The much-anticipated diet post!

I recently picked up Dr. Dodman's book "The Well-Adjusted Dog." Mostly pretty basic, but well-written (well, except for his obsession with references to Joan Rivers-I guess she used to say grow up a lot?). He talked about a study on protein content in aggressive dogs. He found that a low protein diet (17%) lowered fear aggression, but not other types of aggression, in a lot of dogs. Conversely, dogs fed a high protein diet experienced the opposite effect. The nice thing about the study is that it showed up pretty immediately in dogs where it worked, and the effects were rather dramatic. So I think a month or so should be a fair trial.

I picked up some weight-control dog food (protein is 17%) and, now that Gustav is better in the stomach department, I'm giving it a try. I have three concerns: one, what objective test can I use to see if it's working? I can't always predict what Gustav will react to, and even when I can it's probably a situation where something like food change wouldn't make a difference because we're so far in the deep end. I guess this part will have to be a little intuitive and not as scientific as I'd like. Two, since all his treats are protein-heavy, will the food make a difference? I had heard once that protein actually increases some happy-making chemical in a dog's brain, hence its usefulness in counter conditioning. Dr. Dodman's study, however, says that carbohydrates are the ones that help in serotonin levels, while protein tends to block this process.

Curious to see what happens, we are on day two of low-protein.

In other news, great attention work last night when there was a dog across the street. To be honest, I'm not sure Dottie even saw it. But Gustav definitely did, and he was able to refocus on me with smooches and his name without barking or even raising his hackles, although he was definitely focused on the dog and tense. I can definitely remember the day when a dog across the street was too much for Dottie, so I'm feeling pretty happy about progress on that front.

Off to the wooded lot where we're not really supposed to go, but is such a great spot for off-leash and muzzle work. Sad to see Gustav desperately try to fetch tennis balls with a muzzle on, I tried to buy a big ball he can push with his paws/nose but he didn't show much interest in it.