Help for the burping dog, please

[Ali & Sonny D.]

My dog is 10 months old. He is having trouble with excessive gas. He burps constantly. He was on Puppy Wellness and then switched him to Blue Buffalo, which he loved. However, on Blue he developed farting with the burping so we have now switched him to Innova. (all switches were done gradually and only with kidbble).He does not seem to like the Innova at all and it is not helping his burping. Although the farting did go away) He uses a raised feeder and we placed a large rock in the center of his bowl to slow him down. He is also on prescription anti gas medication from the vet. He was examined and x-rayed and the vet found nothing wrong but did see that his stomach was filled with gas. He also recommended a low residue food but all low residue food is seems to be made with horrible ingredients.
I am looking to switch again. I want something he will enjoy and still be healthy. As much as I would love to do homemade, I do not have the time and wil not do the raw food diet. I also heard that I should not use anything with fish meal b/c the preservitive is a carcinogenic and all fish meal must be preserved. Someone suggested Wysong Anorgen, another Halo. I need help in order to help my poor dog and his burping issues and give him a food he will enjoy. (by the way I have spent hours on dog food ananysis, etc..)
Thanks for any help!
Alison

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Alison, some lower quality dog foods that contain fish use ethoxyquin as a preservative, which is believed to be a carcinogenic; but this is not true of the premium foods like Orijen, Fromm, Solid Gold, EVO, or any of the foods we recommend here in TFG. As long as you stick to the recommended brands, you shouldn't have a problem.
It's hard to say which foods will cause excess gas in a particular dog. A lot of us have had problems with this lately, there are several discussions about it here. Adding yogurt to his diet may help. Digestive enzymes have also been suggested. If you click "Back to Food Group Discussions" and then do a search for "gas", you'll find our recent discussions on the topic.
Many of our members have had very good luck with Fromm's Four-Star line; the dogs seem to love it, and we haven't heard about problems with gas. It's a very good food, containing healthy grains, and you can rotate the flavors for variety. I would stay away from Wysong, they've had recalls recently.
Dog Food Analysis is our favorite review site, but keep in mind that they slant the reviews heavily in favor of grain-free foods.
Some dogs do better with foods that contain brown rice, oatmeal, & other healthy grains, like Fromm.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Thank you. I will look into that. I did try yogurt with him. He like it but it did not help at all. I just ordered for him digestive enzymes from Great Life and hoepfully that will help him as well. Fortunately, he doesn't seem uncomfortable but the constant burping can't be good for him. I did see on the web site in a whole people recommened Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover Soul. I contacted them about the fish meal in their product and they could not garuntee they were ethoxyquin free, in case anyone ever asks. I will look into Fromm. Orjen is very hard to locate by me as I have looked into that a while ago. Isn't EVO made by the same company as Innova? Unfortunately, does not like the taste of it at all. I was also thinking that a lamb based food might be helpful for him. Thank you so much for responding!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The lamb most likely isn't going to make a difference in terms of gas, as opposed to beef, chicken, duck, or any other protein source in meal form. Fish is actually the easiest protein source for dogs to digest, besides eggs.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Thank you! I am going to look into where I can get Fromm near me.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Hi Alison. We used to have a major gas problem with Timbow when we were feeding low quality food and even with Canidae, but have no problems with Fromm. Timbow really loves it and switching flavors has been a major plus for us. Their website frommfamily.com also states that their foods are ethoxyquin free. Timbow does burp some, but it's from gulping water down, not food. Does your puppy tend to gulp water like he does his food?

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Thank you. I am going to try Fromm. Hoepfully it will help and that Sonny will like it. He doesn't gulp his water as much as he did his food. He is not a big fan of the large rock in the middle of his bowl but it has slowed him down a bit.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

By the way, did either of you ever hear about Halo, Spots Stew or Avoderm. Those were others also recommended to me. I was hesitant with avoderm b/c I read somewhere avacados where not good for dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've heard of all of them but have not had much chance to research them. The flesh of most avocados is fine for dogs, it's other parts of the plant that are a problem, there is information on this on the company's website and we have discussed it here in TFG too. Anything you want to check, you can use the search feature described above to see if we have the info here. I had a sample package of Avoderm and the ingredients did not impress me.
Alison, when you say these foods were recommended for you, who is it that's recommending them?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, here's the website for Halo, which makes "Spot's Stew":
http://shop.halopets.com/Dry-Dog/Adult-Dog-Dry-Chicken-4lb
I looked at the ingredients,and again, I'm not impressed. The food looks too low in animal protein to me, and some of their information is not correct. The chicken meal used by the premium companies is far superior nutritionally to whole chicken inclusive of water. This food relies on vegetable protein to boost their crude analysis data. I have a problem with companies trying to convince me how much better their food is than the grocery store dog foods that contain by-products, etc. I don't use those. At this point, it's insulting to my intelligence.Yawn. Show me how you're better than Orijen, lol.
This is an okay food...better than Iams or Nutro, but not as good IMO as the foods listed above. And of course, we need confirmation from them that they do not import ingredients, and that they do not use ethoxyquin, since their food contains fish, too.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

So gld I joined this group. You guys are very knowledgable about food! Makes me feel so much better talking to you. Thanks !

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Just read your comments. I noticed you mentioned a raised feeder. Have you tried
the plain old bowl -on -the- floor? I wonder if this would make a difference. I have read some comments that raised bowls aren't always better.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

First of all, your profile pic is precious. I love it! Welcome to DK and the Food Group.

My mini Peri eats Fromm Salmon or Duck (you can rotate flavors within the 4-star nutritional line of Fromm). She really has done well on it. But probably any of the foods we recommend would be good for your pup. Peri still burps, but only after she eats a full bowl. Then it is over. Do you have Fromm or something in your area?
For what it's worth, I tried Innova with my other dog - he absolutely wouldn't even smell/touch it! Solid Gold is another one that has worked for me in the past (still does for my little chihuahua who has always had stomach issues).