How Microbes Make Dogs (And Us!) Fart

What role do microbes play in creating flatulence (farts)?

If the microbes make farts, why do we need them? 

Veterinarians often get asked about how to stop dog farts or at least how to make them less smelly.  After this lesson, you will be able to:

• describe the basics of what a microbe is, and where in our digestive system they’re found.
• explain the benefits of having microbes in our digestive system.
• describe the role of microbes in creating flatulence.
• discuss ways to minimize smelly gas coming from their dog(s).

Lesson

Microbes are on surfaces all around us. They’re on our phones, our toothbrushes, unwashed hands… They’re even still on our hands right after we wash them. They’re everywhere!

We give them shelter and food (in our gut), and in exchange, they work for us. Our gut microbiome (all the microbes in our digestive system) is made of
bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms. We start building our gut microbiome when we’re tiny babies. Our mom’s milk has special sugars that make the good microbes strong and help our immune system fight the bad ones. Good microbes help us digest food and get nutrients from things that we can’t digest on our own. They’re found throughout our digestive system (starting with our mouth), but the highest numbers are in our large intestine. Fun fact: There are more microbes just in our gut than there are people in the
world. That’s billions!

Benefits of microbes

The good microbes that live in our gut protect us from bad ones that we accidentally eat. We can’t see them, so we can’t help it! They do this by helping our immune system identify the bad ones that we need it to attack.

With the help of their enzyme friends, microbes also break down food. This is where gas comes from! We call the process fermentation. Hydrogen and CO2 (gases) are the most common by-products of fermentation.

They also create vitamins that our body needs by taking pieces of things they’ve broken down and putting them back together in a different way.

We’ve been talking about how WE live with microbes, but this applies to our dogs
too!                            

Happy microbes create gas. What makes microbes happy?

Keep your dog’s diet consistent. If you find a recipe they love, stick

 with it, and don’t go overboard with all kinds of treats. Don’t give them random things all the time! Hold off on table scraps, make sure they’re not getting into the trash, and try to keep them from snacking on anything they can get their paws on when out on walks.

You can add probiotics to their food. Probiotics are good microbes that fight the

bad ones, and they’ll help your dog digest their food more efficiently. Some of it’s about our microbe friends… but not all of it!

Keep them moving! Active dogs that get plenty of exercise usually keep things moving smoothly through their digestive system. Make sure they can take their time eating in a quiet, comfortable space. Sometimes dogs that eat too fast swallow air that can come out the other end.

Activities

Click and drop dog food activity. Separate the things you should, or should not give your dog to help decrease with flatulence.

Assessment

Complete the word click and drop assessment. Warning: not all of the words will be used. 

Further exploration

Check these resources for more fun activities and different ways to learn about microbes and their role in flatulence.

• Flatulence Science Experiment
• We are microbes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8p0vhsWRE
• Song Howdytoons – Everybody Farts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghK8GL1BCjI

_{Images created by the authors and are CC for NC use}