Bad digestive track possibly?

[Galaxy]

I've been wondering if Sabrina has a bad digestive track for awhile now. At first, I was feeding her Beneful and on it she had horrible farts and soft poop. Once a friend told me that Beneful had too much sugar and recommended dog foods without corn or a lot of sugar we went to Exceed. On Exceed her coat was shiny and her poop was hard, but we still had a problem with the gas. I finally switched her to Natural Balance and we still have a problem with her passing gas(its not as bad), except now she burps and it has a horrid smell to it. Does she possibly have a bad digestion track? What would you recommend me doing or feeding her?

[Misskiwi67]

Has your dog had a fecal flotation test lately to check for parasites?

Did you switch slowly and allow time for the body to adjust to the new foods?

[Galaxy]

Has your dog had a fecal flotation test lately to check for parasites?

Did you switch slowly and allow time for the body to adjust to the new foods?

She doesn't have any parasites, I even took a poop sample to the vet. This was over a period of time, she has now been on Natural Balance for 4 to 5 months.

[Misskiwi67]

If she's been thoroughly tested for parasites (at least 2 negative fecal flotations within the past few months), then I would try a pro-biotic.

Also, does she eat very quickly or do anything else that might cause her to swallow a lot of air?? Excessive gas is common in bulldog breeds due to excessive swallowing of air caused by their short-nosed anatomy. Sometimes getting them to slow down eating/drinking will help a little bit.

[Shoshana]

Kinda off the wall - does she eat poop? That will also cause those symptoms..

[Galaxy]

If she's been thoroughly tested for parasites (at least 2 negative fecal flotations within the past few months), then I would try a pro-biotic.

Also, does she eat very quickly or do anything else that might cause her to swallow a lot of air?? Excessive gas is common in bulldog breeds due to excessive swallowing of air caused by their short-nosed anatomy. Sometimes getting them to slow down eating/drinking will help a little bit.

She's been tested, she has no parasites in her at all. I have no idea where this could be from. she does eat kind of fast though, maybe that's the problem? How do you get her to slow down?

[Galaxy]

Kinda off the wall - does she eat poop? That will also cause those symptoms..

No, she doesn't eat poop anymore. When she was younger she used to go in the catbox, but now since we put up a cat door she doesnt.

[chinchi_&_chupa]

I got my Chloé to slow down initally by feeding her by hand a little at a time and making her do things for it (ie, sit, down, high five etc). I also started making her calm down and "focus" on me with her food bowl down in front of her, before she can eat, she has to sit nicely and focus for at least 15 seconds before I release her to eat her food. Hope this helps your stinky lady She's super cute too!

[Heather9603]

Have you tried changing your meat sources? One of my dogs gets worse gas when she's on a chicken based food, and another gets bad gas on fish based food.

For whatever reason, duck based food seems to be the least gassy food. One of my min pins has frequent pancreatitus(sp) and then I had a boxer who had trouble digesting food. So someone from a dog bakery who makes his own food told me that anything duck based is good for sensitive systems. Also, try and get treats or make treats made with pumpkin.

Actually I have an awesome pumpkin dog treat recipe if you would like me to share

[Heather9603]

Oh and avoid any food with by-products, corn, or soy.

[ames]

I had the problem with my boy and after 2 years of trying to narrow down his problems he was bad on mixed meat kibbles and anything besides chicken. Each dog is different, but have you thought of going grain free? the Blue Buffalo Wilderness is the one I finally found that worked with my dog. I just bought small bags so they would only last about 6 weeks and would take about 2 weeks to switch to a new bag. After 8 different foods, the change was almost instant when I went grain free. No burps, no stinky gas and he is regular. Poor guy, just keep trying until you find one that works, but its is possible.

[Galaxy]

The food we are feeding her now is an all natural food that doesn't have any grains, corns, or by- products in it. Sabrina will not eat out of my hand for some reason. Even when i'm training her,she will not take treats but would rather be rewarded by a nice scratch on the ear instead.

[Galaxy]

I got my Chloé to slow down initally by feeding her by hand a little at a time and making her do things for it (ie, sit, down, high five etc). I also started making her calm down and "focus" on me with her food bowl down in front of her, before she can eat, she has to sit nicely and focus for at least 15 seconds before I release her to eat her food. Hope this helps your stinky lady She's super cute too!

Thank you. The only problem with that is she doesn't take food as a reward for some odd reason.

[Celesteandthebullies]

My boy is a very fast eater,I tried all sorts of things, stoppers, hand feeding, muffin tins, and so far this has worked best for me.
http://www.amazon.com/KONG-Stuff-Ball-E ... B0002DHO18
He gets his daily meal in that.

And which variant of Natural Balance are you feeding?

[Murfins]

One of my dogs has this dish that works well for her - http://www.amazon.com/Brake-Fast-Dog-Food-Bowls-Medium/dp/B000PE30MQ but it doesn't work for my other dog who eats too fast, so like with anything, sometimes things work and sometimes they don't.

I would also look into a good quality probiotic and see if that helps with the gas if the food changes and being slowed down while eating doesn't work.