19/06/2026
PREVENTING BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS IN DOGS : THE IMPORTANCE OF GASTRO INTESTINAL HEALTH
A significant number and majority of our behaviour cases have a history of compromised gastro intestinal health or an ongoing, unresolved issue with their digestive health.
Symptoms can include;
💩 Stools that are frequently of a liquid > soft consistency
💩 Eating grass to the extent it appears in faeces or vomit
💩 Consumption of inedible and non food related (wrappers etc) items
💩 Gurgling stomach
💩 Terrible flatulence
💩 Inappetite or 'picky eating'
💩 Excessive appetite
💩 Low body condition score
💩 Tear staining
💩 Copraphagia and excessive gorging of herbivore poo
💩 Excessive scavenging (seeking/searching rather than opportunistic)
💩 Repeated a**l gland issues
💩 Frequent infections (skin, ear, a**l glands)
💩 Frequent licking behaviours
💩 Excessive mouthing and chewing
💩 Restlessness
💩 Conflict behaviours around food such as resource guarding or caching (relocating/moving/burrying/hiding food).
💩 Paying sudden attention (head flick around action) to the back end.
💩 Not wanting dogs to sniff their hind end.
💩 A roached spine / tucked up abdomen
💩 Touch sensitivity > can include avoidance of harnesses (walking equipment)
Some of these symptoms can be labelled as 'behavioural', and a suitably knowledgable and qualified person will know how to pick apart information via in depth assessment and narrow potential causes down.
Too often, symptoms are dismissed or normalised as 'just the way the things are for this dog'. This is quite commonly the case with 'picky eating' or varying stool consistency.
Occassional boughts of loose>liquid stools are often swiftly blamed on 'something the dog must have eaten'.
This is especially the case with puppies. Assumptions can be too quickly made, risking acute issues turning into a chronic problem.
There is now an abundance of research in humans as well as dogs that show the role the gut plays in emotional health.
A 2026 paper found that dogs with chronic enteropathy had compromised emotional health (linked in comments).
Compromised gut health can interfere with neurotransmitter activity. Neurotransmitters are 'chemicals' that are produced in the gut and brain and regulate emotions, arousal, the immune system and digestion.
Additionally, discomfort and pain (stomach cramps/spasms, bloating, inflammation of the gut etc) can all affect behaviour.
Trying to get on top of compromised gastro intestinal health can be challenging and for this reason it is important that people realise the sooner you identify that your dog's gut health is not at optimum and act- the better.
Long-term chronic issues can be harder to address!
Whilst hypo-allergenic food can support some dogs well- it is not uncommon for us to meet dogs who have been put on these these diets as a prilimary intervention who continue to exhibit the same symptoms as before the change of food.
These diets can make training much more challenging due to unpallatable food reducing motivation. The stress of exhibiting /engaging in some behaviour problems can then compomise gut health further.
Whilst it's important to relieve symptoms (and that sometimes involves medication) if the reason for compromised GI health has not been addressed- then the issue very likely won't go away.
Things to consider if your dog has ongoing GI issuees:
👩⚕️ Obviously, book them in with your vet!
But unfortunately, for many dogs the standard consultation time of 15-20 minutes is not always enough to understand and successfully treat the issue, including consideration as to what diagnostic tests may be best carried out. If your dog has a chronic issue, I would encourage you to request a double -slot so you and your vet can discuss things thoroughly.
🍖 Consider changing them to a food that has one animal protein and one carbohydrate. Caution if your dog has struggled with diet changes in the past. In some instances, a qualified nutritionist such as Junior @ Heal the Dog can support you and work alongside your vet.
👅 Doing a Nutriscan test for food intollerances
🦠 Running a microbiome screen (we recommend Biome4Pets)
🧠 Consider if your dog is too frequently stressed or too frequently in a heightened state of arousal.
🪱 Run a screen for parasitic infections such as Giardia and Campylobacter. You'd be surprised at how many of our cases test postive despite routine anti-parasitic treatments.
Link to a recent paper on Giardia in dogs and behaviour in the comments.
We recommend wormcount.com but your vet can test also (although there are two different ways to screen for the parasites).
Imagine if you had an upset stomach as often as your dog exhibits symptoms.
Would you just accept it as 'the way things are'?
Let's stop normalising sub optimal gastro intestinal health and increase awareness of how important a health gut is for emotional and behavioural health in dogs.
If your dog has compromised GI health AND behaviour problems, it is paramount you work with someone who works via VET REFERRAL.
This means the vet will send them your medical history and reading this will form part of the assessment process. You'd be amazed at what we can tell from some of our cases medical histories!
Your vet and behaviourist can then work together to support you as a team.
