My boxer puppy has gas.

by Tanya Dickens
(Olympia, WA)

I just bought a 8 week old Boxer puppy 3 days ago. She has gas all the time and poops 8 or more times a day. Is that normal for a dog to poop that much? Why is she having so much stinky gas?

We feed her Nutro Natural Choice foods. How much should a 8 week old puppy be eating?

Thank you for your time.

Tanya



Hi Tanya
Puppies do pee and poop quite often, but consistently pooping 8 times a day does sound excessive.

When you combine that with the amount of gas she's experiencing, I would guess that she's got a sensitivity to one or more of the ingredients in her food.

I'd recommend switching her over to a food that is specifically designed for dogs with allergies/sensitivities. But make the changeover slowly, adding a little of the new food to the old to begin with and gradually increasing it until she's eating all new food. Doing it this way will help to prevent her from getting an upset tummy or having puppy diarrhea.

Check out my dog food allergies page for more on this and some of the recommended foods for this problem. Also take a look at this page - Hypoallergenic Dog Food for info.

As she doesn't seem to be experiencing skin problems that are normally associated with dog allergies, it may be that she's not truly ALLERGIC, just sensitive to certain ingredients. Hopefully getting her onto a hypoallergenic food will fix that.

However, if she does seem to have issues such as diarrhea or vomiting, doesn't gain weight properly, or seems sick in any way, I'd recommend having your vet check her out. Sometimes a bacterial or parasitic infection can cause loose stools and gas, and your vet could check for this.

Best of luck, hope she's doing much better soon.