Health

Why Does My Dog Fart A Lot?

Written by: Dr. Katy Nelson

December 18, 2018

Dogs: they’re just like us! Sometimes (or maybe a lot of the time) they fart, and it’s just a fact of life. But if you’ve got a pup whose gassy habit seems like it’s a bit too much to handle, there could be an underlying issue that needs fixing.

Check with your vet, of course, if you suspect something is wrong, but here are a few reasons that could be behind the smelly issue.

Change in Diet

Pit Bull With Max The Marching Penguin BarkShop Super Chewer Toy

Sometimes just a simple change in dog food can lead to gas, because your dog’s digestive system was comfortable with whatever food they were eating previously. It could also be due to switching to the new food too quickly, which bothered your dog’s stomach.

This is just what we would consider stomach upset in ourselves and usually clears up, but if it doesn’t, check with your vet and be prepared to make another food switch.

Too Many Table Scraps

Most of us are probably guilty of passing our leftovers to our dogs who are patiently waiting beside the table for a treat. It’s so hard to resist their little faces! And they make cleanup so much easier! However, a dog’s digestive system isn’t meant to handle people food, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to not share it with them, especially if you’ve discovered something that makes them extra gassy.

Food Allergies

It’s very common for an allergy to manifest as gas in dogs. This is the best marker for you to figure out if something is upsetting his stomach. If you’ve switched to new food and taken all the proper steps to wean your dog onto it and they’re still gassy, they might be allergic to one of the ingredients.

Be aware, though, that if it’s a food allergy, you should be seeing other signs, usually more quickly than gas, that need to be addressed immediately (including skin rashes, diarrhea, and breathing problems). If any of these signs show up, you should to take your dog to the vet right away for allergy testing and treatment.

Disease

A number of diseases can lead to your dog being gassy. They include inflammatory bowel disease, tumors, intestinal parasites, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, irritable bowel syndrome, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and enteritis.

Obviously, each of these has further symptoms that would clue you in on a serious problem, so once again, if your dog is suddenly gassy and it doesn’t seem to be food-related, it’s best to take them to the vet for a checkup.

Spoiled Food

Dogs can be, to put it nicely, furry little garbage disposals. Smelly, disgusting food? Yeah, they’re probably going to like that. So even though we as humans would know to stay away from food we can see is spoiled, dogs might not be so quick to pick up on that. Some do eat poop, after all.

So it’s probably not a surprise that your dog can get pretty gassy after eating something that was spoiled. Hopefully, it isn’t something that would make them sick, but if you know they swallowed something nasty, keep an eye on them and be ready to call the vet just in case.

Eating Too Fast

This is something that happens in humans too. When you eat or drink too fast, you take in a lot of extra air, which has to come out somewhere, somehow. Naturally, it’ll come out as farts, and this happens to your dogs when they scarf down their food.

Additives In Food

Hound Dog With Big Tongue

Some dog food contains carrageenan, which has been linked to digestive troubles in dogs. It’s often found in wet dog food and in some cases has been linked to irritable bowel syndrome in pups. If your dog is getting gassy and you’ve recently switched foods, especially wet food, check the ingredient list. The culprit might be carrageenan or any other additives that just aren’t sitting right with your dog’s tummy.

Predisposed Breeds

Some breeds, at the end of the day, are just more prone to farting. Brachycephalic dogs, those pups with the smushed faces, are more prone to farting because when they eat and drink, they take in a lot more air due to their short snouts. It’s for this reason that dogs like Pugs and Pekingnese are a little more farty than some other breeds.

What To Do About Dog Farts

So you’ve got a dog with horrible gas. What next? Well, first you want to try to figure out the problem. If you’ve recently switched dog food, there’s the first thing to look at. Did you take the proper amount of time to move from one food to the other? Did you check the ingredient list on the new food? Most likely, you’ll be able to find the reason in this process, because new food is a top culprit for farts.

Bocce's Lumps Of Coal Dog Treats

But if you haven’t switched foods lately, think about anything weird your dog might have eaten. Did they stick their nose in a trash can and run away chewing on something? Did they grab something out of your niece’s lunch box when you weren’t looking? All of these things can lead to gas too.

If you can’t figure out why your dog is suddenly gassy and anything else seems off with them (they won’t eat or drink, they’re lethargic, etc.), call your vet immediately. Farts, while funny, can have a deeper cause that can be dangerous to your pet’s health.

However, if you’ve just got a gassy pup who maybe ate too much and doesn’t seem to have anything really wrong with them, give them some charcoal treats to get their digestive system back in order. Bocce’s Lumps of Coal Biscuits ($5.50) are made with oats and charcoal, two key ingredients that will soothe your dog’s belly after eating something that threw it out of whack. These treats are also made with whole, clean ingredients, so they’re super easy to digest and should keep the gas away for a while. Or at least until your dog decides to go digging in the trash again.

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Written by: Dr. Katy Nelson

December 18, 2018

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