I have read several books on dog aggression that suggest low protein levels. I switched an aggressive dog from 23 percent protein to 18 percent protein. I also switched to a dog food free of corn >corn is said to lower serotonin levels. Then added turkey to the diet to increase tryptophan levels. The dogs aggression to people, did decrease. But the dog aggression to other dogs did not change. The dog did become much more focused in his obedience.
Cathi
As far as giving the dog tryptophan, is it dangerous to administer amino acids to dogs as supplements? Is there some sort of dosage per weight guideline? Is this something that needs to be overseen by a veterinarian? If this is something that in conjunction with the low protein that might work and isn't harmful I'd like to try it, but I don't want to injure a dog out of ignorance and good intentions.
Molly,
There is tryptophan in turkey. I just added turkey to the dogs diet. It is also in :
Dairy products: cottage cheese, cheese, milk
Soy products: soy milk, tofu, soybean nuts
Seafood
Meats
Poultry
Whole grains
Beans
Rice
Hummus
Lentils
Hazelnuts, Peanuts
Eggs
Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
You can safely add the turkey to the diet. I used it for training him to track and also for treats. He also got eggs occasionally, and cottage cheese. I used foods containing tryptophan only, not supplements.
I put him on a dog food with no corn, wheat or soybeans. I read several articles saying that the wheat could be an irritant to aggressive dogs .
Diet changes are safe and easy. Some vets use medication but it would be a LAST resort for me.
Alot of the aggression my dog had ,was genetic. But the diet changes Definately made a BIG difference in his personality!
The reason that I'm asking about supplements is that I've read that in reality the concentration of tryptophan in turkey is pretty low and that for people at least it would take alot of turkeys to have an effect. The other part that worries me is that while I'm trying to lower the protein I would be adding protein with the turkey and I'm not sure I'm a good enough with numbers to figure out the percentages. One of the articles I read by some Cornell Vet. behaviorists mentions the low protein plus tryptophan in the management of dogs, but also cautions that upsetting the dogs amino acid balance can cause other problems. I'm all for avoiding medicating the dogs but I'd feel more comfortable if there was away to quantify the amount needed of the tryptophan and give it accordingly. That being said I really appreciate your sharing your experience with this stuff. I'm always impressed when people deal as well with their dogs quirks as you apparently are. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
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