Excessive Gas!! What To Do!!??

[fillcee85]

Hi
I have a male rottie and he is just about 8 months old. I have been feeding him Royal Canine Large Puppy Breed for the majority of his life. Although recently he has been having excessive gas and its starting to get pretty annoying. I will wakeup in the middle of the night because he passed gas, the smell is horrible, I dont see how dog could have such bad gas! worse than humans!! Do any of you guys know any possible reasons for this increase in passing gas? He hasnt been eating anything out of the ordinary. All i feed him is the dry food. He also goes to the dog park daily and I have noticed in the last few days he has been having soft poop, sometimes a little liquidy. Also yesterday he pooped and then walked a couple feet and tried to poop again but nothing came out, Could he be Constipated? Is this something I should be concerned about? Or take him to the vet?

Thanks !!

[brunie's mom]

Sounds like the food is not working for him anymore. I think Royal Canin has alot of grains in it. Often it is the grains that produce the gas.

Get him on a better food without all of the grains. Take a look at the Nutrition & Grooming forum for some suggestions. Try adding a tablespoon of natural active yogurt to his food everyday. The good bacteria will help calm down his gut.

Does he get rawhides, or pig ears, or other types of chewies? These often cause gas too. What about cookies and training treats? What do you give?

Gina

[sweetlee]

Royal Canin is not the best food in the world, it does have grains which can cause gas.
I am also suspicious that the mushy yellow poop is not right. The reason he he kept straining after he went could be because the poop was mushy and bright yellow and it burns.
Not to be too graphic but have you ever had yellow bile diahrrea that burns and your body keeps pushing even though everything is gone? I doubt he's constipated.
I would be worried about something he may have picked up at the dog park. If he ate poop, or even stepped in some and then licked his paws he could have worms.
Is his poo REALLY smelly too? He could have a parasite called giardia.
Seems like I just typed this all out yesterday but here we go again.
When I adopted my boy he had horrible gas, and mushy yellow poo. I took him to the vet and he put him on a course of flagly, in case of either giardia or a bacterial overgrowth. He also wanted me to put him on Science Diet Z/D which I did not do.
After trial and error he now eats Canidae Lamb and Rice formula. I also give him Dogzymes from natures farmacy it's a mix of probiotics. Others use Nzymes and say it is really good too.
The new food and the dogzymes have really helped. No more constant farting and no more mushy poop.

Sharon

[fillcee85]

If Royal Canin is not good dog food what do you guys suggest? Personally i dont know too much about dog food but the people at petco and petsmart said Royal Canin was good because it helps the joints etc. which rotties need. Ive heard pedigree and Science Diet are garbage.. what do you guys feed them? And how much does it cost? The Royal Canin is not cheap. its $40 for a 35lb bag which he finishes in like 3 weeks.

[Zumie05]

I haven't tried this before, but at PetSmart I have seen gas medications on the shelf! Gas B Gone is what it was called. I think there are more types too.

Anyone ever try gas medicines before? My 10 week old has also started to develop some nasty gas and he is eating Canidae!

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by fillcee85

If Royal Canin is not good dog food what do you guys suggest? Personally i dont know too much about dog food but the people at petco and petsmart said Royal Canin was good because it helps the joints etc. which rotties need. Ive heard pedigree and Science Diet are garbage.. what do you guys feed them? And how much does it cost? The Royal Canin is not cheap. its $40 for a 35lb bag which he finishes in like 3 weeks.

The good foods are not found at Petco or Petsmart.
Most often they are sold at smaller types of petfood stores, or pet boutiques, or at farm type of feed stores.

For the same amount of money you could be feeding your pup better quality food...that contains human grade meats and alot more meat and less grains.
Some of the foods suggested here often are: Canidae, Innova, EVO, Orijen, Wellness, California Natural, Natural Balance,etc.
Just do a google search on any of these foods and you will find their websites and find store locators for all of them.

Gina

[Zumie05]

Originally Posted by fillcee85

If Royal Canin is not good dog food what do you guys suggest? Personally i dont know too much about dog food but the people at petco and petsmart said Royal Canin was good because it helps the joints etc. which rotties need. Ive heard pedigree and Science Diet are garbage.. what do you guys feed them? And how much does it cost? The Royal Canin is not cheap. its $40 for a 35lb bag which he finishes in like 3 weeks.

If you don't have access to a good feed store, I would suggest Blue Buffalo, Nutro Natural choice, or By Nature. I know that you can find those at PetSmart.

If you can find a little pet botique with good foods, I would definately recommend Canidae All Life Stages! That stuff is probably the same price as the Royal Canin you are feeding.

[Zumie05]

**Oops I meant Nutro Ultra NOT Natural Choice. Ultra is way better (if you decide to go with that and can't find a feed store)**