Working dog food = Hyperactive dog??!!

needing-help

My 2yr dog seems to go through 'skinny' phases. He is fit and healthy but just drops weight from time to time. The most recent was after a week in kennels, he eats well there but they get loads of exercise.
I did a search on here and someone recommended working dog food so I got him some. He has put some weight back on but he is more of a nutter than usual.
He usually has an hour and a half walk with 7 other dogs everyday and they run round like lunatics then he flakes for the rest of the day. Now after about half an hour he wants to play again.

Is it likely to be the food or or is it a co incedence.
I hope someone can help, I'm exhausted:rotfl:

catlou

Which working dog food is it?

needing-help

Sorry I meant to say but forgot. It's this one.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/beta-active-adult-complete-dog-food-for-working-dogs-15kg-12660

romylou_2

What breed of dog do you have? Is it a working dog?

needing-help

No he is just a mutt, there may be a pedigree or working dog in there somewhere but it's VERY well hidden:rotfl:
He is about the size of a GSD with a very slim build.

romylou_2

Is is possible that he was pining while being in the kennels?

He would still lose weight through stress/nervous energy even though he was eating. I would not feed him working dog food if he is not a working dog.

Try to get him back onto the food you had him on before (the one he likes, and that you know is good for him). This may settle him a bit. Also being back in his home environment may also help.

chez22

Working dog food is a good way to get weight onto dogs but the higher levels of protein can cause some dogs to go a bit mad! I work with large breed dogs and if I need to get weight onto a dog the method that seems to work is split feeding where you feed the dog smaller meals but more often.

needing-help

romylou wrote: »

Is is possible that he was pining while being in the kennels?

He would still lose weight through stress/nervous energy even though he was eating. I would not feed him working dog food if he is not a working dog.

Try to get him back onto the food you had him on before (the one he likes, and that you know is good for him). This may settle him a bit. Also being back in his home environment may also help.

He loves the kennels he goes to and has been before. The owner laughs at him and says he has never seen such a skinny dog eat so much.
I read on here to give working food to bulk him up a bit and to be honest he eats most things. Toilet roll tubes are his favourite but not sure how many calories are in those.

chez22 wrote: »

Working dog food is a good way to get weight onto dogs but the higher levels of protein can cause some dogs to go a bit mad! I work with large breed dogs and if I need to get weight onto a dog the method that seems to work is split feeding where you feed the dog smaller meals but more often.

It has worked with the weight he is looking a lot healthier now. Although he loves his food he seems to regulate himself, he has food down most of the time and he grazes.
I'm thinking now I may mix the working food with his usual and see if he calms down a bit. He is like tigger at the moment:eek:

sarabe

All the dogs I've ever met (and there have been a few) that are fed on Beta are completely off their rocker.

Everybody thinks my dogs are thin but that is because they are only used to seeing fat dogs.

Check this link for an ideal body weight comparison

http://www.doggypaddle.co.uk/docs/canine_bcs.pdf

If he really is too thin then I wouldn't leave food down all the time because grazing dogs don't eat half as well as dogs that are fed meals. Same as for kids if they snack all the time.

Four small meals or even six if you have the time but to be eaten in one go and not left there.

Kinski

Have a look at the ingredients of the food your feeding. If you see the word cereals it will mean that the company are buying whatever is the cheapest at the time of buying, dogs don't need carbs in their food all it is is a cheap filler, it turns into sugar in their bodies and that's what can send them hyper. Look for the word derivatives, derivatives are all the bits of the carcass that are left over after the animal has been stripped for humans consumption. If you see the words ec permitted additives try and find out what they are, if they are BHA and BHT there are a some experts out there that believe they can cause cancer. High protein in dog food isn't a bad thing as long as it's from a good source i.e. meat. Think about dogs that are barf fed, they live on raw meat and vegetables which is very high in protein. I feed my shelties Orijen which has 40% protein and it certainly hasn't made them hyper, my sister also feeds her staffies Orijen and they're fine as well.

Rev

As above, it very much depends where the protein comes from, a good protein source like those in Orijen wont cause hyper activity. Beta is mostly cereals, the dogs digestive system will convert these to sugar since it can't properly digest them, so this may be where he's getting the energy.

Independent review of beta active here

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1021&cat=7

As you can see, it's about as bad as it gets food wise.

A good working dog food is skinners duck and rice, about £19 per 15kg at vetuk,

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/cat-food-dog-food-skinners-dog-food-c-62_420/skinners-field-and-trial-duck-and-rice-dog-food-15kg-p-2434

I have fed it to my staffies in the past and they were nice and calm. Like your dog, they'd go the park, run wild for a few ours then come home and flake.