Diet has a tremendous effect on behaviour, not only in terms of what the food does to the body but also how the animal gets it. In the wild, dogs spend a lot of time hunting and also on chewing and eating their food. Domestic dogs, on the other hand, potentially have a lot of time on their hands and as the old adage says ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’.

With not a lot to do, pet dogs will often turn to chewing household items or over-territorial the home. They may develop an excessive interest in digging, barking or any number of other behaviours that we don’t want. A diet based on raw meat and whole bones is very similar to the kind of food that dogs would find in the wild, and takes them time to eat and digest. This means less time to get involved in misbehaviour. Even better if a proportion of the diet is given as part of training or food finding games in the garden.

We all know that different kinds of food make us feel different when we eat them. Drinking warm milk, for example, often makes us feel sleepy. Dog behaviour also responds to diet and we see that a lot of dogs change the way they act when we shift them from one dog food to another. On brand X the dog is more active than on brand Y. But why does this happen and, more importantly, which of the diets is making the dog behave according to its own normal nature?

   There are lots of explanations.
   On a very basic level, a diet that provides a lot of instant energy will fuel the dog to be active and playful. A meal loaded with stodgy carbohydrate like pasta or rice makes them sleepy. These are just reactions to the size, energy content and digestibility of the meal.

   There is another more complex story.
   When we digest food we break down the protein, fat and carbohydrate into smaller chemicals that we can absorb. Most of these nutrients are used to repair damaged body tissues and maintain the body but others are used to make special chemicals that allow vital body systems to function. Amino acids are the product of the digestion of protein, and some amino acids are used to make important brain chemicals that control mood and activity. So the balance of  chemicals in the brain can only be right if the balance of amino acids in the food is also right. If the balance is wrong dogs can be more prone to anxiety and behaviour problems. The best kind of protein is the  sort that dogs are naturally designed to utilise; meat!

   There is a lot of argument about the protein content of dog food, but mostly this is meaningless because the way  protein content is measured has little to do with the dog’s ability to digest, absorb and process it. In fact the quality of the protein is probably more important. Poor quality protein may not have the right balance of amino acids, and can be hard to digest. So the dog’s body is presented with an unusual mixture of chemicals to deal with.

    One way to be sure that the diet is producing the right level of brain chemicals is to feed a mixture of good quality fresh meat that is either raw or minimally cooked. This includes bits of offal and whole bones to chew. We know that this protein is of the highest possible quality and has not been damaged by prolonged high temperature cooking. The dog is designed to digest this kind of food so the balance of chemicals in the brain is as close as possible to natural.

   So the ideal diet for well-behaved dogs is one that contains the right amount of really good protein, combined with other fresh ingredients such as vegetables, fruit and sources of essential fatty acids. This combination contains all the vital nutrients that are in prepared foods but also has a high level of vitamins and antioxidants that help to prevent disease.