Tuesday morning on my way to work I found a puppy by the highway. Not injured, just cold, scared, hungry and deserted. I HAD to stop and pick her up and, having visited the animal shelter in that town, I took her to work, then home with me to wait for an answer (sure I'll get one soon-she says with sarcasm) to my ad. The problem is that she really has BAD gas. I have not yet taken her for shots or worming-will do that when I decide if I'm keeping her because I really can't afford to do it if I'm not. She 'rumbles' at night and has audible gas which really is potent and unpleasant. She also had a loose-not runny or nasty-stools OFTEN. I cleaned up three before she'd been in the house for 2 hours this AM. I use a very high quality pet food because one of my dogs has seizures from allergies. Do you think this gas is response to the change in food? It's been since I brought her home Tuesday evening. She more than likely needs wormed-and will give her an all purpose wormer tomorrow-but is there something I'm not thinking of? She appears to be energetic, bright eyed and no fever. Clean, pink mouth and good teeth. Supple skin-though she did appear to be slighty dehydrated (fed her 'puppy gatorade' for the first two days). I do have a teen age boy staying here for a few days that I'm not sure really understands about animals and he doesn't keep her locked up during the day nor does he watch her. Could she be just exploring too much? I'm at a lose, haven't had this problem in a puppy before. Please forward ideas-she loves to sleep at my feet and I don't know how long I can stand it! Sure is a cutie-looks to be a Rott mix-like I need another dog that size. betty

-- betty modin (betty_m9@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001

Answers

What's the content of the food you're feeding? Have you added any digestive enzymes? They seem to help. I try and keep my dogs on BARF style diets and after changing to that, the slight problems they had with stinky gas largely disappeared. Chlorophyll tablets are also said to help immensely.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), January 15, 2001.

I had two ideas while reading your post... Perhaps she did some garbage digging somewhere and ate something nasty? also, I know that when my dogs have diarrhea it helps to put a large amount of cooked rice in their food to bind them up with the starch. Sometimes I will just feed them the rice with a tiny bit if oil and maybe a sprinkle of garlic powder for flavor until they get better, then put them back on regular dog food.

-- maureenb (firegirl102@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001.

Cottage Cheese is good for pups and will stop the loose poop right away. One day of only Cottage Cheese to eat, it puts back the good things in her tummy. Then give her a bit every few days.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 15, 2001.

Our last stray that we picked up had the same problem. After a few days on a good food and rice and a worming, the problem subsided.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 15, 2001.

Give boiled hamburger and boiled rice for a few feedings, then reintroduce regular food slowly. Also get her to a vet and check for specific worms. She's probably got roundworms, but others are also possible. OTC wormers may be too harsh for her system right now, and might not get the specific ones she is carrying. Might want to give her a name, too. Sounds like she found a good home.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001.

I use to raise mini dachshunds, in my opinion and its just my opinion your puppy was starved and has been overeating on quality dog food, which in turn is probably giving her gas. as for the loose stools, give her a little pepto bismol, this is good for gas and loose stools. we also give it to calves with the scours. most vets won't tell you that, because they want to sell you there high priced remedies. hope this helps hate to see people dump poor defensless creatures. Debi

-- Debi (recowlot@grm.net), January 15, 2001.

Betty,

My opinion is that she might have been ditched by an "almost" owner, or gotten lost on a wonder with mom. I would guess that the change of diet from Mom or other to new would certainly create problems in her tummy. Plain yogurt, like cottege cheese, is useful for restoring good bacteria to her digestive track. If you said she looked a little starved, that could explain the loose stools. Sometimes if their tummy runs out of food, just the other motion lotion is left to work it's way through, which would make her first after meal stools seem runnier than the norm. The empty pockets in the intestines suddenly filling would also give her gas, while the lower digestive track gets full again. (I've heard that is takes three days for a mammel to restock their innards) I've also heard that rice, and even old baby food is good to mix in with milk products for little babies of the cat/dog variety.

Peace.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), January 15, 2001.

Thank you for saving and caring for the wayward pup, you can give her an appropriate for her weight portion of plain Pepto-bismal for the loose bowels and gas, it is most likely the sudden introduction of your high quality (read high fat, higher than she's used to, that is) dog food that has her digestive tract upset. Feed her a lower fat dog food until she can be slowly reintroduced to the higher fat variety. Charcoal capsules or powder can be used to help with the gas, go to your vet or pharmacist to get some and for directions for use, it WORKS!!! Thank you again for caring about this poor pup!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 15, 2001.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I am taking it now. Hope she gets 'over' this soon as now she has decided to only sleep by my bed at night. Read that Rottweillers were once herders and draft animals. Anyone with experience in this area? betty

-- betty modin (betty_m9@yahoo.com), January 16, 2001.

Oops, I just blew by the fact she is a Rott or Rott mix. Don't wait too long to start vaccinations!! Rotts are particularly susceptible to Parvo and can get it very easily.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

Hi Betty-

Good to know there is one less homeless pup in the world.

After you have her checked out at the vet (worms are surely a problem), make sure her food contains no soy and that she is not eating her own poop when the teenager is on guard duty. A little tip: Give a sprinkle of the herb fenugreek on her food, it won't stop the gas, but it makes it smell like maple syrup. Fenugreek is fine for any dog (or human) with a gas problem.

The history of Rotties is a long one. German tribes seemed to have developed the breed to be used as war dogs and to herd large domestic animals. The Romans than adopted them and found them to be useful for guarding POWs, pulling carts etc..

In Shakespeare,s "Julius Ceasear" when he refers to the "dogs of war" it is believed he is refering to Rotties. You can see some early images of these powerful dogs if you look at Roman art, especially depictions of troops marching off to battle.

They mostly remained a German herding favorite until the mid 19th century when they were replaced in popularity by another old breed, the German Sheperd. Rotties are naturally more agressive, but make great pets and will literally die for you if properly trained and given lots of love.

Best to you and your new buddy...

-- diane greene (cnnursery@ulster.net), January 20, 2001.

Is this a Dalmatian? In my limited experience, the gas produced by that breed would lead you to a decision that (as a woman) prancing into Despicable Bill's bedroom would be preferable!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), January 21, 2001.