Aussie with sensitive stomach: beyond lamb and rice

Lamb and rice is usually the first thing people try for sensitive stomachs — and it works for a lot of dogs — but when a dog keeps showing gas and bloating despite repeated trials, it's usually a signal that rice is the culprit rather than a fix. Some dogs, particularly active herding breeds like Australian Shepherds, don't ferment carbohydrates well in the gut, and rice can drive exactly the kind of bloating and gas you're describing. Sensitive stomach issues generally fall into food intolerance, a specific ingredient sensitivity, or a gut that simply needs fewer, cleaner ingredients — figuring out which applies is the key. Can you tell me a bit more: how long has your Aussie been on the lamb and rice formula, are the symptoms constant or do they come and go, and is it mostly gas and bloating or are you seeing loose stools or vomiting too?

Three months with no improvement is long enough to rule out an adjustment period — this isn't a settling-in issue, the food just isn't working for him. The pattern you're describing across two different lamb and rice products really does point to the rice. Both formulas share that starchy carbohydrate base, and for some dogs it sits poorly in the gut, fermenting and producing exactly this kind of persistent gas and soft stool. The lamb itself is probably fine. What I'd want to do is keep the novel protein but strip the carbohydrate right out. Before I give you a specific recommendation — is he on any other food at all, like wet food alongside the dry, or any regular treats? That can sometimes be a hidden variable.

Good — that keeps it simple. My recommendation is Canagan Grain Free Free-Run Chicken dry dog food. I'd suggest the chicken rather than their lamb variant specifically because you want to change both the protein and the carbohydrate base at the same time, which gives you a much cleaner read on whether the rice was the problem. Canagan uses sweet potato instead of grain as the carbohydrate source — it's much more digestible for dogs who struggle with starchy grains — and the protein percentage is high enough that a 25kg active Aussie like yours will feel genuinely satisfied on it. It's widely available on Amazon UK. Transition over 10 to 14 days, mixing it in gradually, and I'd expect the gas and bloating to noticeably reduce within the first two weeks on the new food. If it doesn't, that would point more toward a protein sensitivity, and you'd want to look at a hydrolysed diet — but try the clean switch first.

It's a fair question. Grain free isn't automatically better for every dog — plenty of dogs digest grains perfectly well and do fine on them. But for dogs who show persistent gas and bloating specifically, grains like rice and wheat can be the cause because they ferment in the hindgut when a dog's digestive system struggles to break them down efficiently. In those cases, switching to a grain free formula with a more digestible carbohydrate like sweet potato often makes a real difference. Your dog's symptoms — ongoing bloating and gas across two rice-based foods — are exactly the profile where grain free is worth trying seriously, not just as a trend but as a targeted response to what you're actually seeing.

Give it a full four weeks after the transition period is complete — so roughly six weeks from when you start mixing it in. You should see meaningful improvement in the gas and bloating within the first two weeks on the new food, and stool consistency usually improves within the first week. If by week four the bloating is still constant and the stools are still loose, that would suggest a protein sensitivity rather than a grain issue, and at that point it's worth talking to your vet about a hydrolysed or single-protein elimination diet. But most dogs in this situation respond well to removing the grain, so I'd be optimistic.