Even 'independant' research seems to be sponsored/funded by someone along the way - always affiliated with 'someone' at some point....

It was from a nutrician program written by COAPE tutor and behaviourist, Val Strong.

Would a year in age really make that much difference?
I feed them on Pero organic now as it is proper meat and not meat-meal which is in most dry dog foods.

I can only answer this with reference to my own breed - Siberian Huskies. As a result of their history, Siberian Huskies have an incredibly efficient metabolism and need less food (proportionately) than almost any other breed. As an example, the Alaskan Huskies which are prominent in modern sled dog racing in the US and Canada, need to eat at least twice as much food to generate the same level of energy as a Siberian Husky. Unfortunately, too many of the dodgy breeders producing Sibes in the UK, tell their ill-informed purchasers that as a "working dog" their pup will require a high-protein food. Six to 12 months down the line, the owners have an out of control dog which is literally, climbing the walls!!! and which is in danger of ending up in welfare. When we get a call from distraught owners with this problem, the first thing we tell them to do is to put the dog on a lower protein food for a week or so and see what happens. In 9 cases out of 10, the dog calms down significantly in that period. For a husky, a five mile walk each day is pretty much a sedentary lifestyle, definitely not necessitating a "working dog" food. If the dog was pulling a laden sled 50 miles a day in arctic conditions, then a "working dog" food would be understandable, but for most pet huskies it is a disaster.
So, for Siberian huskies, I would say that high-protein food can definitely result in unwanted behaviour/energy.

Mick

but is it really the protein? or is it the rest of the additives and quality/type etc that really cause the problems,many many people i know feed their sibes raw and have never had the problem .... my sibes loose far too much bodyweight on a low protein diet.

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but that could come from a bored mind, underexercised body, genetics, changes in the home....not just high protein diet on its own.

Sorry, I thought you said they were six! Can't be bothered to check back!

I`d be interested to see how broad her sample was then (of test subjects)
IME dogs are individuals and process food in their own individual way, so I`m a bit sceptical of diets that apply to all dogs. Even Bakers must be tolerated by a lot of dogs or they`d go bust. I`ve had dogs do badly on quality dogfood so I don`t like to see people laying down the law about what all dogs should have, regardless of circumstances.
IMO it depends what suits your dog....

All I can say in answer (without having carried out "scientific" research with control groups etc) is that in our (considerable) experience, the change to a lower protein food has invariably led to the dogs being less "hyper." This has been the case not only with dogs that our volunteer fosterers have take in, but also with those which have remained with their owners.

Mick

It is a nutritional program aimed at her client's aggressive dogs. It's purely optional.