Oh! Hey there! You’re here! My name is Luci, and I am a Rottweiler.
You have some strange questions don’t you human. Wondering if we canines can burp? Of course, we can!
Burping is caused by air trapped when food is swallowed, it’s a normal body function, all mammals burp. So that means anything furry, including you and us.
Food may also be hard to digest and that’s what makes us burp too. We probably shouldn’t have snuck the food off your plate, but it was just too delicious looking to resist, and now we are burping.
Burping is totally normal in us dogs, as normal as it is for you.
Why do dogs burp?
We know that you are watching us as we gulp down our food, especially after a walk. Walk! As I was saying, we sometimes gulp our food down, but this can make us inhale a lot of air, which will make up burp.
We have seen you do this too, you scoff down your food like you haven’t eaten in days and then end up burping, or making those weird repetitive noises. What do you call them? Hiccups.
Although burping is totally normal for us as it is you, it can still be something to be cautious of, especially if it is all the time. Burping can be medical, if we start burping more than we would normally, we could have an upset belly.
This will make us sad, because we will be uncomfortable and belly rubs won’t be as awesome as they were before. What a sad thought!
Sometimes its nothing major, we can get upset bellies for a lot of reasons, just like you can, but it’s good to be cautious.
Caution can stop and problems from advancing further and while it may just be because you recently changed our diet and our belly doesn’t approve, it could be something else.
Be as cautious of excessive burping as you should be of the postman.
Like you humans do, we dogs are also susceptible to IBS or gastric reflux. It’s far from fun and if you suffer from it, then your dog, like me, empathize with you, we get it too.
What you should be cautious of, is if you also see blood, or if we get diarrhea, or start vomiting as well as burping.
This is a sign to take us to see the vet, even if we protest, we don’t like that human, but its probably for the best, we could be really sick.
If we burp a lot around food time… Food? Where?… then it could be a sign that you need to change our diet. If it continues, try to help us eliminate possible causes, such as our food, so you can find out what the issue is.
We hate it, no one wants to be excessively gassy, it’s not comfortable, especially when you have balls and squirrels to chase.
Is it normal for a dog to burp?
It is completely normal for us dogs to burp from time to time. Some dogs may burp more than others, I know a few pugs and boxers who burp a lot more than I do.
I also know a Dalmatian who rarely burps. It’s to do with our snouts. A dog with a flatter face is much more likely to swallow air, especially when eating, than a dog with a longer snout.
So, before you get concerned and make us go to the vet, grrr, make sure you know what is normal for your dog. If you have a bulldog and a greyhound, the bulldog is going to burp much more, especially around dinner time.
Some illnesses can cause burping, like I told you about before. One of these is GDV, which is also known as bloat, it’s not the kind of bloat you experience when you have had a huge meal and lay there all happy on the couch.
This bloat can be life-threatening to us. It happens when our belly fills with air, but we can expel it due to a twist that block off our gut.
Constant burping and non-productive vomiting are early signs of this. Its more common in those of us with deep chest and will develop if we eat too fast or exercise too soon after we have eaten.
It’s up to you, our owners to make sure that we relax for a bit after eating and that we don’t feel a need to scoff our food.
A good way to tell if our burps are caused by an illness, due to a medication, or if we are eating meals with excessive protein, is to give them a sniff.
We know you aren’t as keen on sniffing us as we are, but if your dogs burps smell like rotten eggs, or sulfur then it’s probably caused by one of these things.
Can you burp a puppy?
We see you do this to your young, it is good to do it to ours too. Especially if you have a pup that isn’t with their mom anymore, or if they won’t take to the teat.
If a pup is bottle-fed, they are more likely to get air trapped in their bellies, and it could lead to being uncomfortable or even health problems.
You should try to burp a bottle-fed pup after every meal. Don’t tap them like you do your young, just give them sides a rub and if that doesn’t work, then you gently tap their sides and back. They should burp, and then they can get back to having fun!
Do dogs fart?
Of course, we do! We are not that different from you human. We all have to expel gas after guzzling our food or having a delicious meal. It is just part of life. We may get smelly farts, but yours aren’t so great either.
Any excessive gas, burping or farting, can be a sign that something is wrong. So just be wary if your dog is excessively gassy. You keep an eye on our health, and we will keep an eye out for that shady postman.
Thanks for talking to me human! I’ve got to go, the postman is here. Grrr.
