What causes a puppy to have such horrible smelling gas?

Question

We have a 4 month old border collie/blue heeler mix, and his gas is horrible. I do not give him table scraps, puppy food only. I have tried 3 different brands of food, thinking it was the puppy food, but it doesn't seem to matter what brand it is, he still has horrible gas. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Here are my suggestions:
Slow down dinners. Flatulence is often caused by air that is gulped down when pets eat too quickly. Putting a large object in his food dish will force your pet to slow down when eating. The object should be something that is too large for the pet to pick up in his mouth. Try something like a ping-pong ball for cats, a baseball for toy dogs, a softball for medium breeds, and an even larger ball for large and giant breeds. If you have more than one dog, feed them separately to reduce competition for food. You may also try scattering dry food around the house and/or yard so the dog will need to 'forage' for it.

Buy an elevated feeder. Dogs that do not have to bend over so far to eat swallow less air.

Take walks after dinner. Light exercise aids digestion and works out the gas while you are outside. If your dog eliminates during the walk, even better.

Switch food. Your brand of dog food may be the culprit, particularly if it is high in soy. Switch over gradually so your dog's digestive system can adapt to the new food. Substitute about 25% new food for the old food each week so that by the fourth week your pet is on 100% new food.

Add Acidophilus or Prozyme to food. These products help in the digestive process and may help eliminate gas completely.

Watch what they eat. Too much food at one time can cause gas, as can eating out of the garbage, or too many table scraps.

Answer 2

has he been properly wormed by his veterinarian?, if not I would definately drop off a stool sample to check for parasites. It could be the constant change in his food, that can cause digestive upset especially if you are not introducing it to him gradually. When changing a dogs food you always want to do it over a period.

give 25% of new food to 75% of the previous for 5 days
give 50% of new food to 50% of previous food for another 5 days.
give 75% of new food to 25%of previous food for another 5 days. It will take awhile but it should insure that your pet gets no gastric upset from a sudden food change.

Are you feeding a meat based food such as chicken?

Answer 3

It may not be the food at all but he treats your giving him. MIlkbone brand does a job on my dogs stomachs and the gas is horrific! Check out our treats and check to see how much fat is in them. Also pig ears, raw hide and any thing along those lines will cause terrible gas in some pups and dogs.

Answer 4

its how much air he is taking in while eating or drinking. we have the same problem with our puppy. the vet told us to:

1.raise his food bowl to about his height so he doesnt gulp down to much air.
2. if you arent into raising his food bowl, put a rock or something in the center to help him slow down on eating his food. this will cause him to eat around the item causing less gas.
3. take him out for long walks. that gets the gases moving and you dont have to smell it when you are in the house.

also, different breeds are notorious for clearing a room.

good luck and congrats on the new one.

Answer 5

Not sure what brands you used, usually the higher priced brands are best quality. Follow the feeding instructions on the bag and hopefully it goes away after time. If not, your puppy may have swallowed something, which could cause it.

Answer 6

If you are feeding him a wet food, that will give any dogs gas.Try a hard puppy food for 1 week,check witrh your neighborhood pet shop

Answer 7

It's probably his food, try Pedigree it's soy free or Science diet. It could also be a digestive or stomach problem. Sounds gross but check out his stools, if they don't look normal or you can't get the gas under control with food take him to the vet.

Answer 8

I had this problem too.Did'nt matter what brand of food the gas was godawful.Finally,I switched from chicken flavored food to lamb.Gas gone.

Answer 9

Where are you buying the puppy food and what brands have you tried!! It could be because you are changing to to much and have not giving the puppy time to adjust

Answer 10

It's just normal for some dogs. The lady I work with, her dog has terrible smelling gas and she just gives her tums as needed. Yes, it is ok to give your dog tums. Just be careful on the dosing if you decide to do it.