Bloat - #1 Killer of Large Breed Dogs - How to Prevent It 

Thank you for explaining bloat. My dog always wants to play after eating. No more. Rest will be after his feeding.

YOU SAVED MY 13 MONTH OLD GERMAN SHEPHERD PUPPY'S LIFE! I have been aware of bloat, have my second German Shepherd but had JUST WATCHED this video within a week or two of it happening. My 13mos old very tall, thin (85lbs w/ CH Sire 115lb, CH Dam 85-90) he's allowed to graze on kibble and likewise drink as needed but doesn't GULP after eating- the motive: he's got plenty of room to add weight. One Sunday evening shortly after he'd eaten his normal larger "mini-meal", he was laying against the front door. Apparently sleeping, unaware an Amazon driver dropped a heavy box outside the door. He LEPT up alerted and being the natural protector he is. He was calmed immediately when I came to see the Amazon driver and gave him command to relax. Within a few minutes he was pacing.... not panting, not whining, no signs of pain. I took him outside (we live in SE WI w/snow on the ground.) He went a few feet and lay flat on his stomach- he loves snow, he doesn't lay like that in it. I urged him up, with no hesitation he got up and moved a few feet only to do it again. Now I am getting VERY concerned. I bring him in the house and he lay on his stomach a third time. I was already remembering YOUR VIDEO... I felt for signs of bulging, gas pockets, even tapped the back of one hand with the other to listen for echo of gas or air. He showed no sign of pain, no bulge for me to feel. He stood up. It was then that as I stood directly over him (me being 6'3") I looked straight down upon him and noticed a bulge in his midsection. The best I can describe was almost like a bulge in a whale's body... this was not the ribs of a thin, strong GSD puppy. I immediately yelled to my girl to get ready to to the the ER. Then his dry heaves began, even further confirming my suspicion. As I called the local animal ER, loaded him into my truck, drove there (a few miles over the limit on near empty Sunday night roads), the Vet Tech that answered the call was awesome. He was able to get all the dog's stats.. age, weight, then symptoms, and concurred that while not a DVM that did sound like bloat. As I'm giving him my ETA he's got a team ready with a gurney as we roll into the lot. Ironically, the dog wanted to walk into the ER... he was starting to go into shock, but trusting I was taking him to the right place. The immediately rushed him in past a couple other dogs in the waiting room (I'm sorry for those people, but this was life or death) Straight into X-rays which confirmed his stomach had flipped and was all on one side with a void next to it. A surgeon and tech called in, 2.5hr surgery and 36hrs later he was eating solid food and passing solid stool. THANK YOU! THIS VIDEO HELPED DRIVE THE POINT HOME AND GAVE ME MORE INFORMATION THAT ABSOLUTELY CONTRIBUTED TO MY GETTING THE DOG IN SO FAST! From the time he was started to in the ER approx an hour and at most another hour to the incision that started to relieve pressure. I have seen a couple other videos on bloat, all good. The one symptom that none mention is viewing the dogs body from above.. When you have a thin dog (can still see his ribs when sun glistens on his fur) and can see that bulge, there's few if any other causes. P.S. I have shared this video with the German Shepherd Club of Wisconsin and thousands on Facebook. If you're ever in the Milwaukee (specifically Brookfield, WI area.. I'd love to introduce you to Max but buy you dinner as a token of appreciation. Finally hit me up via email first init, last name at gmail where that checkmark after my name will allow me to help you with your channel.

I knew of bloat, but had never seen it explained in such a simple way. I will put my hand up and admit looking back in the early days I’ve made this mistake and touch wood we have been very, very lucky that this hasn’t happened to our Alaskan malamutes. Thank you K9 dog training for producing this video, this will help a lot of dogs in the future. 😁🐶🐾🐾❤️

I knew about Bloat in horses, not dogs. We are changing our habits starting NOW, no more going out and playing right after meals. Thank you so much!!!

This was an incredibly important video... Our Saint Bernard survived bloating after a $20k vet bill... But his digestive system was never the same aftwards. He passed less than a year after. Have your dog's stomach "tacked" (that's the term you were looking for)... That might save their life

I wish we watched your video a few days ago as our big beautiful girl just passed away because of this. We miss her every minute. Our vet never mentioned this condition to us. As a big dog owner all we had ever heard about was hip dysplasia as a risk factor and nothing about this stomach twisting condition. With our German Shepherd’s passing, we now know so much information about this condition from other pets parents online and from you. We rescued our wonderful girl at one year old and she was 10.5 years old when she passed away so suddenly this week. She is like our adult kid, so very loyal, loving and protective. We were not ready for this. We miss her so much.

Just showed this video to family members as our GSD always gets frisky after dinner. I have always explained about bloat and that she needs to rest after eating, but it's like deaf ears with the kids... so they just got made to watch this. Thanks for posting it.

I'm so glad you told me this, I have always feed my gsd then walked him a couple hundred meters down the road to the park and i let him off to run so he could go to the dunny there as he always does, instead of our backyard. Definitely won't be doing this again. Cheers mate' much appreciated 👍

Thank you for tackling this issue that not enough people are talking about. If something can potentially kill my dog and it’s preventable, I want to know about it. I initially began to be concerned about bloat when I got my first male Labrador. I did lots of research on the subject so I would understand what it is and how it presents. You don’t want to be caught off guard when this is going down. No time to search RU-vid for the answer. All of his demonstrations are good. Not eating/drinking and then playing is also good. I want everyone to be careful with moistening dry dog food to help with hydration. Most brand name dog foods have citric acid as a preservative. Some examples of well-known pet food brands that research found used Citric Acid in their recipes include Iams, Royal Canin, Nutro, Purina One, Eukanuba, Merrick, Orijen, and Rachel Ray Nutrish, plus many others. You will see it listed in the ingredient list. Research showed that dog foods that are moistened prior to feeding (this means water or some other liquid was added to the food) and contained Citric Acid caused a 320% increase in the risk of bloat compared to foods without Citric Acid. Leaving clean water down at all times will help prevent drinking too much water at one time. It has also been suggested that some wet dog food be mixed in to the dry food to help with moistening the food. Feeding dogs at least twice a day (or more) will also help prevent this issue. I feed my dogs with a puzzle bowl. It slows down their eating so they are not gulping their food (along with excess air) down too fast. Boys are twice more likely that girls to get bloat (I have to assume they usually have bigger chests). Wake up call! IT ONLY TAKES DOGS 20 MINUTES TO GO INTO SHOCK!!! Even if you get them to a vet 10-30% will not make it anyway due to other complications. I am lucky that I live 10 minutes away from an emergency vet. I had an instance where I was just getting home and thought I would let my 1 year old lab outside to quickly pee before we went back inside. Unbeknownst to me his Bestie was being let out at the same time. Chaos ensued. Big, young, boys that love to hit each and roll around in the grass. Got that under control within a few minutes. Everyone goes inside. My boy immediately began repeatedly throwing up, became lethargic, was having trouble standing on his own. If you even think MAYBE it might be bloat I have a 10 minute window to get him to the vet before shock kicks in. Wait longer than that then necrosis can set in. People talk about how it takes an hour or 2 to die. No. It’s something that begins to happen at the time the stomach is flipped. Also, on the way to the emergency vet, call them. Let them know what you think happened! Instead of waiting around filling out paperwork they should send out (at the very least) a vet tech to assess the situation immediately. If that doesn’t happen, make some noise. Luckily for me it wasn’t bloat. If I had been calmer and thinking straight, my boy was actually throwing up something, which is impossible to do if the stomach is flipped. It turned out he had a sliver of bone stuck in his intestines that had to be removed immediately so he wouldn’t rip his intestine and get sepsis and die. So not a complete waste of trip. Love your dogs everyone! Good luck 🍀

Our GS had bloat while on vacation. Luckily we recognized the signs and RUSHED him to the nearest vet which was a half hour away. Worst ride of our lives BUT they were able to save him. Months later it happened again! Kids were visiting and he became too excited. Again, we RUSHED him immediately to the vet - he survived ! This vet said his stomach was not tied off tight enough so she made sure it was extra secure. You don't want this to happen!

My dog has just recovered from GDV, I did all the right things re no excercise before and after eating, small meals, slow feeder etc. I watched this about 6 months ago and believe it was instrumental in saving my dogs life. Thankyou.

Thank you for spreading awareness. I didn’t know that much about it until I saw you post about this on IG a couple months ago. I’ve since been crating my dogs after every meal & every big drink of water

thank you so much for putting this out. super important for dog owners

I'm glad you made this video. I'm getting a great dane so I've been researching bloat. You explained it best 👌

Thank you once again for the educational information. What an awesome channel you have here. Keep the video going.

Can’t thank you enough for this video!Lots of love from my pup and i all the way from NZ. Big fans 🫶🏽

Visited a first aid workshop years ago and there was a Great Dane breeder who told us about his experience with bloat. He was breeding for decades and had 7 or 8 dogs with it. Only 2 could been saved, even if he hurried up to the vet. It was ist before the preventive surgery was a thing and he was feeding then raw and it made it bit better. Thank you for raising awareness on this! You explained it very well

Thank you for sharing! This was a great visual which helped with understanding exactly what is happening when bloat occurs.

Really great video on something not talked about often enough. Why, I don't know. You simplified it very well! Thanks.

Great video . I’ve heard of it but didn’t know the details covered in the video. 👍. Beau did great with Jeremy. Thanks for the introduction as it was and will be very helpful .

Good Intel on "BLOAT." Not a boring vid at all. Informative and useful. I will definitely be more cognizant after feeding my GSD. Great content. Luv your channel! Keep it up! Remember El Tee, "Low, slow and off the radio." ⭐️

I have always put my dogs to rest after eating. I didn’t know about this. I just thought how if I’m full I wouldn’t want to be running around and causing me to get sick. Thanks for the info

Just got my German Shepard 3 weeks Ago he’s a puppy and always wants to play after eating. I really appreciate this advice and your channel. Thank you!

We have been practicing this way for over 20 years with our presa and AB. Bloat was the first thing that our breeder warned us about.. great explanation brother

I found this very helpful, I wasn't aware of this..... So glad I found this channel!!!

Great tip, never thought about it. Will keep it in mind now, bless.

Thank you so much for this video! I'm a new Great Dane owner of 2 now, and this information was very much appreciated!

Thank you so much for educating us on how easily this can happen!

Thank you for your service and dedication and Information please keep posting

Thank you for all your videos, I’m hoping to get a boerbel, a bit down the road, trying to learn as much as possible about dog training as well as about the breed. Truly appreciate your videos

Thank you. Your demonstration was the ONLY one that showed the speaker knew what he was talking about. All other speakers, on RU-vid or on the internet, explained bloat in the way that made it look like they didn't know what they were talking about. And neither did I listemkng to them. My German Shepard died of bloat at age 9. After years, I've gotten another one, and this video prepared me to how to not let it happen again. Thank you for that.

Sorry for your loss. Thanks for the info

Thank you for this vid and your expertise.

My wife and myself had our vet perform the gastropexi when they fixed all of our great danes, in our eyes it wasn't worth the risk and with 5 great danes it would of gotten expensive real quick! Glad to see we're doing mostly everything right as far as feeding and resting great video man keep up the amazing work

I wish you had included that bloat can still happen even WITH Gastroplexi (tacking stomach). Torsion or flipping does not occur but bloat can still happen. Bloat in and of itself still has to be treated even if the stomach has been tacked. Too many people have a false sense of security after tacking the stomach.

Thank you so much for this video ! very educational !

Thank you for this great info . This info could save my life .

Thank you so much! Very good advice taken❤

This is horrifying info! I’ve never heard about this risk, I will heed and share the warning, gracias!!

Fantastic video very easy detail thavks

Very informative! Thank you

Great share. Sorry to hear of your loss to this terrible condition. We lost our Dogue De Bordeaux in this way. Not a very active dog and do not know how this happened other than maybe a roll over for a scratch. We have an XL American Bully now and I only feed a raw diet and twice a day. Taking other precautions such as feeding times and exercise etc. and hope to never experience this condition ever again. Keep up the great videos, love your work!

Superb, excellent video. Great info. Thank you.

Thank you for calling this out. I lost a 15 year old golden retriever to bloat a few months ago, and as you said it's really sudden once it happens. In the morning she was fine, and by noon we were on the way to the emergency vet. Don't blame yourself too much. In my case I fed about a cup of dry kibble for breakfast and there was no bouncy fun time. About an hour later the dry heaves started. One of the risk factors is just old age, and she was 15 after all.

Thanks for the info!

Great video and thank you for sharing

Thanks for Getting the Word out!

This was such a great demonstration to help me understand what bloat is and how it happens. Thank you.

Great advice 👍. Thank you 🙏.

Happened to that tik-tokker Grizzly Bane's GSD. She was able to get her long-haired GSD to the vet, had the emergency surgery and saved his life. $8800 bucks. They did the preventative surgery stapling the stomach to chest wall at the same time. he's fine now.

Excellent Feedback as always!

Wow.. I never knew about bloat until now. This is very helpful information. Thank you for this.

Great video! I knew about it and always made sure there was no more activity after feeding. My Swissy/Malemute mix got to be twelve years old. He was a family member and it was hard to let him go. He was ginourmuos, 120 lbs showing ribs, the enlarged heart finally got him.

Thank you for this advice ❤️

Thank you for sharing this video. It’s very important for us to learn these things about our pets.

Thank you for sharing! 🐕‍🦺

I'd never heard of bloat. Thank you so very much for explaining this as I now have a large breed dog.

Had one that bloated, she defied all odds in that she was still walking around, and knowing nothing of bloat at that time, it was just observation of her for most of the day, until it was suggested I take her to the vet as her abdomen was rock hard and she winced when I palpated her tummy area, Diagnosis was bloat, and her spleen was necrotic. Stomach was perfectly fine - flipped, but no dead tissues. Her spleen was removed and her stomach was stapled all to the tune of less than $1000.

Thank you for this I never knew about this but now I know to look out for it

We lost our “Old Man” - our import WL GSD to bloat. He was 11. I regret missing the signs of his bloat everyday. We currently have a senior WL GSD (she’s 9) and a CC. Thank you for presenting this information to the public. I hope it saves a life.

You maybe just saved my dogs life she rolls after she eats bc skin issues she’s itchy n wanted food n water off her face even when I wipe her every single time post meal and dry her she’s a cane corso and no vet ever said no rolling around post meal😇thank you for helping me help my dog/ best friend/ service animal and my whole family! God bless you!

Thank you for sharing this information.

New puppy owner - thank you for this advice. Appreciate your channel

Cheers my friend. I really appreciate your video

Great information.. thank you

Super helpful brother thank you… beautiful corso

Sorry for your loss. Bax feed, water, rest, walk routine is changing...thanks to you.

never knew about this. owned small dogs my whole life and now im taking care of an 80 pound bully and im glad i know this now. this is why im subscribed, thank you!

Thanks brother. I literally never heard about this. I just adopted a GSD a few weeks ago. Glad I learned about this now.

Thank you so much! This will help us be better part parents to our great pyr puppy

This is scary, and my 2 fur babies just finished breakfast, I managed to separate them coz they always get crazy playing around with each other, my wife seemed upset as to why I stopped them from playing and I showed her this video about bloating. Thank you for educating us humans how to take care of our fur babies. I've been your subscriber for almost a year now. Keep it up.

thanks. I've mumbled on so many occasions to the dog "not now, you've just eaten, let it go down", going to make a rule of this going forward.

Thank you for this info

Thank you so much for this video. I was always told 30minutes after eating, to walk or light play. My GS loves fresbee playing. We do this at night before bed. Now I am going to change his routine and feed a little later and it's all rest time after feed. Also soaking the food is a great idea. Thank you again, love your videos.

thanku for the knowledge , will be careful in future ...keep making ausum videos like this !!

Blessings and nicceeee strong corso, thank you much for the info. I knew about waiting after they eat but did not know it was 60 to minutes, I appreciate it much and God Bless

We lost our gsd a couple of week's ago to this. It happened so fast & there wasn't anything we could do! From the 1st sign of illness he was gone within an hour. 6 year's old had never been sick.

Unfortunately fathers day weekend my near 10 yo sharpei mix bloated. I fortunately was awake and very in tune to her behavior. Within 30 min she was normal to crying, dry retching, acting odd wouldn't sit still. I said omg she must be bloating, got her in car at 1 am and started driving, one vet I called in commute was at max capacity and gave me second place whom I called n said come, took about 15/20 min drive, vet took her back immediately upon arrival & within the hour performed emergency surgery. No necrosis and spleen did not need to be removed since caught so early. She was very lucky! . I was aware of bloat but never personally experienced it and do not ever want to again. Thank you for the video, more people need to be educated on this. I think a lot of dogs end up passing bc people are not recognizing the signs or too late by time they do.

Very important video, thank you

Never knew this, thanks for the awareness ❤

That’s so scary thank you for informing with this critical information

Thank you for posting this educational video with great visual effects! Unfortunately I am watching this as part of self education after my 6 year old 100 lb. Goldendoodle died yesterday from Bloat, a condition I had never heard of, and am now heartbroken with grief! I mistakenly thought he had eaten something he shouldn't have and that I could get him to the vet at 7 am when they opened and he would be fine! My sweet boy woke me up at 2:15 am by barking and I got up and let him outside to go potty....something he never does in the night unless he is having loose stool or throwing up. He presented with frothing at the mouth, rapid panting and continual pacing, followed by dry retching and unable to lay down for very long. Whilst having these symptoms he also followed me around, waging his tail. I checked the internet for symptoms of pacing, rapid panting and dry heaving and nothing came up about Bloat, and as I had not heard of this condition I assumed he had an upset tummy.......he has always had a sensitive stomach and prone to gassiness. Unfortunately, by 4 am his mouth looked dry, he was no longer dry heaving or salivating, his nose was cold, and he had plopped down on his stomach at which point his breathing changing to slow raspy breathing with chest retractions. At one point he stood up and tried to walk, but his back legs buckled under him and he lay where he fell; it was then that I noticed his grossly distended and tight abdomen. I realised then that this was not a regular upset stomach and got him to the 24 hr. emergency vet hospital around 5 am. When the back of the car was opened we discovered our precious boy had passed away on the journey to the hospital! His death occurred just 2 3/4 hrs from the time he woke me up. I plan on letting as many people know of the dangers of Bloat, especially friends with big dogs and hopefully videos such as this and being proactive will save other people and their dear dogs from having to experience this first hand!

Very informative thank you an I had to share it too

Thank you for the video I learned a lot about blot

Thank you for covering this very important disease. Our 9 month German shepherd suffered from it out of no where, no exercise before or after eating. She has had a host of GI issues. Research is finding familial tendency to bloat that points to a strong genetic predisposition to the disease. It appears to be related to gastric motility & acid as a possible underlying risk factor. Terrible disease I hope know has to experience with their beloved dog.

Appreciate your information

Thanks for the great info and the same rule applies to horses; DO NOT FEED BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISE.

WoW, I didn’t know any of this. Thank you

I'm surprised that this is the first I'm hearing of this condition - but now that you mention it we had a large Black Lab who passed away at 12 and one day I came home and he was just sitting in the yard looking "swollen" eyes *very* jaundiced, white foam; he was dying. I had been at work all day and by the time I got home I knew he was done for. I always assumed old Shadow got snake bit. But I think this is what must have happened to him. I'm going to pay special attention to my dogs and how they eat from now on. Thank you for posting.

Thanks for explaining all of this. I've heard of it but never knew what it was and yes I've been guilty of this - playtime after din dins. Not anymore. Great video.

Dude . best description and presentation ive seen on bloat . we have a large breed who lives and eats out doors with the livestock. Alittle harder to monitor but hes way more active at night and doesnt get bowls at night so should be good ... Hopefully . Friends had a 10yr old German shepherd who had it twice . second time was to much for the dog unfortunately. Closest vet to work on a emergency like that was 2 hours away..

Thank you so much. I do not own a dog but ilearn precious knowledge fro. Edu ative videos as this and get ready for my future dog❤

Wow, so good to know this. Will be doing this.

Bro !!!! Thank you so much for that valuable information... My Rottie who has a very strict diet and food regiment , he eats I monitor his drinking intake, then I make him chill for about 25 minutes. From your video you say at least an hour.. My boy is hyper and wants to play or screw around in the living room.. That will have to stop for a while ( 60 minutes).... Thank you again... My condolences for your loss it's so hard to see your best friend and be loving pet pass away I'm still broken-hearted from my doberman

Excellent advice 👍🏿

Our little farm just lost our Armenian Gampr guardian livestock dog last night to this. He was fine one minute and an hour later he was acting just like your dog did that also passed. Unfortunately we live 2 hours away from the nearest ER and it was 7:30 at night. He made the 2 hour drive but by the time we got to the ER he was pretty bad and this vet wanted to charge almost $20k for the surgery. Unfortunately we didn’t know about this at all. And our normal veterinary didn’t tell us anything about this issue or the preventable surgery. But man this video was spot on. Thank you for sharing this information.

Solid information!!!

That’s crazy, thanks! 💯💯

Oh boy, am I ever thankful I watched this video.,. WOW what an eye opener, for me! ***,

Thank you for sharing this!!!! EVERY dog owner should know & remember the signs! My beautiful Old English Sheepdog almost died of bloat a few days ago. I almost lost my son. His signs were: * Dry heaving * Pacing around the room when he usually relaxes at night trying to find some way to get comfortable * Excessive drooling * Tongue constantly going in and out (mimicking his actions after he drinks Water and his tongue sweeps around the area above and below his mouth) * Very firm and bloated stomach Thank you again!