I know that this breed suffers badly from flatulance, but it is now getting so bad, I don't want to come home or be in the same room as it 'STINKS'.

He is 11 years old, overwieght, (less food and more exercise), but he is still only wanting to go for 1 walk a day and that doesn't last more than 20 mins as he struggles. I inherited him with my partner 2 years ago and although I love him to bits am wondering if a health issue could be making him worse in his old age. Has anyone got any clues before I start taking him to the vet.

Our Staffies stink occassionaly all depending on what they have eaten, it could be a sign or something more sinister but Im not to sure, Im sure someone will be along who can help more

Hi,

I am certainly no expert, but i DO have 2 staffie's!!!

My oldest one used to have VERY bad flatulence and was very smelly...he went to the vets time and time again but there was no underlying problem. I put him on a very bland diet of chicken rice and fish, this sorted the problem of flatulence but led to all sorts of other problems as he didn't get enough of the essential things he needed. He ended up with the doggie version of irritable bowel syndrome :-( Him (and my pup) have been on Eukanuba, and natural treats for the last 15 months. They get the occasional ham shank, or bone though!! They are absolutely smell free - and they are healthy and shiney!! I don't have the same problem with walks, they would drag you out for 10 miles a day and still find the energy to play at home!! So I would not like to advise on that :-) Hope I have been of some help :-)

I think his weight is surely contributing to his general unfitness and smelliness.  Good bowel function relies on exercise, think how often they have a good poo on a walk :p without the decent levels of exercise it would not surprise me if matter is lingering longer in the bowel than necessary due to sluggish peristalsis and consequently brewing up a bit :) so getting a grip on this weight thing and thereby increasing his abilility to build up his exercise tollerance should help in that department too.  Imagine what it is like to carry a couple of bags of shopping on a 20 minute walk and you will probably know how he feels :).  It's then a vicious circle 'cos the less exercise he takes the harder it is to shift the extra pounds.  What are you doing to lower his weight at the moment?

We have cut down on his food intake by nearly half. If he is not doing the exercise, he does not need the food. He is on bakers complete light and have found that this was the best one for him. Other food made him even more smelly, but its just the last few weeks that he has become so so bad, I wasn't sure if he could have a gut problem.

His lack of exercise started when my dog died earlier in the year, but since then we have got a puppy and he still doesn't want to budge even if we try a different park and I am not going to force him once he has put the brakes on. I have posted on here about that.

I take him in the morning and he does 2 poos which are normally pretty firm (sad to look, but was checking to see if this was a problem).

I know his weight is a problem and I took him to the vet about 3 months ago to see if there could be an underlying cause for his lack of wanting to leave the house. Was it depression, who knows, but thought the pup may bring him out, but has not made a difference. This is when we started to cut down on his food, and he hasn't lost anything. We are trying, but nothing seems to work.

It's hard to imagine halving his food would not make him loose weight he must have been getting an awful lot in the first place! :)  I presume you have banned all titbits.  Did the vet suggest a weight loss programme, you maybe need to enlist their help as I don't think I would like to reduce food more drastically than this without veterinary advise.  Once he starts to loose a little weight you could devise a slow steady increase to the exercise just adding a couple of minutes a day I think splitting it up is a good idea too.

If he's struggling on a 20 minute walk why not give him 3 or 4, 10 minute walks instead? that way you will be upping his exercise without stressing him so much :D :D and if he has 4  x 10 minute walks you will have doubled his exercise :D 

You don't say what you are feeding him, but it sounds as if a change of diet may help, soya in the food is known to make many dogs windy so perhaps trying a diet without soya would help, JWB, Burns and Autarky have no soya or sugars (another cause of wind) and are all very good :)

The strange thing is, he only wants to go out once. He will not go past the car in the drive unless its in the morning. Its not that he can't go for a walk, its more that he doesn't want to and you have to pyhsically drag him and if you take the lead off, he runs home. We have tried so many times, its just getting near impossible:(

Should at at this point that last weigh in he was nearly 26 kilo - thats the same weight that my collie x GSD was before he died.

I think I would vary the direction you set off in to avoid him limiting it to "landmarks".  Popping him in the car and taking him somewhere different alltogether might cause a stir of interest for him too.

Hi Isabel
I live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac so I can only go one way. :( I tried a different park, I tried everything.
We are hopefully moving house soon (subject to solicitors speeding up) that has a 160ft garden, so I could try walking him round that for 10 mins at a time :)
Going to take him to the vet tomorrow anyway, just in case.

Hi Sarah
If halving his food hasn't helped and he doesn't want to go for walks, has the vet checked his thyroid level? It sounds to me as if he could be hypothyroid. It would certainly explain a lot. :)

Marianne

Have made an appointment to see one of the partners at the vets tomorrow night. He could quite happily go without food all day, and only eats if you are with him. When I come home at lunchtime, he hasn't touched his food, so when I feed the puppy in the garden, I put his food out near her and watch them both eat, I need to ensure that he eats something. I am sure that last time the vet may have mentioned a thyroid thing, but we wanted to rule out depression from the death of his friend, but 7 weeks after the new arrival, there has been no change.

Yes increasing activity in the garden will help but I do think you need to work on his attitude to going out and about too but obviously it is going to go hand in hand with weight loss, no dog carrying this sort of extra weight is going to really enjoy their walks.  Marianne raises a very good point about thyroid.  Don't give up trying for this poor fella :)  11 is not old for a terrier but the weight will be limiting his life expectancy and he faces the risk of diabetes, heart disease etc. if you can help him shift it he could have another 4 maybe even 6 years of enjoyable life :)

Well, we took him to the vet and he said it could be a number of things, maybe Thyroid, kidney or liver failure, it could be anything. They are going to get him in and take a pint of blood and test for several things. He said that its not normal behaviour and there is something there causing this. If anything, cutting his food down has not helped and he has actually gained weight...