This New Kibble Is A Gas!

Did I hear something?  Do I smell something?

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  Spring has actually arrived here in western Arkansas and with it came birds, showers, pollen and allergies.  For my mama, the warmer weather has also brought some sort of obsession with healthy eating.  It seems mama got a bee in her bonnet recently about dog food... MY dog food.  Mama became concerned that the dog food brand she'd been feeding us was not the best for us, so she got on her computer and did a whole bunch of research and decided to change our diets.  At first mention, that doesn't sound so bad, but you have to understand this causes a big problem for me!

You see, years ago, when I came to live with my mama and daddy, I had some tummy issues.  They had to try several different types of dog foods before they found one that didn't upset my tummy.  Now, to show you that I'm not a total snob, the food that suited my delicate system best was a not-so-fancy brand of food that we knew wasn't the most nutritious kind on the market.  Mama and daddy figured, however, that it was better to feed not-so-great food than to watch me struggle with, ahem, gastric upsets.  Every once in a while, mama gets to feeling bad and tries to make us all eat better food, but my tummy always makes us go back to the lowly brand.  Not so this time!  (At least, so far.)

This time around, mama has found a better food that doesn't make me have horrible poopy issues.  And, I must say, the new stuff tastes pretty good.  None of us really has any complaints about the change EXCEPT that mama decided since she was changing the food, she might as well crack down on our serving sizes.  WHAT!?!  Mama, listening to that darned old vet I'm sure, has decided that we are all overweight and need to lose a few pounds.  I'm sure we're all going to just waste away with the tiny portions we're getting.  Pretty sure we have grounds for animal abuse charges here.

Just look; last night I was so weak I couldn't even make it up on the bed properly.

But, I digress from the point of today's post.  It seems that with the new type of food, we have had a big increase in the amount of, uh, gas expulsion in our home.  Dogs tend naturally to be a fairly gassy type of being, but a lot of issues can cause that gas to expand to a stinky, noisy degree.  For instance, my neurotic sister Sadie, who is afraid of everything, is afraid that someone will steal her food if she doesn't eat it at the speed of sound.  Sadie has always eaten fast, but now with the new, smaller portions being offered, Sadie is just bolting down the food like she's starving.  Mama says this causes Sadie to swallow air which in turns causes air bubbles in Sadie's gut.  These air bubbles tend to escape as little farts.  Since these are pretty much just air bubble farts, they aren't too stinky, but they can be pretty loud.  AND, since Sadie is afraid of everything...well, you can probably figure out the rest.  Yes, Sadie is being terrorized by her own rear end.  The other day in a new, undignified low, Sadie actually barked at her own fart.  I was embarrassed for her.

As you can well imagine, since I've been plagued with tummy issues in the past, I do tend to get a little gassy.  Mama says I have the farts of death; she will hide her nose under the collar of her shirt and make gagging noises in a completely melodramatic display that I do NOT find amusing.  With the introduction of this new food, mama is getting paid back for her antics...on this new dog food, our foster dog Canyon has the worst dog gas ever experienced.  I don't really care for Canyon much; she's a nippy, yippy puppy who drives me to distraction, but I must say that I highly approve of her response to the dog food debacle we've experienced.  She's just a little girl, but she can fart like a full grown Great Dane who ate a bag of broccoli.  She just has mad gas skills.

Just look at that innocent face; you'd never guess there lurks the gassiest girl in the universe!

So, now mama has to decide what to do.  Should she keep on with this new healthy eating thing and continue the nicer kibble, despite the fact Canyon may kill us all in our sleep?  Should she feed larger portions so Sadie will slow down her eating before she blows up like a Macy's parade balloon?  Should she begin giving us each a nice serving of yogurt each day since this is said to be helpful in preventing the formation of gas?  I'd be all for the yogurt suggestion--especially if she gave us some nice flavored yogurt and not just that plain stuff.  With maybe a little cheese to go with it.  Or bacon.  Or...wait, I got lost for a moment.  What has been your experience with gassy doggies?  Mama swears I woke her up one night last week with the intensity of my fart smell.  I think mama needs to join a drama club.  It was probably Canyon, anyway.

Til next time, everyone, take care of yourselves and I hope you have happy tummies with a minimum of gaseous clouds!

Love ya

Lily the Corgi

Sometimes I nap by the door; it's easier than listening to mama carry on about my farts!