to mellow out when we switched to a raw diet.  They don't get grains as a part of this diet so I imagine it's pretty low carb (though meat does have some carb content I'm sure).  In researching it afterward it seemed that many dog owners found a similar effect, which is not scientific but it did make me wonder.

[Mirzam]

I would look more to vaccines, especially Rabies (vaccinal encephalitis), and chemical wormers and flee/tick topicals as a source of behavioral problems, rather than blame a high protein diet. But that's just me. 

I will post again a link I posted in another thread:

Is your dog's bad behavior caused by a health problem?

If I were dealing with these issues, I would consult a homeopathic vet and would utilize other vibrational remedies (flower, and gem elixirs) to assist detox in association with the help of the behaviorist.

From the above article:

One thing I am POSITIVE about: if animal behaviorists are not thinking and understanding [the vaccination-behavior link], they are way off the mark in what they are understanding, recording, teaching and advising clients.

ETA: I agree with Ola, a raw diet would also be beneficial.

[plantnerd]

Well, i guess I would assume dogs need a high protein diet considering they are carnivores?  That just sounds kinda ridiculous to me...