I’m surprised there’s been little research on how pet foods affect aggression or behavior!
“When we are considering how a dog is behaving, we really should be considering what is inside the stomach.”
Emmy Koeleman writes at AllAboutFeed that animal welfare studies are showing several improvements are “boosting the immune system and reducing stress.”
She also points to Professor Wouter Hendriks for his work on pet nutrition.
A study in dogs (Dodman et al. (1996)) showed that territorial aggression scores were lower (p = 0.035) for medium- and low-protein diet compared to high protein diet.
However, the effects that commercial pet foods have on pet behavior are still largely unknown.