Category: People and their pets

What’s that noise?

A rather funny reason about what freaks out dogs!

I was searching my files for something light-hearted to post for today and came across this article.

For some reason I hadn’t really noticed that our dogs are bothered by their farts and, thanks to a broken nose years and years ago, I have a very poor sense of smell.

Anyway, I wanted to share the article with you.

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Why Do Dogs Get Scared Of Their Own Farts? 3 Reasons Passing Gas Spooks Them

Farts can be sooo scary for dogs sometimes 🤣

By Sam Howell

Published on the 13th April, 2022

Have you ever noticed that when your dog farts, he’ll jump up and just stare at his butt totally confused — and even a little spooked — by the gas that just came out?

It seems hard to believe that your pup can actually be caught off-guard by a totally normal bodily function that happens to him on the regular, but here we are. Another day, another fart that’s totally bamboozled your dog.

We spoke with Dr. Sara Ochoa, a small- and exotic-animal veterinarian in Texas and a veterinary consultant for doglab.com, to find out why dogs get scared of their own farts.

And there are a few reasons why your pup’s own flatulence might spook him.

Your dog didn’t know he farted

This might be hard for you to imagine, but there’s a decent chance that your dog just has no idea what a fart even is.

“Most dogs do not know what their farts are,” Dr. Ochoa told The Dodo. “They do not have the mental capacity to process that they just farted.”

Not only does your dog not understand the scientific concept of passing gas, but he also doesn’t expect this gas to be expelled from his body, even if it happens often.

“I think some dogs are surprised to know that some air just came out of them,” Dr. Ochoa said. “The air leaving them is a surprise to them and sometimes a smelly surprise for us.”

Your dog’s farts are loud

An unexpected loud noise can startle anyone, so if your dog rips a particularly noisy fart, he’s probably going to be a little confused and scared.

“Just like with people, some farts are louder and some farts are smellier,” Dr. Ochoa said.

And if you’re wondering why sometimes your dog’s farts are super loud, while others are the silent-but-deadly type, that simply has to do with how much air is coming out of him and how intensely it’s being expelled.

“The sound intensity of the fart is due to the amount of air and force behind the farts,” Dr. Ochoa said.

It happened at the same time as another bodily function

Have you ever sneezed and happened to fart at exactly the same time? (This is a safe space, no one’s judging you.) Well, it probably surprised you when you realized you broke a little wind while you sneezed, because you were only expecting one bodily function.

The same can happen to your dog, too.

“My little dog will commonly cough and fart at the same time, which scares her,” Dr. Ochoa said. “I don’t think she is expecting the fart. When she is coughing, everything just lets loose and she farts, scaring herself.”

Why does my dog fart so much?

It’s actually pretty natural for dogs to fart a bunch.

“Some dogs will fart every day, [and] other dogs will never fart,” Dr. Ochoa said. “I find dogs who snore also fart a lot.”

But if you noticed your pup’s farting a little too frequently, it’s probably related to what he ate. If he’s eaten something nasty or you recently changed his diet, his gastrointestinal (GI) system may need to adjust by releasing a bunch of gas.

Why do my dog’s farts smell so bad?

According to Dr. Ochoa, the reason your dog’s farts smell so bad is because he’s not exactly eating great-smelling food.

“Dog food does not smell like flowers, so the farts are also not going to smell good,” Dr. Ochoa said.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s a great sign if he’s regularly passing some putrid gas. In fact, if your dog’s farts are particularly rancid all the time, you should call your vet just to make sure everything’s OK with his GI system.

So even though passing gas is a common occurrence for your pup, dogs still get scared of their farts because they don’t quite realize what’s going on. But at least you’ll always know exactly when it’s accurate to blame it on the dog.

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I hope you learnt something from this post; I certainly did.

See you on Sunday.

Getting on in life!

A beautiful story about a senior dog.

Getting old is a fact of life. It applies to all living things. But the life expectancy is increasing, I’m pleased to say. There are some interesting facts on the Our World in Data website. But that is for humans. I don’t know if it applies also to dogs but I suspect that it does.

Bully is such a dog and his story was recently written up on The Dodo site. I have pleasure in sharing that with you.

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Oldest Dog At Rescue Is So Surprised To Get A 23rd Birthday Party

“That’s the best gift to give him” ❤️

By Lily Feinn

Published on the 15th April, 2022

Since his birth in 1999, Bully has lived through five presidencies, the launch of the first iPhone, the rise of social media and many more historical events — but the Chihuahua probably can’t tell you about any of them.

But when the little dog recently turned 23 years old, his owners celebrated the milestone by throwing a party he’ll remember for years to come.

Bully spent the first 21 years of his life with a loving family, enjoying the companionship of his humans, playing outside and going for runs in the local park. When his elderly owner could no longer care for him, the super senior found his way to The Mr. Mo Project, a senior dog rescue run by Chris Hughes and his wife.

His former owner described Bully as a “big dog in a little dog’s body,” and Hughes quickly found that despite Bully’s advanced age, he hadn’t changed one bit.

“Bully is feisty, naughty, sweet, independent, gentle, calm and he has an old man bark,” Hughes told The Dodo. “Even at his age, he likes to try to push around another one of our Chihuahuas.”

Now that Bully is older, he needs more rest than the average pup. “Bully loves to sleep and he has earned that right,” Hughes said. “He will fall asleep absolutely anywhere, sometimes on the middle of the floor in the kitchen, on a potty pad or on the biggest, most comfortable bed in the corner.”

For Bully’s birthday party, the Hughes family decorated their house in honor of the little dog and gave him the two things he loves most in the world — treats and a nap. “He doesn’t have too many teeth, so we got a soft biscuit and crumbled it up for him to enjoy,” Hughes said. “He really enjoys sleeping, so that’s the best gift to give him.”

Hughes makes sure all the senior dogs in their care feel special by throwing parties to commemorate every possible event with them.

“We try to celebrate all the great things that happen in our home because so often there are not-so-great things that happen,” Hughes said. “We celebrate when dogs finish chemo treatments, birthdays, adoptions and have been known to have Christmas in July if we think someone won’t make it until Christmas.”

Thanks to the Hughes family, Bully will have many more celebrations to look forward to. And at the age of 23, he’s earned it.

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All pictures courtesy of the Mr Mo Project.

Twenty-three years old! This is quite a remarkable age for a dog even taking into account that Bully is a Chihuahua.

Picture Parade Four Hundred and Thirty-Four, again!

This time with the real Gary Messinetti!

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They are all superb but to my eyes that penultimate picture is just entrancing! Those eyes!

Thank you, Gary!

Picture Parade Four Hundred and Thirty-Four

Delighted to go back to Gary! (But I screwed up. They are not Gary’s pictures. I will correct this post and republish it tomorrow.)

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Just fabulous and these photographs from Gary remind me of the post the other day about the dog staring out to sea!

Thank you, Gary.

Picture Parade Four Hundred and Thirty-Three

More dog pictures from Unsplash.

This time from the ‘Dogs Close Up’ section.

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Don’t know what was upsetting that puppy in the third photo!

But they are all wonderful, including the pup!

Picture Parade Four Hundred and Thirty-One

Delighted to report that we are back to Gary’s photographs!

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These are just fabulous. I say that every time but I mean it: They are fabulous!

Thank you, Gary.

Bela, RIP.

John Zande loses a dear doggy friend.

In a comment to a recent post on this blog, John said: “Just sent you an email.“

I went to that email and read:

Hi Paul — just a personal note to let you know Bela died yesterday at 3.30pm. Her old beaten up body couldn’t do it any longer. A week after the last of her two operations she started going downhill. Her walks were more laboured. Last Tuesday I stopped walking her because (although she wanted to keep going) she was failing. She deteriorated over the weekend… Monday was spent racing her between vets, diagnostic clinics, and finally to the emergency care hospital. She made it through the night. She made it to us going there to see her. She was in a terrible state, her kidneys dissolving, her heart giving up. She was thankfully without pain, and although barely conscious (she was on heavy, heavy opioids), she managed to lift her head one last time. The vet there later said it was like she was waiting for you to say goodbye. She died thirty minutes later. Her heart gave out, and they could not revive her.

John subsequently emailed me the details of when he found Bela.

I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye driving home one day. I *thought* it looked like a dog. I turned around, and that’s how we found her… skin and bones, leg broken, paw smashed. And as we’d later discover, megaesophagus. We scooped her up and raced her to the vet. First time in my life after a rescue I actually asked the vet that day if we should just end her misery right then and there. Four years is what she gave us, and our lives are richer for it. Four short years.

Since then Bela has had four or five major operations, the last two to remove cancers were in January and March of this year. As John puts it: “In my mind we were setting her up for many more years of health.“

Finally, here is a video of Bela. It is rather poor quality because the original is far too large. But it doesn’t matter at all because it just shows Bela alive and well!

Be in peace, dear Bela.