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larryfoster
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I have never been around a dog that passes as much gas as our Bear.

If we were in California, Bear would be regulated for methane emissions.

 

Seriously, is this a sign of a health problem?

Are there any suggestions to alleviate this?

 

This is an almost all day thing.

 

Thanks

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I knew 2 dogs that had that problem. The first was feed pizza and lots of other human junk food. The other was fed a vegetarian diet. But who knows if they would have had the same issue on regular dog food.

They were wicked bad to be near. You have my sympathy.

 

Good luck!

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How old is Bear? How long has the problem been happening? Has he only been on one diet or does the problem persist with a change in food? Have you discussed the issue with your vet, breeder, Rescue?'

 

Some breeds are more prone to gas, often those with pushed in faces because they gulp air, or so I have read. The Border Collies I have known well were not noticeably gassy however.

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My dogs are fed raw and will react with gas sometimes when they eat certain foods they're not accustomed to, so I would also suspect it's something Bear's eating. It's possible that the dog's reacting to specific protein sources or to grains or other ingredients.

 

If you haven't switched foods but the dog's gassy, I'd try another food to see if it helps. Another brand, another protein, grain free are all things that might make a difference. If you've been rotating foods and the dog's continuously gassy (i.e. not just when the new food is started), then I think I'd be consulting a vet.

 

And while I'm not going to try to convince you to try raw, some dogs simply do better on real food than processed foods. My neighbors just switched their 11 year old dog to raw because they got tired of his constantly vomiting his food. They'd tried many different kinds of kibble with no change. Just a few weeks after switching there's no more vomiting, the dog's enthusiastic about his food (he wasn't before), he has much more energy and is engaging more with the family.

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Thanks for all the responses

 

He has had 4health brand puppy food since we got him in August.

We wanted to get a good food for him and that seemed to be a pretty good one.

 

He get's an occasional bite from us.

 

He has always been a gas emitter but it seems more lately.

 

The breeder isn't someone I would go to for advice.

She didn't care enough to worm the puppies and we are still suffering the consequences of that.

He has a vet appointment next week.

 

I will ask then..

 

Feeding the same brand (but not puppy chow) to Mollie without these same symptoms

 

We have outside cats, rufftie.

However, the dogs don'r seem to bother their food

 

A few days ago I found some bloody, runny stool and fed him a bland diet for a couple days of burger and rice with the grease rinsed off the burger.

 

It may be just a guy thing.

You know how gross we guys can be.

 

40 years of all girl dogs and I'd get the rare one but very seldom.

 

Shetlander, Bear is almost 6 months.

 

I wonder if the need to worm him so often has his guts messed up.

 

He's been wormed for roundworms 3 times in 3 months and tapeworms once.

 

Besides the annoyance, I don't want Al Gore showing up at my door because Bear is burning a hole in atmosphere. :rolleyes:

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Hi there. First, just because your other dog eats a certain food without problems doesn't mean that Bear can tolerate the food. Just like people, every dog is different. Especially considering that he has had GI issues, it would be wise of you to change his food. Try a very simple, high quality food with limited ingredients first and see how he does on that. He could be allergic to something in the food, or have a gluten intolerance, or who knows what.

 

I also would urge you to take him in to the vet to get checked out. Multiple wormings can wreak havoc on a little one's guts, that and bloody runny stool and gas sounds like something that should be evaluated by a medical professional for sure. Please get him checked. It sounds as though you got him from a dodgy breeder, which also could mean that he has problems that you need to know about early on in order to deal with them effectively. I don't mean to sound gloomy, but often dogs that come from backyard breeders and the like will have digestive problems. sometimes these can be cleared up if they are handled well early in the dog's life.

 

As for the cat food, he might be sneaking some when you don't see, and perhaps you can put the cat food up on something the cats can get to but the dogs cannot, just for safety sake, at least until you determine what this problem is. I would urge you not just to write it off as "a guy thing". Your pup may need your help.

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Thanks for your input, D'Elle.

 

Please be assured that we are quite serious about this even though I attempted to inject a little levity and humor due to the subject matter.

 

Just some info that may clarify.

All the wormings were vet prescribed.

 

Also, he has an appointment this upcoming week and we will discuss these issues.

 

We can change food.

Just a matter of finding a quality puppy chow.

 

I won't use Blue because it's been recalled a few times.

I can try Purina and see if that helps.

Any other good brands you'd suggest?

 

Regarding the bloody, runny stool, I believe the vet would have recommended the bland diet.

That was always the first recommendation for all my dogs over the last 45 years.

Currently, he has solid, well formed stool.

 

I don't think his breeder was a puppy mill.

Just naive or stupid, maybe.

 

We might have been, too, by falling for his puppy cuteness.

 

I am 99% sure he's not eating the cat food due to how little I need for the cats.

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You might look into American Natural Lamb and Rice. It is a single protein food that seems to work well for dogs with sensitive stomachs. It is dezigned fir sensitive stomachs. And even dogs that are picky eaters like it.

 

Another really good food is Fromm. I feed both foods to my dogs.

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I would talk to the vet about probiotics, they make them for dogs. Might just do the trick. I would also have a stool sample checked for coccidia, those little buggers can be missed easy. Maybe send a sample to the outside lab to check for giardia as well or at least visit with your vet about these, especially if he had a rough start and his immune system might be a bit off.

Does he burp or belch? Do you see his stools routinely? Are they firm and formed for the most part?

Might try a bland diet for a couple weeks to see if that changes things. There may be something in the food that is upsetting him. I used to have a dog that would vomit if he had carrots, you just never know.

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Thanks for sticking with me on this.

Vet won't do a stool sample yet.

They want at least 6 weeks since last worming.

We tried to take one a week or two ago when we saw worms a month after the last worming.

 

I'll talk to them about probiotics, coccidia and giardia when we go this upcoming week.

 

Tommy Coyote, I never heard of those brands.

May not be available locally

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At about 4 months, I'd say he's plenty ready to get off the puppy chow. I second the notion of looking into limited ingredient adult dog foods. Are there any feed stores in your area? They usually carry a nice selection of dog foods and you can read some labels to see what's out there. Otherwise, PetSmart or other big pet stores also carry large selections.

With his sensitive tummy, I'd say avoid anything with Corn as an ingredient, since that can be hard to digest. Purina is not a brand I'd look to. Avoid those grocery store brands. Brands I've seen recommended include Acana, Canidae, Diamond Naturals and Fromm. I feed my guys Taste of the Wild. :)

Very good that you'll look into parasites your next visit. I'd wonder if there may be some other GI issues at work. But be sure you are super, super diligent about picking up all other poops, both his and any other creatures' he may get into. If he is nibbling outdoor cat poops, that could irritate his poor innards as well, so you might have to fence him off any spots the kitties do their business outdoors.

Keep us posted!

Gloria



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I've always kept my dogs on puppy chow a lot longer than 3 or 4 months.

 

I can check the ingredients on the adult food Mollie is getting.

They steal each others' food so he gets some of that anyhow.

 

Glad I found this place.

Lots of great helpful people

 

I've never seen him bother with any other animal's droppings.

My last shepherd would eat any she would find

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I think an argument against prolonged puppy chow feeding is just that the high calorie and calcium content can, if fed for too long, cause abnormalities in bone growth. But there are just as many arguments that say otherwise. :)

Meanwhile, I'd say do look into some probiotics. Keep us posted if you see any improvement!

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I'd avoid Purina if I were you. Definitely not great ingredients. I have done a lot of ingredient-list reading over the course of some time and I have settled on a food that I think is pretty good. It is a PetSmart brand, so readily available, and my dogs do well on it. I feed the cat version to my cat. Called Simply Nourish Source, it is grain free and has ingredients that are very comparable to foods that cost a great deal more. I have consistently looked at other higher priced brands to see if I should switch, but have come to the conclusion that I can pay a lot more but won't necessarily get better food unless I want to feed 100% organic, which I don't even eat myself. The site called "Dog Food Adviser" will give you a lot of info on what brands are good and which are not. (They give Simply Nourish Source 4.5 out of 5 stars). But what it comes down to, really, is what works for your dog. Try small bags of different ones until you find what works for yours.

 

And yes, this is a site full of incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people. Glad you found it.

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Thanks, again, for offering all the good advice and suggestions.

 

Without changing anything yet, the gas warfare has diminished for the last couple days.

I'm going to wait until Bear's vet appointment on Wednesday and ask some questions before changing much

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Interestingly, my young dog's loose stool issues STOPPED when I put him on Purina ONE sensitive systems. He also gets a combination of probiotics and digestive enzymes, powder form, on his food twice a day. I'm not an advocate of grocery store food, but never say never, 'cuz if it works....

 

I'm one who generally doesn't feed puppy food. I don't want my pups growing fast or being roly poly.

 

If he continues to have bouts of gassiness, I'd certainly consider changing his diet. I have 7 working border collies that are fed three different brands of food, depending on their needs. My main food is Diamond, but a couple of my youngsters are having trouble keeping weight on, so I may have to try other food if adding oatmeal doesn't work.

 

As for the youngster with loose stool problems, he looks and feels good on what he's getting, no accidents in the house, so I'm not messing with what works!

 

Diet is very much about finding the best fit for an individual dog.

 

J.

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Update.

I'm a dunderhead.

(Announcing this just in case you didn't notice)

 

I had the wrong day for Bear's appointment.
Since it's primarily for shots they set me out after the first of the year.

 

He has only sporadic gas attacks the last few days and the loose stool was only a one time thing

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