All this chat about feeding, a quick question.  My girl is on Hills Science Plan chicken, could this be making her more prone to being hyper, or could it just be her general staffie nature?

Some foods can make some dogs hyper.  It would be hard to tell over the net tho whether your dog is actually hyper or whether you are seeing normal staffi behaviour :) perhaps you could ask someone who knows staffies to have a look at what you're dealing with?

If you do suspect the food, the only way to find one that suits is trial and error ;)  Foods that are less likely to make a dog hyper usually have fewer ingredients listed (eg. only one source of protein, meat - usually named, lamb/chicken/etc) rather than many sources (meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese) and don't contain ingredients known to cause allergies.

Sometimes it seems to be too high a level of protein causing hyperactivity, certainly I have seen some inprove when it was reduced.
But yes Staffies are high energy creatures :)

I have certainly seen a distinct inprovement in my Beardie  since changing her over from hills to JWB on the advice of my trainer.

Roni

Hills, like a lot of foods, is maize based.  Maize is an entirely inappropriate food for dogs.  It is also deficient in tryptophan.

Change her over to a cheaper, better food such as Burns or Naturediet.

I'll certainly give it a try, thanks for all replies.  I don't think at any point has she ever been a calm doggy, but now that she is heading for 3 years old, I thought something might change!
I had a feeling and still think that it might be to do with the protein......

My staffie is 3 1/2 now & did calm down A LOT when I changed her food to burns & nature diet.

She is still a bit mad though!

I changed food for another reason, but have notice how calm she is now.

Jo
xxx

thanks Jo, I think it might be worth trying the change in diet, I have posted on the 'Health' board as well about some funny markings on her fur recently....
seems to happen every spring when she starts moulting and gets funny 'track' marks down her side.  She seems quite sensitive, so a more natural diet seem to be the way to go :)

how many times a day do you feed her? Some dogs if they are only fed once a day can display signs of being over active. May not be the food but her routine just a thought-Jo

Jo

twice a day, do it pretty much by the measure as suggested on side of the packet.....
she has her morning feed pretty early as I leave the house at 6am to get to work,and then she has another feed at 'normal' tea-time...
she's always fed at the same time of the day though.........?