Do Dogs Fart More During Pregnancy?

Like their human owners, pregnant dogs go through a series of physical, behavioral, and hormonal changes during their gestation period. Such changes include an enlarged abdomen, changes in appetite, lethargy or decreased activity, enlarged nipples, and subtle changes like increased flatulence. If you have a pregnant dog who has made using gas masks the norm in your home, and you need to know what’s going on, keep reading.

Farts are a normal yet embarrassing part of life. They could also be pointers to digestive issues like food intolerance and food allergies, or they could mean that your dog is battling an underlying illness. In a delicate condition such as pregnancy, you should never overlook any digestive changes as they could be signs of health issues.

If your pregnant dog has been farting more, chances are that she’s doing good. She might be dealing with food intolerance, stress, hormonal surge, poor digestion, or other side effects from carrying those little bundles of joy. In later parts of this article, we’ll discuss the causes of this digestive change and how to help your dog through it. So, let’s get right into it!

Are Pregnant Dogs Gassier than Normal?

Yes, pregnant dogs get gassier, especially as they approach the period of labor. This behavior is normal and should not cause any alarm for you and your family. However, if it gets excessive or has a weird smell, your dog might be responding to an underlying digestive condition that you are not aware of. In such cases, see your vet.

Several digestive problems can result in bloating and cause your dog to fart to ease herself of the accumulated gas. Under normal conditions, your pregnant dog has a gravid uterus that takes up a large part of the abdominal space. The uterus takes up so much space, especially towards the delivery time, that it compresses the stomach and intestines.

This compression is primarily responsible for the increased rate of gassiness in your dog. As soon as the gases are formed in the gastrointestinal tract, your dog cannot retain them as the compression will force them out immediately. We will talk about all the reasons why your dog is gassier during pregnancy in the next section.

Why Do Female Dogs Get so Gassy?

There are several reasons your female dog can get so gassy. Let’s look at some of them in detail.

1. Poor digestion

This is usually the main cause of excessive farting in dogs. Whenever there’s a diet change or when your dog gets exposed to foods that the digestive system cannot digest easily, there will be increased fermentation in the colon resulting in higher gas production. Some of the foods associated with increased gas production in dogs include high-fat diets, beans, soybeans, milk products, peas, and spicy foods.

2. Food intolerance

Dogs are known to be intolerant to some kinds of food, including milk products and wheat. Although this might not apply in every case, if your dog is lactose intolerant, for example, they might experience increased flatulence each time you give them dairy products. 

3. Hormonal surge during pregnancy

If your female dog is pregnant, one of the factors that can cause increased farting is the slowing down of motility in the gastrointestinal tract. The hormonal surge during pregnancy can cause movements in the GIT to slow down, resulting in increased fermentation of ingested food and subsequent gas production. 

4. Queef farting

Remember that your pregnant fur kid is carrying an additional dog or dogs in their uterus. The gas produced by the fetus in the uterus is released into your dog’s body, and your dog is now responsible for passing out the fetal gas as well as its own gas. This is one reason your dog might fart more during pregnancy.

5. Fast eating

There isn’t any problem if your dog eats very rapidly except for the fact that they are also taking in a lot of air in the process. This is seen mostly with brachycephalic dogs. Brachycephalic dogs, like bulldogs, are gassier than other dog breeds. The accumulated air will have to be released after they are done eating, and this is yet another reason your female dog is farting more than expected.

6. Poor exercise

Exercising helps to strengthen the body muscles, and this should be highly encouraged in pregnant dogs. Lethargy slows down digestion and makes food move through the intestines at a slower rate. Lack of exercise will weaken their muscles, and whenever there’s an urge to fart, the gases get released almost without any resistance. There’s always a tendency for your dog to get so lazy during pregnancy because you do not want them to experience any stress.

7. Colon compression

As explained above, with pregnancy, the uterus gets enlarged. This is because your canine’s uterus is housing her babies. As the uterus takes up space in the abdomen, it leaves less space for the digestive organs in the stomach. More than this, it may also compress organs like the colon. Hence, more gas builds up in the intestines.

How Do I Stop My Pregnant Dog from Farting so Much?

There are several things that you can do to stop your pregnant dog from farting, and most of them include dietary intervention. This is because the main causes of increased farting are diet-related. With the supervision of your vet, you could change your dog’s diet, give probiotics and increase your dog’s activity rate.

To address the poor digestion that comes with sudden diet changes, slowly introduce new food types into your dog’s diet. This will give their digestive system enough time to adapt to the diet change. You can also supply additives such as pumpkin to their diet to aid their digestion.

Other beneficial supplements that you can add to their diet to aid digestion include prebiotics, probiotics, and activated charcoal treats. If you discover that they are intolerant to any food type, you should remove it from their diet. Also, try to encourage your dog to exercise more during pregnancy to strengthen their body muscles. Be careful not to overstimulate your future pup mom, though.

Conclusion

At this point, you should have clear answers to your question. It’s a normal occurrence for pregnant dogs to fart more, and you should not worry when you notice this in your dog. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your vet if you suspect that there might be an underlying condition. If other unusual behaviors such as vomiting or diarrhea come with farts, speak to your vet.

Author

  • Brad

    Hi I'm Brad, the founder of bulldogpapa.com. Having been a vet of 6 years I work alongside our team to provide valuable insight into your dog's health. I have a frenchie myself named Senzu who is my pride and joy!