weird dog behavior

Question
i recently (over 2 months ago) changed both my dogs diet to an all natural one i make at home with the use of Doctor Pitkarin's pet book. my smaller lab, who has always had a more sensitive system than my larger, older lab, has been acting oddly nervous in the middle of the night.
he won't lay down. he will sit there and pant, and sometimes come sit on our heads or lay across our whole bodies while we are sleeping.
if he happens to lay down for a moment, and a small fart leaks out, he stands right back up. he won't even try to lay down or go to sleep.
now, this does not happen every night, but makes me very nervous, like there is something else wrong that he cannot tell me about.
what can i do for him?

Answer

Hi Liz,

You didn't say what the new diet is that you've changed to, so I can't comment on it.  "The best dog food" is a diet that's well tolerated and the dog thrives on. It's totally possible that the new diet is just too much of a good thing, and is causing gastronomical problems for your one dog. Not being able to settle down, and panting can be signs of discomfort. You might try weaning your dog off of the new diet, and back onto his old diet over a period of 5-7 days.

If you don't see improvement once your dog has been transitioned back onto the old diet, and he's still acting nervous and can't settle down, you need to have your vet examine him to find out what might be the cause.

Best of luck,
Patti