Successfully living with a dog requires a "big picture" approach... We need to address all aspects of wellness, not just obvious behaviors. Major factors influencing behavior:
Nutrition
Medical
Environment
✅ Nutrition
What you eat definitely affects how you feel. The same applies for dogs.
If your dog struggles digestively, consider alternatives to dry kibble, or try different brands, or try different protein sources.
Some of my favorite food and treat products are listed here.
Feeding raw or freeze-dried food is incredible. Here are a couple popular companies: Texas Tripe, My Pet Carnivore, Hare Today, Vital Essentials, and Volhard Pet Nutrition.
Learn more about your dog's food here.
✅ Medical
Imagine how irritable you can be when you aren't feeling well, when your joints hurt, and when you don't get enough rest. A reactive and/or stressed dog may be extremely irritable in other aspects of health, too.
Consider joint pain, dental health, chiropractic work, acupuncture, etc.
Attempt to eliminate allergens instead of forever medicating the itch.
Reflect on your dog's exposure to toxins and topical pesticides.
✅ Environment The #1 influence in a dog's environment is the dog's human. However, dogs speak an entirely different language than humans... To begin behavioral training, I focus on:
creating a system of communication that's valuable for the dog
normalizing things and events in the dog’s environment
teaching relaxation
creating boundaries on-leash and in the house
If your dog is stressed, adrenalized, over-stimulated, impulsive, and unable to relax, then behavioral training will most definitely help. In addition to training [both the dog and the human 😉], consider nutrition or medical aspects of life, because they can, and will, affect the "big picture". All for now! Kate