[AnnArtisan]

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

 

[Flutterby]

That clearly makes sense about the food.. When the small bites was on sale we bought it and Mia hasn't had gas since!

 

[samsonsmom]

Well that sure does make sense! Both Samson & Angel inhale their food so of course that compounds the problem    I have never fed any of my dogs wet food, mainly cos it's so darn messy and the dry is better for them, when they take the time to chew, it can help clean their teeth! Interesting theory...

 

[summer]

harley does not chew her food, she y bit eit only maybe 1-2 times then swallow, inhaling more than chewing, i usually put a tennis ball in her bowl so she has to eat slow, or a few medium sized rocks will do the trick as well. it only helps them not swallow so much air. it hasnt cured her farts though. if harley does eat to fast she too will throw up whole bits.  i have also heard to much air in the intestines can cause the intestines to turn upside down and knot up so to speak, dont know how true that is though

 

[tootsie]

Your vet was right in saying that dogs do not chew their food. They may crunch it up, but in general all the breakdown happens in their stomachs. Humans have the saliva to help break down food while we chew, so most of the break down in humans happens in our mouths. Dogs have all the breakdown fluids in the stomach so yes they do eat food whole. Not to be gross, but I will anyway, so weak of stomach..look away...have you ever noticed that when a dog throws up right after eating, it is usually whole of whatever they just ate covered by some slimy stuff? I used to think why aren't you chewing? No wonder you are throwing up. But they really don't chew, so your vet is right on!  :wink:

 

[mybox1]

I do feed our Boxers Canidea....which just happens to be rather small pieces!  My dogs do have gas.....but not that much.  I was adding some tuna to their food a couple times a week...until I found out how much mercury was in it, and our vet said that Boxers have very sentive digestive tracks, so don't do that, add the "wet" of the canidea brand.  They love it, and have not really noticed an increase in gas.  Interesting thing, our breeder feed their boxers and the pups that food brand where the food is wavey...he said it helps to calm the gas down. Who knows.

 

[AnnArtisan]

Your vet was right in saying that dogs do not chew their food. They may crunch it up, but in general all the breakdown happens in their stomachs. Humans have the saliva to help break down food while we chew, so most of the break down in humans happens in our mouths. Dogs have all the breakdown fluids in the stomach so yes they do eat food whole. Not to be gross, but I will anyway, so weak of stomach..look away...have you ever noticed that when a dog throws up right after eating, it is usually whole of whatever they just ate covered by some slimy stuff? I used to think why aren't you chewing? No wonder you are throwing up. But they really don't chew, so your vet is right on!  :wink:

Okay, I guess I misspoke by calling it "chewing".  My vet said they eat their kibble whole.   But Atticus does "crunch it up" a bit before swallowing, which is obvious both from hearing it being crunched and seeing small bits of it on the floor. So I don't quite understand how that is considered eating the kibble "whole."  

And while I do hear him crunch, and do see bits of kibble on the floor (clear evidence that he is breaking it down before swallowing) the one time he did vomit since we brought him home it was full-sized, intact kibble squares.   Maybe that taught him to break it down a bit?

AnnA

 

[tootsie]

What are you feeding Atticus? A high quality food is also more apt to help with the gas problem. A lower quality food, such as what you can buy in the grocery store, the more gas you will have. It is filled with by-products, fillers, and artificial ingredients which will tend to lead to gas.  I agree with your vet about the kibble size also. It does make sense that the bigger the kibble the more air they are going to take in.  :wink:

 

[spoiledrottenboxers]

What the vet told you, makes sense to me.

Astro inhales his food, NEVER chews it, the kibbles are medium sized, and he gets really bad gas sometimes.

I can hear Roxy chewing her food, but I know that some of her food goes down whole.  When Roxy used to be on her puppy food, the kibble was big and she would get gas all the time.  Now that she's on her adult food, the kibble is small and she rarely gets gas.  If she does happen to get gas though, I know she has to go "poopy" and I take her outside.  Then after she goes "poopy", she has no more gas.

 

[Elexis617]

hmm Mazey always chews her food as far as I can see. She still gets GAS though. NASTY smelling WOOOOOH! I will have to try that Yogurt Idea.

 

[Mastray]

Odin eats his food... but doesn't exactly chew it... NOW Nikki chews her food... she'll take pieces out of the bowl... wonder off... drop them... and take her time eating them. I don't think a boxer could do this... even if they wanted to lol

 

[Elexis617]

Odin eats his food... but doesn't exactly chew it... NOW Nikki chews her food... she'll take pieces out of the bowl... wonder off... drop them... and take her time eating them. I don't think a boxer could do this... even if they wanted to lol

This is what Mazey does!!

 

[AnnArtisan]

What are you feeding Atticus? A high quality food is also more apt to help with the gas problem.

I think we're okay in that area.  Right now, we're feeding him the same food the breeder had him on:  Diamond Large Breed Puppy Food.  We plan to switch him over to Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul when we get down to the last of this bag.  They're made by the same manufacturer and are pretty similar, but the Chicken Soup has more of its top-listed ingredients from meat than the Diamond.  I pretty much settled on the recommendations at dogfoodanalysis.com for my decision.

AnnA

 

[AnnArtisan]

I will have to try that Yogurt Idea.

It does seem to help a lot.  We found one big drawback though:  If Atticus doesn't eat the entire serving within his 20-30 min. time allowance, the leftovers pretty much have to be thrown out once you've stirred yogurt into it.   What we're doing now instead is blending some yogurt and peanut butter together and freezing it.  Then we just break it down into chunks and toss a couple into his bowl at each feeding.  He always downs the "yogurt bites" first so it doesn't melt into the food and make it more perishable.

AnnA

 

[TamiNChance]

wow great idea...i will have to try it

 

[tootsie]

You  can give the yogurt by itself. I used to mix it in with the food, but found I was throwing away too much food. I give Maddie her yogurt treat about 9 pm every night by itself and it has worked out great.  

 

[tootsie]

Just read that you are blending the yogurt and peanut butter together. That is a great treat, but....peanut butter can be gassy. If you want to cut down on the gas, eliminate the peanut butter.

 

[uridiscence]

Boxers will always have problems with farts, it's been posted on here before. Part of it can be because of how fast they eat, but your vet is right. Dogs with smushed faces take air in differently.

Try putting a ring in the bowl to slow them down a bit...they'll have to eat around it. But, besides a little plain yogurt, there isn't much else you can do.

 

[AnnArtisan]

Just read that you are blending the yogurt and peanut butter together. That is a great treat, but....peanut butter can be gassy. If you want to cut down on the gas, eliminate the peanut butter.

Thanks!  I didn't know that!

AnnA

 

[mblogsd]

Since I switched Willy's food, I've noticed that the farts are cut to a minimum, but when he poops...you could take out an army with the smell.  Luckily it's outside, so I guess I'll take the good with the bad.