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Behavioural Changes


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Hi all.

I am posting this for my niece, who I got help from a little while ago with her labrador pup. The vet has recommended Hills prescription diet ( cant remember what one, but it is the one with joint stuff in it) due to the dog having elbow problems. He wants the dog also to stay in a certain weight range.

My niece changed over to Hills from a supermarket brand, but now the dog has turned aggressive towards the other dog in the house.

It is always at meal times, or when the other dog even walks past/ glances at the food bowls at other times. The dog is also forever hungry, and gobbles the food like there is no tomorrow.

She seems to think that the food, tho is nutritionally correct, just isn't enough to 'satisfy' the dog. The bag says to feed 3 cups a day, so she is splitting this into 1 cup morning, and 2 cups at night. Before with the supermarket brand, she was feeding a lot more at both meals.

She is also feeding bones out to keep him occupied, as she has always done.

Is anyone else feeding a premium brand dog food and finding that the dog just is still hungry? She knows labs are a bit piggy when it comes to food, but he was NEVER like this before, and she is scared that her young child may inadvertently get hurt if this escalates.

She is reprimanding him for the growling and the lunging, and trying to feed the two dogs far apart.

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

TIA

kym

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Has the dog lost any weight? Sounds like he's REALLY hungry and panicky re losing any of his dinner!!

I thought HSD had quite a bit of corn/fillers in it?? I hope the joint supplement is there in effective amounts....she could always feed other foods and add the joint supplement herself (probably expensive tho). I'm sure others will have more/better suggestions...

Edited by Miss Helena
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Personally I think that Hills is crap and I can't see why she has to feed it to the dog just because it has elbow problems, I assume the vet sells it? If I were her I'd definitely change his diet. However I doubt this is the sole reason why the puppy is becoming aggressive towards the other dog, it's far more likely that he's approaching or has just entered adolescence and is testing his place in the pack.

Feed the dogs completely separately, in crates if possible or one dog inside and one outside and pick up the bowls as soon as they've finished and put them away. Don't leave food lying around anywhere and that includes odd bits of kibble, biscuits, chews and bones, the dogs should also be separated when they have bones. And don't allow the child feed the dogs food between meals, only give food at mealtimes or as treats during training sessions. It would also be a good idea to start both dogs on the Triangle of Temptation.

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As a kid I wa bitten in the face by patting a corgi while it was eating.. so when we got our pup we took the bowl away from her and added more food so she had a good association with us touching her bowl...

We have noticed our pup got loopy like she has ADHD and turned a bit feral when she had eukanuba so we put her onto advance and she has been great..

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I agree Hills Science Diet which Vet's are recommending to their clients because they sell it is YELLOW CRAP! Sadly some Vet's are not doing the right thing by their clients saying they need to put their dogs on HSD.

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How about putting her on another premium food and adding joint food to her meals?

Natures Way sell it i believe and it has chondroiton and msm(? can t remember if that is the spelling)

Also ester C coudl also help.

Good luck

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Dont now of any dog thats happy to eat the hills vet range LOL.'

the range is woeful & has been known to caue issues in my breed over a certain age if a full history isnt known.

Plus the fact Hills still use Ethoxiquin in some of the fange like the T/D

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Is it possible that the pup is just more enthusiastic about eating this particular food, and finds it worth protecting?

That was my thought. Is he/she food guarding becuase it is enjoying it. Might be worth tyring another premium food and a supplment or accupuncture.

If you stick to HSD feed the pup some carrots to fill it a bit and occupy it's mind.

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yep hills is expensive rubbish.Personally if it was my dogs i would be going back to the original diet & see what happens & supplementing with a product that will most likley do more good.

This is what I initially suggested too. The vet doesn't sell the Hills brand; she has to get it from elsewhere. I have read nothing good about Hills.

The dog has always been really enthusiastic about food; I think where the trouble lays is that it is such a small amount compared to what he was normally eating. THis different behaviour started after a week on the Hills. I suspect any premium food may do this as well ( if the actual problem is quantity)

Thanks for all the imput and ideas :laugh: I will pass them on; many thanks!

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"THis different behaviour started after a week on the Hills. I suspect any premium food may do this as well ( if the actual problem is quantity)"

Not really its finding the right diet & right portions for each dog.

If what it was feed before it was happy one & thriving then i dont see any reason to change except the portion size & then either add sashas blend,joint guard,gluco etc etc.

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You said he is on Hills prescription diet (not Hills science diet). Is the product Hills J/D (joint diet)?

I have a 9 year old Kelpie on Hills J/D because of joint problems. He is doing really well on it, he's much less stiff and seems much more comfortable, his coat is also looking great.

Although here's what i do, I feed my dog one cup of Hills J/D each morning (about half of the recomended daily amount for a dog his size) and then that's it. For dinner he gets raw bones. He seems to be getting quite enough food and it just goes to show that you can play around with the diet and recomeneded amounts until you find a combination that suits your dog. Every dog is different, those recomendations on the back of the Hills bags may work for some dogs but definately not all. So maybe try incorperating some different foods into his diet and cutting back the Hills a bit, you may find you will still get the same results but the dog will be satisfied and much happier.

It's worth giving it a try I think.

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Wow - Zero wouldn't touch any product made by hills!

Stopped eating for 5 days and was even happier to eat Pal (not by my choice!) and generic supermarket kibble (which he would never normally touch - also not my choice but we were on a camping trip and that was all the people camped next to us had) than the hills....

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Is it possible that the pup is just more enthusiastic about eating this particular food, and finds it worth protecting?

That was my thought too. Many dogs will guard special treats like bones, or pigs ears, and not guard their regular food. I wonder if something similar is going on here.

Separate the dogs while eating, and maybe post in the training forum for training advice about the food guarding?

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