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When I adopted my first French Bulldog, a lot of experts warned me about their smelly habits and how bad it can be. Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long enough to realize how right they were. The problem with Frenchie’s farts isn’t only the foul smell, but also the frequency. So why do French Bulldogs fart so much? And what can you do about it? In today’s article, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about this issue. So without further ado, let’s dive in!
Why Do Frenchies Fart More Than Other Breeds?
While I’ve been around French Bulldogs my entire life, I’ve also seen a lot of other breeds with similar wind problems. However, none of these breeds came even close to the amount and the nastiness of Frenchies’ farts. Unfortunately, your French Bulldog is more likely to suffer from digestive problems and gassiness more than other breeds due to their remarkably hypersensitive stomachs and intestines. In addition to their sensitive stomachs, excessive farting in French Bulldogs is caused by the entrapment and swallowing of air while munching down on food. However, this is genetically embedded in their DNA, as they belong to brachycephalic dog breeds. Brachycephalic breeds are dog breeds that are characterized by having a relatively flat face with short muzzles. Their facial bones composition causes them to choke on food due to their small mouths, so they tend to swallow the food directly with a lot of air to avoid this issue, which translates to more farts. There’s also one last trigger that often causes Frenchies to fart a lot, which is allergy towards food. In some cases, your dog might be mildly allergic to some type of food, which causes more flatulence and bloating than your dog’s normal level. However, due to the mildness of the allergy, it only translates into more farts. In other words, since your dog is already farting up a storm, you might not know that it’s because of the food this time!What Foods Cause French Bulldogs to Fart?
If you’ve been around French Bulldogs long enough, you’ll notice that some food causes them more flatulence and gassiness than others. One of the initial steps to take to reduce your furry friend’s gassy issues is by lowering or even cutting down on some of these food triggers.Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are essential for your dog. However, too much of them will probably cause farting problems. This happens because these elements, such as fructose, insoluble fibers, grains, and others, are not easy to digest at all for your Frenchie. In that case, carbohydrates simply ferment in their intestines, which produces extra gas that smells exceptionally bad!Dairy Products
Dairy products are rich in lactose, which is pretty common for both humans and dogs to cause intolerance and fermenting in the intestines. Foods like milk, cheese, sour creams, and yogurts, are a no-go for your French Bulldog because they are difficult to digest, especially if your dog is lactose intolerant.Spicy Food
We all know that spicy foods aren’t recommended to dogs. However, a lot of people treat their Frenchies with some of their pizza or taco leftovers. These foods contain too many spices and higher salt content than their stomachs can normally handle. This causes them to be gassy, so you have to fight the temptation of giving your Frenchie foods that are not intended for dogs.Cheap Commercial Dog Food
Based on the previous food, you can expect why cheap commercial dog food causes your French Bulldog to be gassy. These foods are made with low-quality ingredients, such as high grains, excessive carbs like corn, as well as fibers, and fats that take too long to digest. All these ingredients are also difficult to deal with for most dogs, let alone a breed that’s popular for its sensitive stomachs and digestive issues.Rotten Food
As you know, dogs can be surprising for having an appetite for just about anything. This can also include rotten and spoiled food. Always make sure that you’re feeding your pooch fresh food and check the expiry date on their dry and wet food containers before letting them eat it.Fermentable Food
In addition to regular carb’s tendency to ferment in bowls, some foods are known to take the fermenting problem even further. These are the types of foods that are known to cause excessive farts even in humans, such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and legumes like beans and lentils.What Are Other Causes Of Farting in French Bulldogs?
If you don’t feed your dog any of the previously mentioned foods but the problem persists, there might be other reasons that are causing your doggie to fart so much. These reasons also apply if your dog suddenly starts farting much more than usual without any change in dietary habits.Obesity
Just like the case with us humans, obesity, or being overweight just make anything much worse. This also applies to wind issues. Obesity slows down the dog’s bowels, which causes food digestion to be ever slower and more difficult in Frenchies, resulting in more farts.Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome
While all Frenchies have sensitive bowels, some of them have exceptionally more sensitive ones. Among the symptoms of this syndrome is excessive farting.Parasites
Some dog parasites, such as worms, live in their digestive canal. They cause more troubles to the digestion process, causing the pup to fart more than usual.Neoplasia
Neoplasia is a type of excessive growth that can occur in various places in the dog’s body, including their stomach and bowels. This growth can be benign or cancerous and requires medical attention immediately.How To Stop Your Frenchie From Farting?
Now that you know the causes, it’s time to find some solutions to this nasty problem!Use Special Food Bowls
One of the quickest ways to solve this problem is by using special bowls that extends the time of the meal by keeping them busy. These bowls are known as anti-choke bowls and are created for fast munchers like French Bulldogs to help them with their digestive and gassy problems.Split Their Meals
If you feed your Frenchie on one or two meals, this might be a bit too much for their stomachs to handle. In that case, try splitting their meals into 3 portions for easier digestion.Cut Down on Culprits
One of the best ways to get rid of a problem is by narrowing down the culprit. Since every dog is different, by testing and eliminating foods, you can simply find and get rid of the types of foods that are causing trouble for your little pooch. If you can’t do it on your own, you can always visit your doctor and enquire about elimination diets. This type of diet is specifically designed to pinpoint the causative agent for French Bulldog’s abnormal farts and food allergies.Switching to BARF Diets
Bone and Raw Food diets are known by many experts to solve the digestive problems among dogs because they’re much easier to digest by dogs. However, always watch out for food exposure to air because raw meats can accumulate bacteria that cause salmonellosis.Exercise More Often
As you already know, obesity is one of the most overlooked factors that cause excessive farting among dogs, especially French Bulldogs. If your Frenchie is, like mine, more of a couch potato than an active one, try to take it for a walk or play fetch with it to help it shave off those extra pounds! Obese dogs also tend to eat more, which only makes the matter worse. Not to mention all the other health benefits from keeping your pooch active.Consults a Vet for Medication
In none of the previously mentioned solutions worked for your dog, it most likely needs to use some medications or medical attention. Make sure that you pay your dog’s vet a visit and ask them to prescribe you some anti-flatulence medication to help control their gassiness. But more on that shortly!Symptoms of French Bulldog with Flatulence
French Bulldogs with flatulence will likely suffer from excessive and abnormally rancid farts, even for a Frenchie’s standards! Here are some symptoms that mean that your doggie is flatulent:- Excessively frequent and loud farts
- Rancid or foul smell (sometimes they can be odorless, but that’s a bit unlikely for French Bulldogs)
- Gastric Dilation Volvulus (bloating)
- Visual discomfort and inactivity of the dog
- Rumbling sounds from their bellies (borborygmus)
Treatments
Flatulence is nothing serious and will go away with changes in diet. However, there are some medications that the vet might also prescribe for your pooch, such as:- Dry activated charcoal
- Simethicone
- Zinc acetate
- Bismuth subsalicylate
- Carminative herbs like peppermints and chamomile
- Yucca schidigera root extracts
Foods to Avoid
Here’s a list of foods to avoid if your dog is suffering from flatulence:- Beans
- Yogurt
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Legumes
- Grains
- Sugary food
- Cheese
- Any human food that’s not allowed for dogs consumption
