A few weeks ago a friend gave me a bag of dog food that her dog didn’t really like. It was a brand I’d considered for my dogs but never actually tried, so figured good time to test it out on my dogs.
The dogs like it. And Tom is doing well on it. But Zora has been beyond ravenous since I started her on it. Her previously really well managed poop eating has now gotten out of control. And for the first time ever I heard her give a little grumble at a dog who approached her while she was eating.
After thinking about possible reasons for her stark regression on the coprophagia, and the sudden occurrence of resource guarding I realized the changes began a couple of days after she started the new food. So to the food label I went.
Duh. New food is over 30% protein. Her usual food is 25%. The new food also has less carbs than her regular food. The change in protein and carb levels is why I think her body is convinced it’s starving. And when you’re starving you’ll seek out other food options (dog poop is often rather high in carbs) and guard what you have. Duh. I haven’t weighed her, but based on her body condition I’d say she’s also likely lost weight. Which I keep my dogs in athlete condition as it is, so she doesn’t have much to loose when she does. So duh of course she’s going to do what she feels she needs to make up the calories. She’s no dummy.
Poor girl, so sorry!
Needless to say, she’ll be going back on her old food as soon as the bag I’ve ordered arrives.
And a good reminder to look for underlying physiological reasons for behavior change, not assume changes are purely psychological.
