What happens when a dog does not receive proper nutrition? Of course, you know it jeopardizes their health. But you may be surprised at how nutrition affects behavior, too.
At some point, every dog parent is faced with unwanted behavior from their canine companions. Whether they are chewing the furniture, disagreeing with your commands, barking incessantly, or being aggressive toward people, other dogs, or other animals, you want that behavior to stop.
We can all list several possible causes for bad behavior, such as lack of socialization and training, fear, boredom, injury, illness, or the dog’s need to protect themselves. You may even be unintentionally rewarding bad behavior. You might decide it’s time to go online and search “dog behavior trainers near me” to get some help. That is an excellent idea! But there’s more to the story.
One significant factor often left off this list of causes is your dog’s food. Studies suggest that nutrition and behavior problems are connected. That aggressive dog behavior may be about more than fear or inadequate socialization.
Let’s explore how nutrition contributes to your dog’s behavior and what you can do to give your dog their best chance at maintaining their best behavior.
Nutrition and Behavior Problems
Your dog’s behavior and quality of life depend on what you feed them. Every living being has its own unique set of nutritional requirements. If those needs are not consistently met, the body will have a hard time maintaining health and supporting good behavior. Ensuring your dog has the nutrients their body needs will help reduce or remove harmful behaviors altogether.
Aggressive dog behavior is particularly troublesome, as it is potentially dangerous. These can come from prey (chasing and killing prey), defense (fight or flight), or pack (group membership and reproduction) drives. Training and socialization do bring these under control. However, don’t rule out a nutrition-related health problem.
The best safeguard of your dog’s health—and healthy behavior—is a high-quality food that meets their nutritional needs. Sometimes the best medicine is good food.
Nutritional Elements
Dogs’ health relies on more than 50 nutrients that must be present in correct proportions. Let’s look at the roles several of these elements play.
#1: Protein
Your dog is a carnivore. Therefore, they require meat as their source of protein and primary ingredient in their diet. Several years ago, two widely cited studies looked into the potential link between protein levels and aggression in dogs, concluding that reducing protein in a dog’s diet reduces aggression. But simply reducing protein in your dog’s diet just to calm them down is not a solution; it’s just trading an aggression problem for a health problem. Instead, it’s essential to focus on providing proteins customized for your dog. If he’s not getting the proper nutrition, they are constantly hungry. That can lead to behavior problems.
#2: Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. They are needed to synthesize neurotransmitters and hormones, so they are vital for your dog’s nutrition. However, amino acids are partially destroyed when heated, common in commercial dog foods. The resulting food is deficient in vital amino acids. Raw proteins avoid this problem.
#3: Tryptophan and Tyrosine
Neurotransmitters, hormones, and their precursors control behavior. Tryptophan and tyrosine are amino acids that are precursors to serotonin and hormones affecting aggression and stress resistance. Reducing tyrosine may contribute to depression and aggression. This is what can be lost in the heat of the manufacturing process.
#4: Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates should represent a small portion of a balanced diet for your dog, but cheap dog food is loaded with them. They cannot substitute for protein and will negatively affect your dog’s behavior because they will be constantly hungry.
When humans eat fiber, a type of carbohydrate, it helps us feel full and benefits our digestive systems. But your dog doesn’t need more fiber to feel full. Instead, they need the right kinds of protein.
#5: Fat
Your dog needs both saturated (animal sources) and polyunsaturated (vegetable sources) fat in their diet. Highly active dogs especially need saturated fats for energy. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential for brain development and influence cognitive performance and behavior.
#6: Antioxidants
Antioxidants are important for dogs of any age, and some are especially beneficial for senior dogs. Studies showed that older dogs fed antioxidants exhibited improvements in cognitive ability, age-related behavior changes were reduced, and the rate of cognitive decline slowed.
The Best Food Produces the Best Behavior
The best food for your dog mimics what they would eat in the wild. It’s what their body was designed to digest and benefit from.
As we mentioned earlier, your dog is a carnivore. Some form of animal protein should always be at the top of the ingredient list. Look for food with two animal proteins as the first ingredients. Then add some fresh, raw meat and vegetables to reduce digestion time. Of course, how much you feed them depends on variables such as their size, activity level, and age.
Add small amounts of carbohydrates to your dog’s food. They don’t need much, but oats, barley, wheat, and brown rice contribute vitamins, minerals, protein, and fat.
Dehydrated and Holistic
A dehydrated version of natural food is an easy way to ensure proper nutrition. You just add raw meat and water. Our high-quality Natural Diet Foundation, carefully developed over several decades, offers convenience without sacrificing good nutrition. This gives your dog a balanced, raw diet with all the nutrients they need.
Conclusion
Your dog’s behavior is a product of many factors, and one of the most important of them is their food. If they do not have a balanced diet and do not get the nutritional elements their body needs, their behavior will reflect these deficits. They can’t behave well if they don’t feel well. So you need to understand how nutrition affects behavior.
By simply adding raw meat and water, Volhard’s Natural Diet Foundation gives you the nutrition your dog needs in a convenient dehydrated formula. And what happens when a dog receives proper nutrition? You get a happy, healthy dog with few behavioral issues!