Hi, we have an 11 month old ess who from 4 months has been fed on James Wellbeloved, he gets fed the duck and rice as he wont eat the others.

Without fail after he has been fed, he starts going very very hyper, he jumps up, onto people, sofa, barks, runs at you grabs hands, clothes anything at all.

He seems to turn from his usual nutty springer self into a demon dog, its not nice to look, or be on the receiving end of!

Has anyone else encounted this problem?  Could it be something in his food thats causing his behaviour?

He has only got really bad since he was changed onto the adult food!!!!

Any ideas of what to do would be great, thanks, Lesley, Olli and Ben

I have always found mine like to have a mad five minutes after their tea.

Ok, so it is normal.

Thats a relief, still not sure about his aggressive behaviour though, it only happens when he's been fed, I just linked the two together.

thank you for your reply.

Try feeding him for a few days on boiled rice and chicken and see if the behaviour stops or reduces. If so, you probably have an answer, it's the food. If, despite diet change, the behaviour persists I would suggest seeing vet and getting a good check.

I can't see for myself how bad his behaviour is but it is possible that you are witnessing typical teenage ESS behaviour, especially after the energy boost of a good meal!! My own pup used to go into demon shagging mode after he'd eaten! Have you owned a pup or this breed before?

Anyway, those are my thoughts. If he really is showing extreme Jeckyll and Hyde behaviour then try the food change and see your vet.

Sorry, I've just read your other post about tail chewing and you say he has a delicate stomach? Does the tail chewing get worse after he has eaten too? Does he rub his nose on furniture, chew at his paws, scratch frantically, any of these? If so then a food reaction does sound a strong contender. I would get the vet to see him and try to ascertain if all this is medical or behavioural in origin.

Hi there, thank you for your reply.

We have had pups before but always Labs, this is our first ess, most of the time he is a gem, just when hes been fed he turns into a monster, he was recently at the vets for an eye infection and he was given a full health check then, everything was fine, I was advised that was just his thing with regards to his behaviour!

Which wasnt very helpfull.

We did do a lot of research into the breed before we bought him, we make sure he gets plenty exercise, mental stimulation eg, Kong and buster cube and he has the company of our Lab Ben.

He does seem to be getting more of a bully as hes getting older, which from what we researched it isnt in there nature to be this way!

I will try him with the rice and chicken and see if this help, I will try anything to stop his behaviour.

Thanks again.

Lesley, Ben and Olli

My 18 month gundog has a funny five minutes after food - looks like a sugar rush!!  Yes, shags our other dog (poor boy), says hello to everyone in the house, pings off the walls, and if outside will circuit the garden like a loon.

Mind you he has 'pre' and 'post poo' excitement too; runs madly round the garden or field, stops for a poo, then dashes madly off again.  Usually clockwise.

Some dogs are just peculiar!

If you are concerned,  get into the habit of giving yours some quite time after food.  I generally keep mine in a smaller space after his meal as I worry about him damaging himself if he has the run of the house. 

Hi again, he doesnt do any of that just the tail chewing, its the very tip of his tail no where else.

we dont over bath him, hes not got flees, his tail chewing is just done at random times through the day.

Hi there dogs a babe, what you have just described is exactly how Olli is after food, just a bit aggressive with his mouth, the rest of the time hes great, a mad springer who is endless fun.

He did go through a stage of humping our Lab but has since stopped this, hes just very mouthy and nips, which is our main worry.

It was the vet that recommended the Jwb when he was younger, due to his other food making him worse than he is now, but since going onto the adult jwb hes evil.

The first Christmas we had with our youngest, at 6 months old, he was given a stocking.  We let him have some of the things in it and after only about 5 minutes he was like a toddler after smarties and coke.  We had about 20 minutes of almost frenzied behaviour, he was humping whilst walking and actually looked quite agitated.  I've always assumed it was the food colouring and, as he was over stimulated, the behaviours were just an extreme outlet.  He soon crashed and we've never let him have that sort of stuff again!

Your ESS may have an issue with his food but it could also be a fairly normal reaction to being fed or the excitement at being fed.  I think there was a thread on here recently with a similar question (query about protein creating hyper activity?) so if you put those words in a search you might find it.

If you try feeding rice for a bit and decide that the type of food isn't really the problem then you can either confine him for a short time whilst it wears off or manage the nipping and biting as you would at any other time.  Presumably you could try feeding 3 smaller meals a day rather than 2 to see what happens OR try feeding at a different time to see whether 'it's a time of day thing' and if your boy is associating being fed with other exciting activities.  Mine is often a bit more daft after his evening meal than he is after breakfast - although for no reason that I can ever put my finger on!!  I just give my older dog a bit of peace and quiet in another room for about 20 minutes after dinner.