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Atticus definitely has this particular Boxer trait, in spades! We picked up the tip someone here offered of adding a teaspoon of plain, unsweetened yogurt to his kibble, but he was still farting. However, when we quit the yogurt, the farting increased exponentially, so it clearly was helping.
I asked the vet yesterday about the issue. He was skeptical of the yogurt cure and said the farting is common in "smushed face" breeds because they take in a lot more air when they eat. He also said that the smaller the kibble pieces, the better. His reasoning was that dogs don't chew their food - they swallow it whole. And that the larger the kibble pieces, the more air they will have in them.
So, I really do love our vet. We took our last dog to him throughout her entire life and received wonderful, compassionate care from him. But I really think he's out to lunch on this one, because both Atticus and our last dog most definitely DO chew up their food before they swallow. I can hear it being crunched, and see the evidence on the floor when they drop chewed up bits on the floor. It really seems bizarre to me that a vet with so many years of education and hands-on experience could be so completely wrong about something as basic as this.
Nonetheless, the idea of feeding a food with less air trapped in it does sound logical, so I'm wondering if folks who feed their dogs only canned/wet food rather than kibble still have big problems with those room-clearing farts. I'm also curious if others here have dogs that definitely do or do not chew up their kibble before swallowing it.
AnnA
I asked the vet yesterday about the issue. He was skeptical of the yogurt cure and said the farting is common in "smushed face" breeds because they take in a lot more air when they eat. He also said that the smaller the kibble pieces, the better. His reasoning was that dogs don't chew their food - they swallow it whole. And that the larger the kibble pieces, the more air they will have in them.
So, I really do love our vet. We took our last dog to him throughout her entire life and received wonderful, compassionate care from him. But I really think he's out to lunch on this one, because both Atticus and our last dog most definitely DO chew up their food before they swallow. I can hear it being crunched, and see the evidence on the floor when they drop chewed up bits on the floor. It really seems bizarre to me that a vet with so many years of education and hands-on experience could be so completely wrong about something as basic as this.
Nonetheless, the idea of feeding a food with less air trapped in it does sound logical, so I'm wondering if folks who feed their dogs only canned/wet food rather than kibble still have big problems with those room-clearing farts. I'm also curious if others here have dogs that definitely do or do not chew up their kibble before swallowing it.
AnnA