If you have a dog, you may have passed gas and then blamed him for it. “Max, did you do that?”
Your dog, the loving canine that he is, silently accepts responsibility for the social infraction without missing a beat.
But maybe you really do have a gassy dog and you find yourself constantly explaining to others that it’s not you, and it really is your dog passing gas.
Silent but deadly or noisy and odorless, every dog farts. Some dogs, like boxers, bulldogs and pugs, fart much more than others. That’s because dogs with short noses and flat faces tend to gulp in more air when they are eating and drinking – and what goes in must come out.
But there are many reasons for your dog to pass gas.
Rapid eaters take in too much air, which can cause gas, poor digestion and even bloat. You can put a tennis ball in their food dish or buy a slow food dish, which is designed with internal ridges and raised patterns to slow them down to a more normal pace.
Thanks to one of these bowls, my dog Buster has gone from eating dinner in less than 30 seconds to taking almost three minutes to finish his meal. That’s still quick by human standards, but a marked improvement over his previous habit of “inhaling” dinner.
Of course, gassy dogs can have serious health issues, so they should always be checked out by a veterinarian to make sure there is no underlying disease. But most of the time, canine gassiness is related to diet, which means your dog has a food intolerance or a food allergy. Both require a change in diet. Switching them to a different protein, like fish, duck or bison, or feeding them limited-ingredient dog foods can help.
Low-quality foods or foods high in carbs, wheat or corn can be difficult for your dog to digest. Stick to high-quality kibble, which also reduces the number of poop piles you have to pick up in the yard.
Sudden changes in diet can cause gastric distress, so if you have to change your dog’s food make changes slowly. Start with 25 percent of the new food and 75 percent of the old food and gradually adjust the portions over a week’s time until you are feeding your dog 100 percent of the new food.
Finally, stop feeding your dog table scraps. Many human foods are difficult for dogs to process and simply not good for their digestive system.
So instead of blaming the dog for that funky smell, try to find out what’s making him pass gas in the first place. You may not eliminate it completely, but you can greatly reduce it.
P.S. I know cats pass occasional gas, but I think it’s always the silent kind.
