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Old February 5th, 2009, 10:22 AM
angiem angiem is offline
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very embarassing question!

Hi! We have a beautiful one year-old Boston Terrier. I love him, but not his little problem. He has very bad gas!! Is this normal with this breed? I am feeding him a very expensive, vet-recommended dog food; and he does not get any table scraps or "people food". Help!
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Old February 5th, 2009, 11:03 AM
kandy kandy is offline
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I'd take a more objective look at the food. If it's grain heavy that's likely your culprit.
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Old February 5th, 2009, 11:05 AM
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pitgrrl pitgrrl is offline
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I really dislike the idea that digestive problems are "normal" for certain breeds. Some maybe more prone to digestive issues, but those can be addressed.

What exactly are you feeding? Vet recommended foods are often not nearly as good quality as you'd be led to believe.

Regardless of diet (though taking a peek at the food forum would likely be helpful in sorting through all the info thrown at us about dog food), you might want to try adding a probiotic and/or a digestive enzyme to your dog's meals.

A pretty easily found digestive enzyme is Prozyme, though there are many others and human formulas available at health food stores can also be used.

Probiotics can be given in the form of plain, unsweetened/unflavoured, yogurt or as a supplement, also available in the refridgerated section of most health food stores or in dog specific formulations.
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Old February 9th, 2009, 02:00 PM
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otis'mom otis'mom is offline
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Yes boston terrier's are known to be a VERY gassy dog. I know I have one. You can help the problem a bit by checking your food and treats. Very expensive food doesnt matter the ingredients matter. Make sure you get a low grain or grain free food . Corn is the worst thing, make sure there is no corn! I'm yet to hear of a boston without gas. I have actually been told that there snoring contributes to the problem. Stinky but cute! Good luck
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Old February 9th, 2009, 03:57 PM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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I have a boston terrier too. She was very gasy for a while. Unfortunately she has bad allergies however trying different foods definately changed her gas problems. I believe it depends what they eat. By the way I am not cofindent I'll find allergy relief, I have tried everything including meds. I cannot get anywhere.
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Old February 9th, 2009, 07:16 PM
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lm9012 lm9012 is offline
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While I have heard that boston terriers are gassy dogs as well, I agree with Pttgrl that these things can be managed. The food is almost definetely the culprit. finding the right food for your dog can be quite a mission when there are so many out there! I agree with the poster that said just because the vet recommends it, doesn't mean it's the best. Our food boards are full of very valuable information and it's kind of a trial by error to find the one that is best for your dog, all the while tastes best to your dog.

I used to have a gassy dog..now that he's on homemade food, the gas is non-existent. Except if he was a sneaky boy and got into something he shouldn't have or the DH caved and shared his food with him...Albert always 'tells' on my man. The gas kicks in and I know who to blame!

It can be overwhelming to find the right food, and everyone has opinions..I stick to a few simple rules when reading ingredient lists: No corn listed at all, I should understand and pronounce at least the first 5, the first two should be a protein, and a specific protein..it should say for example, chicken..not just poultry. No by-products and grains lower on the list as possible. Just sit there and read the ingredients, it is appalling what some of these companies expect us to feed our furballs!
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Old February 9th, 2009, 07:57 PM
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corky/max corky/max is offline
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About the bad gas

Just saw this somewhere in the last couple days--I don't know how well or how much to give---might check it out on web--words like slippery elm (powder)/dogs/flatuation etc in your browser--I haven't checked it out. Anyway this person had stated to use slippery elm powder for gastro-problems as it worked like a charm for her dog.
I also agree about not feeding grains esp. corn and wheat----I feed a raw meaty bones diet--no grains--but raw crushed or pulped veggies and raw eggs and other things---what I'm getting at here is that it isn't just raw meaty bones--more to it than that,LOL

Last edited by corky/max; February 9th, 2009 at 08:02 PM.
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Old February 10th, 2009, 09:04 AM
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scathach scathach is offline
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I have a gassy English Bulldog. He was alright for a while, when he was on Orijen for puppy, just gas once in a while when he was nervous. But he developed an allergy. The vet said it was the food. So he was change to a potatoe/fish kibbles made by IAMs (the vet choice not mine!) that we quickly mix with Orijen 6fish because he was hungry all the time... anyway now he's gassy i mean worst than he ever was! We don't really know what to do He eats only the kibbles, bits of cheese once in a while and recently bits apple (like 1/8 of one) which he seems to love. So i feel for your gas problem!
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Old February 10th, 2009, 01:28 PM
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corky/max corky/max is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scathach View Post
I have a gassy English Bulldog. He was alright for a while, when he was on Orijen for puppy, just gas once in a while when he was nervous. But he developed an allergy. The vet said it was the food. So he was change to a potatoe/fish kibbles made by IAMs (the vet choice not mine!) that we quickly mix with Orijen 6fish because he was hungry all the time... anyway now he's gassy i mean worst than he ever was! We don't really know what to do He eats only the kibbles, bits of cheese once in a while and recently bits apple (like 1/8 of one) which he seems to love. So i feel for your gas problem!
Please check this out: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/Iams
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Old February 10th, 2009, 02:11 PM
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scathach scathach is offline
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that's sickening and heartbreaking Believe me i didnt had any intention to continue with the Iams food... I just bought it cause Georges had food allergies and that's what the vet had. It was a monday night and i wasnt able to get to my usual pet store (the only one in the city that sell Orijen) until the thursday night :sad: And since it cost me alot, we gonna go thru the bag but we will never buy it ever again.
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Old February 11th, 2009, 01:18 AM
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Gail P Gail P is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scathach View Post
that's sickening and heartbreaking Believe me i didnt had any intention to continue with the Iams food... I just bought it cause Georges had food allergies and that's what the vet had. It was a monday night and i wasnt able to get to my usual pet store (the only one in the city that sell Orijen) until the thursday night :sad: And since it cost me alot, we gonna go thru the bag but we will never buy it ever again.
Take it with a grain of salt as the saying goes. PETA is an animal rights group, not animal welfare and there is a huge difference. I'm all for the humane treatment of all animals, but that is animal welfare, not rights. Some animal rights groups have a tendency to sensationalize things, take them out of context or even downright make them up in some cases. Just don't believe everything you read without doing your own research. Just like when someone passes along an "urban myth". Just because you read it online doesn't make it true.

But back to the original topic, a different type of food might well help the gas problem. Trying different types of foods or even different formulas of the same brand may help. I've also heard that adding ground fennel to their diet can reduce/eliminate gas.
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