Tag Archives: stomach upset in dogs

Urpy dog and what to do about it

There’s nothing guaranteed to wake a dog person faster than the sounds of an urpy dog getting ready to upchuck on your sheets. You would think some clever maker would have built the sound into alarm clocks. Works every time. 

It happened last night – Hope woke up to Torque making “ocean sounds” as we’ve always called it, and Hope was upright in milliseconds. Torque lost his dinner, all of it, all over the bedroom floor. Then he was fine, climbed back up into bed, and went to sleep. While Hope got the carpet cleaner and went to work.

He’s fine – urpy dog no more

This morning, he’s fine. Ate his breakfast with no hesitation. No sign of stomach upset. She washed his face and he’s his normal, cuddly self again.

Torque, my urpy dog

So why did it happen? We’ll probably never know. Just like us, dogs occasionally get an upset stomach and after the bout is over, it’s over. It could have been (probably was) something he ate while browsing in our yard. Dogs, like toddlers, stick everything in their mouths. And, if we don’t notice in time, down it goes. Only to reappear after the lights are off and it causes maximum commotion.

What if it persists?

Fortunately, Torque’s problem was a rare occurrence. What if your dog isn’t as lucky? We’ve been hearing about more dog who suffer from frequent nausea.

We’ve had a couple pups who had more sensitive stomachs. 

Roc, Hope’s Brussels Griffon and Golly’s nephew, had acid reflux. To keep his tummy on an even keel, he had to take Pepcid every day. Once we got the diagnosis and got him on the medication, he was fine. Unless he was particularly anxious about something. Back then we didn’t know about bone broth. We wish we had. Even when urpy dogs don’t particularly want to eat, they’ll still try a little. 

There are lots of recipes for bone broth for both people and dogs. We make our own, then, when it’s cooled, we freeze it in ice cube trays. That way we always have a supply on hand if one of our dogs is a bit under the weather. 

Stubborn case

Teddy was another of our dogs with a less-than-iron stomach. It took years before we figured out he got nauseated if he ate anything orange. And, of course, we’d been making matters worse. Because the “go-to” remedy for home treatment for dogs is canned pumpkin. 

Teddy didn’t actually vomit much. He drooled. That’s such a small word to represent the volumes of liquid that poured out of his mouth when he was urpy. He soaked through multiple towels, was restless, and thoroughly miserable. Once we figured out what was going on, we felt terrible. 

Hard to figure

If your dog is frequently urpy, paying attention is the best thing you can do. While it’s happening, you just want it to stop. But finding the cause may be even more important.

As mentioned, it took us forever to figure out that Teddy’s nemesis was orange – carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin. All the things you’re “supposed” to be able to give dogs. 

So the next time your dog is having an urpy episode, try to remember all the things she ate before it happened. Was anything different? New? Different brand or batch? Did he go anywhere unusual? Pick anything up from the ground? Does it always happen at a particular time? 

The answers may help you, or your dog’s vet, find the answer that will give your dog some relief. In the meantime, stock up on bone broth.

Tips for dog tummy trouble – voices of unfortunate experience

This week more than a few people are dealing with dog tummy trouble.

We know you didn’t smuggle the stuffing to your dog, but there’s no telling what Aunt Lucille was doing when Fido pinned her with those adorable puppy-dog eyes. And now you’re left to clean up the mess, so to speak.

Dog tummy trouble pros

Unfortunately, our experience is vast and deep. And something we’ve had to pull out all the stops on for the last six weeks. We hope that if your dogs have tummy trouble, it’s a very short-term visitor this holiday season.

It all started when Torque brought home some kind of stomach virus from an obedience fun match we attended. His stomach tends to get a little upset when he goes someplace new and exciting, so we weren’t too concerned for a couple of days. He usually takes longer to recover than the other dogs, but time usually takes care of it.

The tummy trouble patients Torque and Simon

Tango got the sniffles, which is how every virus he’s ever encountered manifests with Tango.

Booker was next to come down with it. Then Simon.

Symptoms and recovery vary

Tango and Booker were both fine within a couple of days. We fully expected Torque and Simon to return to normal within a week.

We were wrong. Every time we thought we were over the hump, there was another explosive episode. Fortunately, we read their signs well enough to know when they really, really need to go outside.

We’re hovering on the edge of too much information given, but we think you understand what we’re talking about.

What we’ve learned 

Don’t ignore the symptoms, but don’t go haring off to the veterinarian right away. Wait a day. Then panic and run in.

It’s not imperative to starve the dog for 24 hours unless the tummy trouble includes vomiting.

Sometimes probiotics work, sometimes they don’t.

Sometimes prescriptions work, sometimes they don’t.

Listen when your dog tells you he has to go – now. Grab your coat as you run out the door, but don’t worry about getting it on inside. Same for shoes.

Young Boston Terriers like Simon lose weight like crazy. He’s on the mend but so skinny Fran’s quite sure she’ll be accused of neglect. Nothing’s further from the truth.

Useful things we learned:

A “bland diet” is whatever protein your dog is used to eating in his regular food, boiled and served with canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) and/or white potato (also boiled). Feed only bland food for three days.

Flax seed is soothing: Take a tablespoon of whole, organic flax seed and pour ¼  to ⅓ cup boiling water over it. Stir for 1 minute, let it sit for five more minutes. Strain the seeds out and use some of the syrupy water on your dog’s food. It helps.

Bone broth is also good. We used Veterinarian Judy Morgan’s recipe. We portioned it into ice cube trays and now have a gallon bag of bone broth ice cubes ready to go whenever we need them.

Reintroduce your dog’s regular food gradually. Very gradually. Be ready to go back to bland.

Hoping it’s not needed

We hope your holidays are wonderful and free of dog tummy trouble. But if it does happen, we hope we’ve helped.