does anyone think its possible that the food u feed your dog could make them hyperactive ??

The short answer is yes. It is usually down to some of the additives and colourings but yes, it is a fact.

Regards, John

hi john
my westie rosie is 8 months old in a week , all she does is bark at nothing or fly round the house or just jump on us biting ... i have heard before westies are lively little things , but didnt know they were as hyper as this, i feed her ceasar with biscuits mixed she likes it , but wondered if im doing wrong ??

Sorry Bev, I cant help you on that one. Although I've seen it around I've never in my life used it or for that matter even looked closely at it. My advice, based on the fact that not all foods suit all dogs would be to try a change just to see what the results are. Change to a good well known brand, Chappie for example, and feed it for long enough to give her chance to get use to it, say a couple of month minimum. This will give you a guide on whether your problems are food related.

Best wishes, John

On the same subject John but different breed, what would you recommend for labs (non working) as i am thinking of changing mine over from tinned meat/mixer.
carol

I use Master Meaty Crunch Carol. It's a maintenance grade (Low protein) complete food for working dogs. The advantage of using foods aimed at working dogs is that they are vat free! During the shooting season when she's working I change to the Masters Preformance grade which has an extra 3% protein. A 15Kg sack of Meaty Crunch costs me £11-50 (I always said I was a cheapskate!!)

Masters is not that freely available but I also like Skinners lower protein complete. Some time ago I won a 15kg sack in a working test and was very impressed with it. If I could not get Masters I would certainly be happy to use this.

Best wishes, John

We used to use Skinners Ruff and Ready (because we won a bag!). Excellent feed.
:)

Rosiepoppin,

I would have guessed if you said you feed her some food with huge quanity of proteins etc that it could be food but not with ceasar, not sure what is in it but it isn't a lot. When you say biscuits what do you mean? complete food of terrier mix or a type of mix?  Do you give treats etc?

Sounds to me she is a puppy being a bit naughty with the biting probably being more nipping that intentional biting. How often is she exercised?  Do you do some training with her? the nipping should really have stopped now but you can work on that with a bit of training.

I do hear it quite often around this age that people think their westies are hyper but westies are terriers , and like to run about mad , full of energy and life. They are never lap dogs that is for sure.  I think they don't settle generally till they are about a year then they seem to settle over night. 

My westies even after a hour walk with come back and run round and round in circles chasing each other round the garden for another hours. They have bounds of endless energy.

Absolutely, just as some additives in foods have been proven to make children hyperactive the same is true of dog foods.  Many commercial foods contain sugars, caramel (to make the food dark coloured), humectants, colourings, emulsifiers, preservatives etc which are more likely to alter your dog's behaviour than the actual food content or protein content itself.

My advice to you would be take your dog off the Ceasar dog food and give it Naturediet or Burns and of course do NOT feed those ghastly pet treats you find in shops which, if you look at the label, are just full of all these unwanted things.

HTH

Also high protein content can make dogs hyper...
Sharon

allegedly