My dog has really bad gas!!

[pdxuofo]

Just like the title says, my dog has really bad gas!! Her name is Belle and she is about 13 weeks old. We have had her for about 5-6 weeks and she was essentially fart free for the first 4-5 weeks. However, during the last week in particular she has developed terrible gas. She has been on Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy food for the entire time we have had her. We got her a new bag last week and that may have corresponded to the start of the gas, but I can't be sure. It is the third bag she has had. First two were really small bags and this is the large bag.

I also started feeding her these meat treats for when she does good things about three weeks ago. I was thinking it might be these treats but I don't think the gas started immediately when I first gave her these treats.

Her poop has also been less consistent as of late. Most of the time it will be solid, but there have been a few instances of running poop.

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[KidA]

research on foods and treats ingredients

Well, although gases are common in boxers, since you experience this clearly after using a new bag or food or some time after giving Belle new treats I can give you several advices.

FIRST OF ALL AND MOST IMPORTANT : Check the expiration date of food and treats
SECOND : Stop giving her this meaty treats if you think it is related. It would be great if you specify which treats you are using to check the ingredients, if it has corn, gluten, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, artificial colors or flavorings, too much fats it could be the problem, it's not often to notice immediately when a treat is causing some problems.

My experience...
I was also feeding Scooby RC long time ago until I find out it was not a very good choice, even though it's better than most of the brands at petsmart, there are really many more choices within the same price and so many premium dog foods available. I can tell you that didn't do my homework and just gave Scoobs what I though it was the best available (if you only look for food at petsmart it probably is one of the best) but just review this webpage which it's reccomenden to research when choosing a food by many people in this forums and so many others.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

If Belle is having loose stools and gases I really think it's time for you to pick up a better food and do some research on what ingredients are good and bad for dogs whether in food or treats, you can read this other online article which is great.

Pet Food Ingredients Revealed
http://www.newstarget.com/Report_pet_food_ingredients_1.html

After reviewing this 2 sites, you can also check other sources, like the whole dog journal or other forums, if you check this one you'll see that many people recommends Timberwolf organics, Wellness or Solid Gold; if you research in other forums you'll probably find good comments on other brands like Canidae, Instinct, Innova, Innova EVO or California Naural (although this last is only reccomended for food allergies), etc. There are really many premium brands out there, but not one of them is good for all dogs, it depends on yours, think of this as how many people reacts badly to lactose, fiber, spices etc. Even flavor is an issue. You can find many of this brands on local stores or online. if you decide to switch foods do ir gradually, there are many posts here that mentions how to do the transition.

Hope this was useful... just give it a try with premium foods and treats, it will really make a difference for Belle when you find a good food and treats for her, in the meantime you can give her a couple of plain yougurt (no sugar, no fruits) spoons daily to help her tummy to regain some strenght.

 

[TossBranAbi]

First of all, her food is of low quality. Secondly, she shouldn't be fed a food for large breeds. The gas may be a sign that she is not tolerating the food any longer or it could be the treats not agreeing with her. Has anyone slipped her any other foods? I would switch her food to a higher quality one such as Canidae or something else (www.dogfoodanalysis.com) and give her a teaspoon of plain (no flavors) lowfat yogurt. The good bacteria in it will help her tummy and your noses.

 

[aceowner]

I fed my puppy royal canin but I switched because his coat wasn't very shinny but while he was eating the royal canin his gas was horrible too. I switched to solid gold wolf cub and his coat is a lot better and the gas is not as bad. If you are happy with the food though you can add a little bit of plain yogurt to his food. The live cultures in the yogurt make the gas go away.

 

[BXR RYD]

Royal is not a food I would recommend, it is full of corn and fillers and also has beet pulp etc...so it is more than likely the food that is causing the gas issue, also boxers are not a "large" breed so I would not be feeding a large breed formula at all, stick to a puppy food right now til about 9 months of age and re-evaluate at that time but I would really recommend a different food like Solid Gold, Innova, Timberwolf etc..

Good luck

 

[lisasentous]

As TossBranAbi has said- yougurt helps, I give this to Lisa every so often just to keep the gas at bay and she seems to enjoy it.

 

[pdxuofo]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, it is appreciated. Yesterday I stopped giving her the treats and her gas seems to be significantly reduced. I went back to some other treats which seem to help on the amount of gas she is producing. The reason I chose RC is because I was recommended this brand from a local breeder. I just bought a large bad but maybe I should go for the Canidae. Do you Canidae users just use their standard puppy food? Thanks again.

 

[dalefuller]

Hi...

I didn't see anyone answer your last question, so...

We fed both of our pups an "All Life Stages" food, not a puppy food. We feed Innova and for Molly, we gave her regular green Innova until she was 14 or 15 months. Then we switched to EVO for her kibble. Ours also eat dehydrated raw from The Honest Kitchen and sometimes frozen raw from Nature's Variety.

But for your Belle, at her age, I would stick to an "All Life Stages" food like regular Innova, Canidae, or Solid Gold make. No large breed stuff, no grainless yet (protein may be too high for young puppies), no puppy food.

If you want to do frozen raw or dehydrated raw at her age, that should be OK and Nature's Variety and The Honest Kitchen are pretty good for pre-made raw, just expensive.

I would also recommend bottled spring water like Deer Park over tap water or distilled water. Tap water may be fairly "clean", but it still has chlorine and flouride in it by design. I'm reluctant to give those chemicals to any of my dogs except in their natural amounts that would be found in spring water. If you decide to use bottled water, check the source on the brand that you buy. A lot of it comes from a regular city water source instead of a spring.

The idea is to give them water that has naturally occuring minerals in normal amounts rather than water that has additional chemicals added in amounts intended for human bodies, or water that has had all natural minerals removed by distillation.

 

[Ritzertboys]

while my boys both have gas at times, not real bad, I feed Canidae, they seem to love it!