high protein dog food= dog behavior?

[ruckusluvr]

for some dogs a high protein food is like rocket fuel and may make reactivity worse. (some lady from agility said that)

Has anyone heard of this?

from Pet Food Choice - Diet and behaviour with dogs and cats


Effect of dietary protein content on behavior in dogs.
Dodman NH, Reisner I, Shuster L, Rand W, Luescher UA, Robinson I, Houpt KA.
Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect that feeding diets containing a low (17%), medium (25%), or high (32%) protein content would have on behavior in dogs.
DESIGN--Prospective, controlled study. ANIMALS--12 dogs with dominance aggression, 12 dogs with hyperactivity, 12 dogs with territorial aggression, and 14 control dogs without behavioral problems.
PROCEDURE--Dogs were fed each of the diets for a 2-week period, and owners were instructed to score their dogs' behavior on a daily basis.
RESULTS--Behavior of the dogs with dominance aggression, dogs with hyperactivity, and control dogs was unchanged by the dietary manipulations. Territorial aggression was significantly reduced when dogs were fed the low- or medium-protein diet, compared with territorial aggression when fed the high-protein diet. Post hoc analysis indicated that this effect was attributable to a marked reduction in aggression in a subset of the group (n = 7) in which territorial aggression was a result of fear.
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS--Results of this study suggest that a reduction in dietary protein content is not generally useful in the treatment of behavior problems in dogs, but may be appropriate in dogs with territorial aggression that is a result of fear.



Effect of dietary protein content and tryptophan supplementation on dominance aggression, territorial aggression, and hyperactivity in dogs.
DeNapoli JS, Dodman NH, Shuster L, Rand WM, Gross KL.
Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, Grafton, MA 01536, USA.

OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the effect of high- and low-protein diets with or without tryptophan supplementation on behavior of dogs with dominance aggression, territorial aggression, and hyperactivity.
DESIGN: Prospective crossover study.
ANIMALS: 11 dogs with dominance aggression, 11 dogs with territorial aggression, and 11 dogs with hyperactivity.
PROCEDURE: In each group, 4 diets were fed for 1 weeks each in random order with a transition period of not < 3 days between each diet. Two diets had low protein content (approximately 18%), and 2 diets had high protein content (approximately 30%). Two of the diets (1 low-protein and 1 high-protein) were supplemented with tryptophan. Owners scored their dog's behavior daily by use of customized behavioral score sheets. Mean weekly values of 5 behavioral measures and serum concentrations of serotonin and tryptophan were determined at the end of each dietary period. RESULTS: For dominance aggression, behavioral scores were highest in dogs fed unsupplemented high-protein rations. For territorial aggression, [corrected] tryptophan-supplemented low-protein diets were associated with significantly lower behavioral scores than low-protein diets without tryptophan supplements.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For dogs with dominance aggression, the addition of tryptophan to high-protein diets or change to a low-protein diet may reduce aggression. For dogs with territorial aggression, tryptophan supplementation of a low-protein diet may be helpful in reducing aggression.

[whiteleo]

It doesn't sound to me like they really gave the diets much of a chance! 1 and 2 week periods is hardly a study..........

[JoeCo]

What a joke, you would be less reactive too if you were being starved of what your body needs to thrive.

News break.... Solve dog behavior problems by starving your dogs into submission and doping them with chemicals.

These studies were probably funded by the crap food companies. Very poor studies, too subjective and too short.

[malluver1005]

If anything, it's the people making the dogs the way they are, not the high protein!!!

[wags]

Hmm! My dogs eat a high protein dog food and the older two over 10 and one will be 7 January sleep a lot the other two over 4 years and just turned 2 play with each other, run around have chasing times outside so 4 dogs on the same foods different personalities! I don't think that study is right! I believe its the personality of the dog!

[Jordan S.]

for some dogs a high protein food is like rocket fuel and may make reactivity worse. (some lady from agility said that)

Has anyone heard of this?

from Pet Food Choice - Diet and behaviour with dogs and cats


Effect of dietary protein content on behavior in dogs.
Dodman NH, Reisner I, Shuster L, Rand W, Luescher UA, Robinson I, Houpt KA.
Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect that feeding diets containing a low (17%), medium (25%), or high (32%) protein content would have on behavior in dogs.
DESIGN--Prospective, controlled study. ANIMALS--12 dogs with dominance aggression, 12 dogs with hyperactivity, 12 dogs with territorial aggression, and 14 control dogs without behavioral problems.
PROCEDURE--Dogs were fed each of the diets for a 2-week period, and owners were instructed to score their dogs' behavior on a daily basis.
RESULTS--Behavior of the dogs with dominance aggression, dogs with hyperactivity, and control dogs was unchanged by the dietary manipulations. Territorial aggression was significantly reduced when dogs were fed the low- or medium-protein diet, compared with territorial aggression when fed the high-protein diet. Post hoc analysis indicated that this effect was attributable to a marked reduction in aggression in a subset of the group (n = 7) in which territorial aggression was a result of fear.
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS--Results of this study suggest that a reduction in dietary protein content is not generally useful in the treatment of behavior problems in dogs, but may be appropriate in dogs with territorial aggression that is a result of fear.



Effect of dietary protein content and tryptophan supplementation on dominance aggression, territorial aggression, and hyperactivity in dogs.
DeNapoli JS, Dodman NH, Shuster L, Rand WM, Gross KL.
Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, Grafton, MA 01536, USA.

OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the effect of high- and low-protein diets with or without tryptophan supplementation on behavior of dogs with dominance aggression, territorial aggression, and hyperactivity.
DESIGN: Prospective crossover study.
ANIMALS: 11 dogs with dominance aggression, 11 dogs with territorial aggression, and 11 dogs with hyperactivity.
PROCEDURE: In each group, 4 diets were fed for 1 weeks each in random order with a transition period of not < 3 days between each diet. Two diets had low protein content (approximately 18%), and 2 diets had high protein content (approximately 30%). Two of the diets (1 low-protein and 1 high-protein) were supplemented with tryptophan. Owners scored their dog's behavior daily by use of customized behavioral score sheets. Mean weekly values of 5 behavioral measures and serum concentrations of serotonin and tryptophan were determined at the end of each dietary period. RESULTS: For dominance aggression, behavioral scores were highest in dogs fed unsupplemented high-protein rations. For territorial aggression, [corrected] tryptophan-supplemented low-protein diets were associated with significantly lower behavioral scores than low-protein diets without tryptophan supplements.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For dogs with dominance aggression, the addition of tryptophan to high-protein diets or change to a low-protein diet may reduce aggression. For dogs with territorial aggression, tryptophan supplementation of a low-protein diet may be helpful in reducing aggression.

I don't buy it. Chocolate's behavior is no different on EVO then it was on pedigree. He's been eating EVO for 4 months now.

[RawFedDogs]

Those studies are very subjective, relying on the owners opinion of the dogs attitudes. I don't know of a way to scientifically prove such statements.

[spookychick13]

Pfft...my old greyhound girl was on a high protein diet and she was pretty much the laziest dog in the universe. :)

[SubMariner]

It doesn't sound to me like they really gave the diets much of a chance! 1 and 2 week periods is hardly a study..........

Agreed. For the study to be effective it needed to tracked over MONTHS not only 1 or 2 weeks.

Also I find their use of "may" indicative of the lack of actual hard data, especially in the conclusion.

[ziggy29]

Agreed. For the study to be effective it needed to tracked over MONTHS not only 1 or 2 weeks.

Also I find their use of "may" indicative of the lack of actual hard data, especially in the conclusion.

I also suspect there is some unrealistic expectations of natural canine behavior if a 32% protein diet for carnivores is considered "high".