There 3 related conditions when referring to BLOAT

Condition 1. Acute gastric dilatation when the stomach fills up with gas and fluid
Symptom's swelling of the dogs stomach, excessive salivation, restlessness, wreching (trying to vomit) stomach pain (you will know this if your dog moans when you touch his stomach) If your dog can burp or vomit then its unlikely that the stomach is twisted. Some say to keep walking your dog to encourage him to burp. If you are ever in any doubt or your dog cannot burp, go to your vet straight away.

Condition 2. This is the same as above but if the dog is unable to find any relief, his stomach continues to dilate. This is very serious and should be treated by a vet immediately as the stomach can twist in a matter of moments and then there is serious risk of internal organs being damaged. The vet will be able to tell by anaesthetising the dog and passing a stomach tube.

Condition 3. Gastric Dilatation Volvulus like above
VERY SERIOUS SURGERY IS NEEDED
If the stomach is dilated then depending on the dog, the stomach can twist up to 180 degrees (Gastric Torsion)
The distress shown by the dog would be more severe in this case, the dog would be in tremendous pain or could even be collapsed. I cannot stress enough how little time you have to get him to the vets!
When the stomach has twisted and filled with air it can cut off the circulation to other parts of body causing damage. Your dog’s mucous membranes (gums, membrane inside the eyelids) will be pale if not white and tacky.

Why does it happen? know one knows for sure, It tends to be more apparent in the larger, deep chested breeds. In the 4 years I worked as Veterinary nurse the main sufferers I found were Danes and Basset hounds baring in mind there were very few Dogues in the North East. Our Veterinary surgeon now told us that the majority of G.V.D cases he see's are either Weimarners or Dogue de Bordeaux so with out a doubt our breed is a serious sufferer of this condition.
Dogs who have suffered with digestive problems in the past have been known to have bloated without being fed.

There is nothing that can determine if you dog is going to get bloat, you can just take precautions.
These are only precautions and not preventatives.

Feeding your dog. Never give your dog just one huge meal, try and split the meals into several small meals throughout the day.
Never Ever exercise your dog after or just before a meal or drink large amounts of water after a meal.
Dry biscuits swell to at least twice the size once they are in the dogs stomach!
Soak the dogs biscuits before feeding him so they are already swollen. Especially if you have a greedy dog that eats until he is full to the brim. If you soak the food before hand they it get no bigger than it was when it went in.
Elevate their food bowl. Not too high that they have stretch for their food but a comfortable height to prevent them gulping large amounts of air with their food.
Never allow you dog to eat bread dough or anything that contains un-cooked yeast.

After speaking to our friend in South Africa who told he'd never seen a case of bloat over there so that may lead us to think that keeping your dog warm at all time is essential.

Our experiences with bloat.
Firstly 2 years ago with our female "Zeeta" She had just had a litter of puppies, they were 3 weeks when it happened. We fed Zeeta just before we went out, just a normal meal, not big as we were feeding her quite regular throughout the day. We were out an hour at the most and when we came back she was so big and in a lot of pain. She was very restless and was in the prayer position, front paws and fore arms on the ground with her bum held high in the air. (This is a very accurate sign that your dog is in severe abdominal pain)
We rushed her to the vets where they carefully inserted a needle into her side to slowly release the gas. (This should only be done by a vet as the needle can often damage organs that are pushed up against the body wall because of the gas in the stomach)
She got through he surgery and they tacked her stomach to the wall of the abdomen, which can help stop it happening again but isn't a promise as I know of a dog that had it's stomach tacked and it happened again a few months later. One third of her stomach was damaged so we knew it would be hard work trying to get her to eat, which in deed was the case.
She went a week of us trying to encourage her to eat and in the end she got so weak that we decided that Euthanasia was our only option. This had a massive effect on how, feed and take care of our dogs.

After two years of constantly sticking to our rules and the dreaded "bloat" taking over our lives with the dogs, it happened again with "Brock"
Firstly before I talk about Brocks serious time with bloat, he did twice before this incident have "Acute Gastric Dilation" with no food on his stomach, just water. His abdomen swelled in front of us. We rushed him through to the vets but luckily he burped all the way there and there was no need for Veterinary treatment.

I got up early as usual to let the dogs have the run of our land and Brock wasn't his self, he wasn't bloated. We quickly brought him in. He started to wretch and his stomach swelled slightly, his toes were curling causing him to topple over. After this is stomach did swell a little so we rushed him straight through to our vets where they took x-rays and decided after seeing some gas in the stomach, to release it with a stomach tube.
The tube passed easy which meant there was no twisting, they flushed his stomach and he was given antibiotics. He was calm all day at the vets and we brought him home at 4pm. From the journey to our home from the vets Brock's abdomen was so distended you could fit 4 footballs inside him. We rushed straight back to the vets where they were waiting to operate immediately. It shows how quick this can happen even with no food in the stomach. They released the gas like they did with Zeeta using a needle. When they opened up into Brock's abdomen it had twisted. We are so lucky we got there as soon as we did, the damage that can be done in such a small amount of time could be fatal. Brocks internal organs luckily were checked and haven't been damaged. He is currently recovering and we are hoping he will make a full recovery. There is a huge risk that this could happen again to Brock or any of our other dogs, this is why its so necessary that people who own these dogs know about this fatal condition.

By Becky Swainston