BehavioRx Case of the Month
for August 2000

The owner of a nine month old intact, male Newfoundland complained that her dog was going to be kicked out of basic obedience class because he was unruly, growled at other dogs and sometime charged them, and she just couldn't control him. He also seemed to get excited too easily about noises, sudden movements, etc.

The family, Mom, Dad and two teen-age daughters adored "Max," and admitted they tended to spoil him, petting him whenever he nudged for it, and sometimes "just because he's so big and beautiful."

The obedience instructor advised a prong collar to control him better, but the client decided against it.

The veterinarian examined Max and declared him to be in excellent condition, although no blood tests had been performed for thyroid, etc.

Max was put on the "Learn-to-Earn Praise and Petting" program, and the family as a group also did about 15 minutes a day of off-leash training for Come (using a code word "Koy" in place of Come, since they had worn out "Come" with him), Sit and Stay, following the BehavioRx Instructions for "Obedience Training... A Primer."

After a week, they said Max was improving greatly at home, but still seemed too excitable.

Enter the nutritional factor: Max was being fed twice a day one of the popular premium dry dog foods, advertised as high-protein. We mentioned the benefits of a high protein diet for carnivores such as Max, and recommended adding an all meat food, preferably chicken. Both clients were surprised to hear that they were feeding their dog more starch than protein. But when they did their arithmetic and found that the diet was actually a high-carbohydrate, they added chicken meat over four days until it comprised 50 percent of Max's meals. Max's behavioral change, according to Mary, was nothing short of astonishing. Within a week he was like a new dog... laid back, almost non-strartlable by sudden noises, movements, etc. Max went back to class and excelled. Mary has since investigated canine nutrition very seriously and has started her own small, home town high-quality, high protein raw dog food service.

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