schnauzer tummy ache

Question
We adopted our foster dog from schnauzer love rescue this week and he has been have a great time running and playing.  Unfortunately in his exuberance, he has been capering and pulling out clumps of new spring grass.  Now his stomach is making terrible noises.  He doesn't have diarrhea nor constipation, but he isn't eating as well as he had been.  Is there a home remedy for an upset tummy?  

Answer
While some dogs will eat new grass in the spring simply because it tastes good (mine go out and browse like a buncha cows if they get near any grass), this rarely makes them sick (never with my dogs). Many dogs, however, will eat grass if they have tummy upsets, and then they will vomit it back up afterwards; no one really knows why they do this. Also, some dogs who don't feel well will also quit eating, which can be a good thing as it helps them to rest their intestinal tracts. The stomach noises you are hearing are a sign of intestinal upset, so I would expect to see something happening shortly from one end of the dog or the other.... or both.

Has the dog's food been recently changed (and too quickly)? With the immense dog food recalls recently, do make sure that you are not feeding **ANYTHING** that contains wheat gluten; READ ALL LABELS THOROUGHLY of anything the dog ingests. There have also been some recent recalls on pig ears (which is a no-no for schnauzers anyway), and a couple other things.

So in your case, I would first notify Schnauzer Love Rescue and tell them what is going on; they might have some further information for you. Fast your dog for 24 hours and feed him lightly the next day *if he is not vomiting*. If he is vomiting, get him into the vet ASAP.

Fasting a vomiting dog is the best thing for it. Remove all water sources (when the dog is vomiting) so the dog doesn't start tanking up on water and initiate a vicious cycle of vomiting and drinking. Give the dog an ice cube in a bowl every 1/2 hour to an hour to keep it hydrated. Check the dog for hydration by pulling up the skin on the back of its neck. In a hydrated dog, the skin will return to normal very quickly. If the dog is dehydrating, the skin will go down more slowly or not at all. Get him into a vet ASAP if he starts to dehydrate!

I start my dogs back on food very slowly, using rice with a small bit of Gerber strained chicken (yes, the baby food) mixed in for flavor. (Forget the boiled hamburger routine... too hard to digest IMO.) I start out with a teaspoon of food every 3 hours or so, and if the dog doesn't vomit, I gradually increase the amount of rice I give. By the second day, I start putting in a few pieces of kibble, and gradually add more kibble and less rice *if the dog continues to improve*. If at any time the dog begins to vomit again, I start over with the fasting and ice cubes. I think the biggest problem most people (and some vets) do is try to get vomiting dogs back on solid food too quickly.

Karen