Food affecting behaviour - any experiences?

[frannieuk]

Bear with me while I give you a bit of background - I'll get to the point, honest!

I have a 5yo Siberian Husky cross GSP, who I got as a 4month old pup. She was the runty one of the litter and was timid and super submissive right from the word go.
At the age of 7months she was badly attacked by a Staffie (whose owner also tried to thump me!) and subsequently, according to my vet, suffered a doggy nervous breakdown. This manifested itself in hyperanxiety, trembling, not eating or sleeping, she'd pee anywhere and everywhere and absolutely trash the house if I left her - we're talking kitchen cupboards off the walls, main doors off their hinges etc. Anyway, we got through that and over the course of the last 4 years I'm now in a position where I can leave her happily in the garden for 3-4 hours and she's finally a decent weight rather than an anxious bag of bones.
Her anxiety has definitely dropped off hugely in the last year or so, and she's pretty confident now.

So, on to the point of my post - I usually feed a working dog kibble (Dr Johns Gold or Wainwrights) and she seems to do ok on it.
However, recently a friend gave me a sack of a Pets at Home science diet, and within a fortnight, Tress had bulked up to the extent I had to limit her food, and seemed MUCH more relaxed and happy in herself which was noticed and commented on by others. I went back to the Wainwright's when the PaH ran out, and she dropped a little weight and noticeably became more anxious.

Can this be a result of the food or is it circumstance???

I've googled but not come up with anything much on behaviour related to foodstuffs...

Obviously I've now gone back to the PaH food because anything that keeps her happy is a good thing

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Food can certainly have an effect on behaviour, poor food with too much sugar, some sugars etc can make dogs hyper. If she's clearly better on one food, then stick with it.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Wot she said. Different foods affect different humans in different ways, horses too, and I firmly believe dogs too!

If she is on a working dog diet (it can have higher levels of protein in it) and not doing a great deal of 'work', it may send her haywire. Certain foods with lots of colouring and additives to make it look pwetty can have the same effect...

 

[frannieuk]

Thanks both, it certainly reinforces my thinking! I feel bad that she might have been fretting for so long thanks to something as simple as food, but if I've found a solution then better late than never I guess.
Have been researching BARF and RAW and am considering taking the plunge now..!

And a couple of pics to show condition;

 

[krlyr]

Food can definately play a big part, there's the most obvious stuff like Bakers sending some dogs loopy with the additives, but I've heard of slightly more unusual cases, like grains or certain meats playing a part.

Another thing to possibly bear in mind with longterm anxiety could be her thyroid - though if she is calmer and better at holding weight on this food it may not be the issue here. My Rottie x has had a slightly anxious personality in some aspects (e.g. spooking at certain noises, freaking out at certain people) and when she got separation anxiety big time this year, the vet investigated it thoroughly and we discovered she was borderline hypothyroid. Now on Soloxine (artificial thyroid hormone), she is much better

 

[gunnergundog]

IMO a dog is definately what it eats! Not sure if your dog takes more after the husky or gsp side, but if you are considering raw it could be worth your while having a read of/joining the following husky forum as, as a breed, they have a few quirks re raw!! http://eskimohuskies.com/

In my experience, regardless of breed, the more colourings, flavourings, preservatives and additives you cut out, the calmer the dog you end up with.

 

[Kaylum]

Has she been spayed?

 

[frannieuk]

IMO a dog is definately what it eats! Not sure if your dog takes more after the husky or gsp side, but if you are considering raw it could be worth your while having a read of/joining the following husky forum as, as a breed, they have a few quirks re raw!! http://eskimohuskies.com/

In my experience, regardless of breed, the more colourings, flavourings, preservatives and additives you cut out, the calmer the dog you end up with.

Wow, that's interesting - I didn't think about Species Specific! Tress is probably pretty much half-n-half in terms of personality and temperament (probs why she's a bit bonkers!) but this looks really informative.

Kaylum - yes, she is - do you think that makes a difference?

Krlyr - Hadn't thought about thyroid, but I suspect (as you say) that this may not be the issue as she's gained on the other food - I'm going to mention it to the vet next time we're there though