Sick of those stinky, sometimes deadly dog farts? Actually, there are several common dog food ingredients that can make dogs produce extra gas in their guts, making them bloated and probably uncomfortable, and leaving you to deal with those sometimes unbearable gas bombs.
In this video, I’ll show you 5 types of foods that can make dogs produce more gas and how you can best avoid those foods and basically help your dog deflate once and for all, hehe.
And by the way, this all applies to us humans as well, so if you’re feeling a bit bloated or gassy yourself, you should definitely pay close attention 😉
Prefer to read instead of watching the video? Here’s the video script 😉
Sick of those stinky, sometimes deadly dog farts? Actually, there are several common dog food ingredients that can make dogs produce extra gas in their guts, making them bloated and probably uncomfortable, and leaving you to deal with those sometimes unbearable gas bombs.
I’m about to show you 5 types of foods that can make dogs produce more gas and how you can best avoid those foods and basically help your dog deflate once and for all hehe
And by the way, this all applies to us humans as well, so if you’re feeling a bit bloated or gassy yourself, you should definitely pay close attention 😉
Hi, I’m Ingunn, the Norwegian Viking behind Viking Dog Girl, and I’m here every week sharing everything on dog nutrition, dog health and lifestyle.
And I give it to you the Viking Way, which means, no sugar coating and no BS… I go after the real science and share the actual evidence with you. And I do it all so that you can help your dog be as healthy and happy as possible, and maybe even extend your dog’s life by years!
Now, to understand what foods can make our dogs produce more gas, let’s take a look at their digestive system.
Their digestive system explains a lot about what they are designed to eat. Just take a look at this comparison here (see illustration below) of a ruminant herbivore’s digestives system to the left such as a cow for instance, compared with a carnivore’s digestive system on the right, such as our dogs for instance.
You can see how different they are, right? The thing is, cows are designed to eat grass, they get all the nutrients they need that way.
Dogs on the other hand are not designed to eat grass. Their digestive system would not be able to digest most of the grass so they wouldn’t be able to get all the nutrients they need this way.
Now, what does this have to do with your dog’s farts you might ask? Hehe
Well, foods that your dog can’t digest very well, like for instance grass of course, or some other common dog food ingredients that I’ll share shortly, those foods may pass through your dog’s stomach and small intestine without being fully digested. And once they reach the colon some of it may get fermented by bacteria that live in your dog’s colon. And one of the products of this fermentation is gas!
So basically, your dog may eat certain foods that are not very digestible by dogs and those foods may cause gas to be produced due to fermentation in your dog’s colon.
Now, which specific foods are we talking about here?
Basically, it has to do with carbohydrates, though mostly some specific types of carbohydrates.
You see, some carbs are not very digestible, though they are easily fermented once they reach the colon, and these are the carbs that may cause the highest production of gas.
This group of carbs are sometimes referred to as FODMAP. (1)
Now, there are 5 main food groups that include foods that contain a lot of these types of carbs, and I’ll share all 5 with you now.
One of them is legumes, like for instance soybeans, beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils. (1) (2)
Some of these are quite common in dog food, especially soybean meal. So if your dog’s food contains any of these, and especially if they are part of the first 5 ingredients listed on the dog food label (which means there’s likely a lot of it in the dog food), it may be causing extra gas production in your dog’s colon…
PLUS: As one study on feeding different soybean products to dogs states: (3)
“Soybean oligosaccharides and NSP are highly fermentable in the large intestine, producing lactate, SCFA, and gas, including CO2, H2, and CH4. These compounds increase the osmotic pressure and passage rate in the large intestine, generating higher faecal volume and softer faecal texture, in addition to flatulence”
So it’s not just gas that may result from for instance eating soybeans. Your dog will likely have larger and softer (maybe even too soft) stools. Maybe this is partly to blame for why so many dogs have digestive issues, including diarrhea…
Now, the second food group is vegetables. Not all vegetables, though. Some of the ones highest in FODMAPs include: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, beetroot, garlic, leeks, onions, etc. (1)
Remember, if YOU are eating a fair amount of these foods, they may cause you to get bloated and produce extra gas as well. Just saying…
Now, I said there are 5 food groups, though I’ll add a 6th one just for us humans as well as a bonus! And some people nowadays actually eat quite a bit of that…
By the way, if you enjoy this type of no BS, give it to you straight kind of videos on dog nutrition, dog health and lifestyle, then click that subscribe button and turn on notifications now to follow my channel.
And remember to follow me on Instagram: @vikingingunn
Now, the 3rd food group that can make both us humans and our dogs “gassy” is cereals, especially wheat and rye and when eaten in large amounts. (1)
It’s quite common to add wheat products to dog food, though these days, grain-free has become quite popular as well.
Grain-free dog foods however have been basically blamed for causing heart disease in dogs. Now, the lack of grains in dogs diets won’t cause heart disease because grains are not essential to dogs.
The reason some dogs get heart disease while eating grain-free dog food could have to do with the addition of other ingredients in these foods, like for instance legumes!
Because in addition the potential to make dogs gassy, legumes can also contain anti-nutrients that basically inhibit dogs from digesting and absorbing other nutrients. So legumes may actually be a good idea to avoid in general.
And if you are to avoid both wheat and legumes, it’s starting to look quite slim when it comes to dog food, because these are very common dog food ingredients…
Now, the fourth food group is dairy products. Your dog might not eat a lot of dairy, though maybe you do?
Dairy contains the sugar lactose, which can be considered a FODMAP to some people and dogs because both humans and dogs may lack the enzyme called lactase that helps with the digestion of lactose.
According to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition: (2)
“Puppies and kittens normally have small but adequate amounts of intestinal lactase. After weaning age, lactase decreases to about 10% of peak activity in dogs and cats, and continued consumption of milk does not alter the decline in lactase activity.”
I personally prefer eating dairy made of raw milk, because it has been minimally processed, leaving more of the natural enzymes and other microorganisms still in there, in addition to the actual nutrients.
I mean, the normal milk or cheese you can buy at the supermarket is highly processed and basically stripped of most of the nutrients anyway…
Now, before I mention that 6th food group that’s relevant for us humans, and actually, I’ll throw in there a quick tip in case you just feel bloated as well, because it’s not only about the gas production, right? Sometimes we just feel bloated which can be both uncomfortable and frankly speaking, it doesn’t look very nice either, right? Heheh
First, though, the fifth food group that may cause your dog to pass gas more than necessary, is fruits!
Some dog foods contain fruit, though in addition, a lot of dog owners feed fruit as treats to their dogs, like for instance apples.
Actually, fruits have basically been mislabelled as super healthy, because in addition to potentially making you and your dog bloated and gassy, fruits are NOT nutrient dense and may contains quite a bit of fructose which is a sugar.
Of course, if you eat fruit INSTEAD of candy, then it’s likely the better choice, but if you’re eating it in ADDITION as a snack and you end up eating it often, then it may be better to just skip it, or at least limit the amount you eat.
Okay, so the sixth food group that is only relevant to humans is sweeteners. Well, sweeteners should probably not be called a food group, but you probably get my point, right.
Sweeteners high in FODMAPs include: sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, isomalt & others ending in ‘‐ol’ (1)
So you might want to check the ingredient list of some sweets or baked goods you’re eating and avoid these if you’re feeling bloated and gassy.
Now, I do want to mention that even if you’re not very “gassy” yourself, if you feel bloated, and I really know how that feels because I used to be quite bloated in the past before I changed my own diet, so if you feel bloated it may also be due to the consumption of starch and sugar.
Actually, a high-starch diet is very common for both us humans and our dogs these days. Dog food for instance, may contain as much as 50-60% starch, even though dogs don’t even require starch… And neither do we humans.
So if you’re feeling bloated, it may be a great idea to limit the amount of foods I have mentioned in this video, including foods high in starch and sugar. Even limiting these foods for a week or two can have a great impact.
Now, it’s important to note that none of the foods that I’ve mentioned here are actually essential to dogs (except for the milk of the dog’s mom when the dog is a puppy of course).
Dogs can of course eat most of these foods, but they are not essential and they are not nutrient dense with nutrients in the right form. Dogs’ digestive systems are not designed to eat much of these foods, so they shouldn’t take up too much of dogs’ diets…
And a lot of these foods are common to use in dog food and may cause your dog to produce more gas in the colon, making your dog fart and it may also cause some discomfort for your dog, even though your dog may not be able to actually tell you about it…
So, what you can do is to check your dog’s food packaging to see if any of the foods I’ve mentioned are listed in the ingredient list.
And if you are feeding dry dog food to your dog, I just have to mention that it will automatically be a high-carb diet because starch is required in the processing. That’s just how it is.
Kibble is a ultra-processed product anyway, though, and there are so many issues with it. It’s completely unnatural and may contain lots of synthetic additives.
And on top of that, it’s way less digestible than a natural diet can be. The right diet, that is. Remember how the foods that are fermented in the colon are foods that are not fully digested…?
According to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition: (2)
“Feeding a highly digestible food reduces the residues available for bacterial fermentation in the large intestine.”
(Which is where the colon is.)
And of course, the more digestible your dog’s food is, the more of the nutrients in the food your dog can actually absorb and make use of. Which is basically the whole point of feeding your dog food in the first place, right? Heheh
So instead of feeding dog food that’s less digestible, contains foods that can make your dog gassy and uncomfortable, and that is unnatural…
…You may want to try feeding your dog highly digestible, nutritious, all-natural food that’s free from the foods I have mentioned in this video.
If you think your dog deserves to eat that kind of food, then you should definitely check out the Viking Dog Diet system.
This system is based on science and it shows you step-by-step how to feed a nutrient dense, real food homemade diet to your dog including meal examples and how to transition your dog to such a diet.
It’s a simple yet powerful approach that can have so many health benefit for dogs, possibly even extend dogs’ lives by years.
And it can even take as little as 5 minutes on a day-to-day basis if you follow some simple steps.
So if you want to check it out and find out how you can get started with the Viking Dog Diet system: visit www.VikingDogDiet.com right now.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this video and if so, then give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends and family. Let’s get rid of those stinky gas bombs, right? Heheh
Say hi to your beautiful dog from me and I’ll see you next week! Bye 😉
References:
(1) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1440-1746.2009.06149.x
(2) Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, 5th Edition, by Michael S. Hand, Craig D. Thatcher, Rebecca L. Remillard, Phillip Roudebush, Bruce J. Novotny
(3) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037784011300134