Why Is Your Dog Farting So Much & Natural Remedies

Just like humans, dogs can get a bit gassy and let out an occasional toot. That gas could stink a whole room and even cause us to tun on a fan or move to a separate room. However, if your dog is farting frequently there may be an underlying issue.

Dog farts, while it may be humorous, can give owners insight as to what’s going on in their pup’s digestive tract. Luckily, understanding the root cause can help you find the right solution to solve this smelly problem.

What Causes a Dog to Fart?

Flatulence or farting, is a by-product of digestion. While your dog’s body is breaking down food into nutrients, gas could become trapped in their colon- which can only be let out by farting.

Occasional gassiness is usually alright, but if your dog is farting often, there could be a problem with something they ate. For example, eating scraps from dinner or rummaging through the trash usually causes doggy gassiness the next day. However, sometimes bad gas can be caused by the primary part of a dog’s diet: kibble.

Imagine if you ate Del Taco or McDonald’s every day. Of course, you would feel gassy, bloated, and sick. Unfortunately, thousands of dogs that predominantly eat kibble feel this way every day. Kibble, to dogs, is like fast food to humans, each pellet being filled to the brim with carbs and questionable ingredients.

Why Do My Dog’s Farts Smell So Bad?

Bad-smelling farts are usually caused by the same thing as frequent farts. With a diet relying on kibble, dogs are eating heavily processed foods every day. Kibble contains indigestible ingredients like corn and animal scraps, and contains preservatives and food dyes that can all cause odorous farts.

Along with bad-smelling farts, kibble can cause a variety of other problems in your dog’s body. To name a few examples, your dog may experience dehydration, mold exposure, malnutrition, cancer, and dental issues. To learn more about the harmful factors of kibble, check out these blogs below:

• The History of Kibble
• Why Is Kibble Bad For Dogs?
• Top 5 Nutritional Deficiencies of Kibble
• Nutrition Comes from Nature, Not Kibble
• 10 Reasons to Quit Kibble & Switch to Natural Raw Dog Food
• Kick Kibble to the Curb & Give Your Dog a Fighting Chance with a Raw Food Diet

Should I Be Worried That My Dog is Farting a Lot?

If your dog farts every once in a while, there is no need to worry. However, if your dog’s farts are frequent and smelly, it could signify a problem in your dog’s health. Flatulence is something that many owners take lightly, unaware that their dog may have a consequential health problem.

First, you should check to be sure your dog isn’t displaying any other side effects. If your dog is displaying symptoms like lethargy, vomiting, or difficulty with basic tasks, you should take them to the vet as soon as you can. Gassiness can be a symptom of a wide range of serious diseases, such as:

• Cancer
• Canine Colitis
• Enteritis
• Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI)
• Food Allergies
• Intestinal parasites
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Pancreatitis
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)

Once you’re able to rule out any flatulence-causing diseases, it’s safe to assume that your dog has eaten something bad. If you’re feeding your dog kibble, you should definitely worry about the effects on your pup’s long-term health. Frequent gas is not a good thing, and can be an early warning sign to many health problems your dog may develop in the future.

How to Stop Your Dog From Farting

Nobody likes dog farts- they’re smelly to humans and painful for your pup. If you’re an owner of a gassy dog, it’s in the best interest of your dog to help them. The most sensible way to help reduce your dog’s gassiness is to switch up their diet to something natural and easy to digest.

The best, easiest to digest doggy diet is a BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet. By switching your dog to a BARF diet, they will be eating what they naturally need for proper nutrition. While kibble contains about 46-74% carbohydrates, a BARF diet contains the very minimum amount of carbs. In addition, a raw diet fuels your dog with protein content rather than excessive carbs.

Other ways to help your dog’s gas is by restricting their access to table scraps, trash cans, toilet water, and litter boxes. The more access your dog has to things they shouldn’t consume, the likelier they are to have frequent flatulence. Put lids on your trash cans at all times and keep bathroom doors closed, and be sure not to feed your dog any human foods unless they are beneficial to your pet.

If your dog is overweight, that may be another reason as to why your dog has gas. Obesity is a serious issue in dogs, and is often overlooked. To help your dog lose some weight, follow our dog weight loss guide.

Other Benefits of a BARF Diet

If you start your dog on a raw diet, you will notice that your pup’s stool will become smaller and have less of a smell. The same will go for their farts! Through a raw diet, your pup’s digestive tract will thank you after receiving the proper care it needs.

Feeding your dog a raw diet will not only help with gassiness, but it will also help with your pup’s general wellbeing. Your dog will gain increased energy, skin and coat improvements, increased dental health, weight management, and a stronger immunity. 

Read: Benefits Of A Raw Diet

How Do I Start With a Raw Diet?

To start changing your dog’s life for the better, you should first calculate how much raw food your dog should eat according to their ideal weight. A feeding calculator is available on our website as well as a large collection of guides and blogs for raw-feeding education! Become your dog’s health hero by starting them on Cali Raw, and not only will their gassiness get better- their livelihood will as well.