I have two young labs, Tarka (2) and Lochan (18 months). Much effort has gone in to their training as they are full working strain with a high prey drive and are inveterate deer hunters if given the chance (disappearing into the next county at 100mph x 15 minutes etc etc). Over the last 6 months their training has paid off with impeccable behaviour - I can prevent them chasing deer which they see, and can recall them off a chase if one starts and I've been too slow to prevent it. They will off lead heel past any distraction and I have been very proud of them. Marvellous. Until this weekend. Tarka had been unwell over xmas and off her food (she's a long, tall skinny wee soul and at the best of times tips the scales at 23kg....). To prevent her looking even more skeletal than usual she went on to a high protein active dog diet on Saturday, and as I cannot face feeding them differently Lochan went on to the same diet. On Sunday, I noticed they were very lively on exercise but put this down to Tarka finally making a full recovery. Yesterday, Tarka went out of my sight for a couple of minutes (not done that for months) and a couple of miles further on Lochan chased a deer (although I stopped Tarka with verbal command). Today they gave each other what can only be described as "The Naughty Glance" and hared off into the woods after deer. The only thing which has changed is the diet, I am just as sharp as usual at getting the commands in before problems may arise. They are going back to their usual diet tonight and I will update you all as to their behaviour! Anybody else seen unruly behaviour in well-trained dogs on high protein diets?
Re: Unruly behaviour and high protein diets Hi, I do not have a well trained Charlie YET as he is a rescue dog Lab x Pointer now 2 years old. But 5 weeks ago he was on a high protein diet and was as hyper as a box of frogs. It was suggested to me to change to a low protein diet which I did and the difference is amazing. He now focuses and this allows me to train him. He was on 26% protein and is now on 18.5%. I talked to the manufacturers dietians and they said dogs that work all day would need high protein not pets. Charlie is a completely different boy now which is great for me as his Total Recall (Whistle training) by Pippa Mattinson (highly recommend) is going so well. I am a novice and doubt ever to have my dogs trained to your dogs level, but we are hoping for the best he can do. Hope this helps and welcome. Helen
Re: Unruly behaviour and high protein diets Hello Welcome from me and mine too. Hebe is five from a strong working strain with lots of field champs in her background. She doesn't work, although she's trained (almost ;D ) to that level but because she runs hot whenever I try to decrease the protein levels in her food her condition just drops off and within a month she's a toast rack, it's so noticeable that the vets have checked her metabolic rate and various other things but they say there's wrong with her (thank goodness), she just burns it up as soon as I put it in her. She is a bit of a nutter but I put that down to her background and has been quite difficult to train - she's still a work in progress. However, when she's off the high feed her energy levels drop and it's almost as if she's depressed, she looses interest in things but when I put the high protein back into the mix she's bouncy again and starts putting weight back on. Because our activity levels vary I mix normal / regular food with the higher protein, at the moment she's on 2:1 regular:working food, over Christmas with all the scraps and extras she was on plain regular but by New Year she was a bit flat and the high protein is now back in her dish. So working from the otherside I'd say that increased protein certainly increases energy and affects concentration. Could you maybe mix Tarka's food half and half and see what difference it makes? I'm sure Lochan won't mind, just don't tell him! Hope that's helpful. Kerryn
Re: Unruly behaviour and high protein diets I can't claim the well trained bit, but Lady was truly highly wired up to about 2 1/2 years old. Various puppy trainers sais it was diet, but I think it was maybe 10% diet and 90% young active working Lab. I've got her mainly on Burns Alert (VAT free) at the moment mixed with a bit of Pedigree Chum to spice it up a bit and she is fine at 3 yrs and 4 mths old. She eats it like she's never been fed before. I think a high energy diet will certainly have an influence but time will also calm them both down. Most impressed with the level of control you have over them already. 8) Loved the description of "The Naughty Glance". I know just what you mean. When Lady meets up with her brother Milo they play together in a completely different way to when she meets other dogs and the pair of them also have the "Glance". ;D
Re: Unruly behaviour and high protein diets Hi, forgot to add that Charlie is on Burns Altert also. Helen
Re: Unruly behaviour and high protein diets Hi everyone and thanks all for taking the trouble to reply. Thinking on their behaviour over the weekend there had also been a marked increase in wild playing behaviour between them - major noisy hoolies in the garden and wild tuggy games in the evening. Although they don't go shooting often, I walk/dummy work/train them for about three hours a day to keep that working spirit under control! Anyway, last night back to the usual diet and hey presto normal behaviour in the evening (quiet snooze on my feet, gentle chews on their stagbars). This morning just been out for a couple of hours in the exciting frost, loads of prey about (ducks, pheasants and deer) for which a firm "No" swiftly followed by a cheerful recall had the desired effect. I'm going to keep them on the usual diet for a week then experiment with the high protein stuff again just to see what happens as the speed at which their behaviour changed both for the worse and then again the better is surprising and I'll be interested to see if it is repeatable.
