Anal Glands | Thread profile

My dogs anal glands seem to fill fast. What makes them fill and how often should they be squeezed & how do you do this? In August we had an episode where I was worried my dog might have eaten something & had an obstruction she had to go to emergency cause it was after hours she was butt dragging, acting lethargic. $360 dollars later they squeezed her anal glands cause they were very full & sent ...

I've never really had trouble with this in my labs but there seems to be some that do. Does she have any trouble with her poops-straining or anything? I've only had my girl's done once and she is 11.

My vet taught us how to do it ourselves. I have seen our dog scoot once and we took care of it right then. Our vet suggested an attempt release about once ever three months unless they show signs otherwise such as scooting and licking. It is smelly and it is nasty but it saves $ on three dogs when we can do it ourselves...

there was a recent thread about this including an iVillage video. Most people seemed to prefer having the vet's office do it or anyone other than themselves. Yuck! http://www.lab-retriever.net/board/r...ht=anal+gla nds

I am taking one of mine to the vet this morning because she has started to scoot. I am hoping this is the problem and nothing else going on with her. I have to do all of them a few times a year.

I'm lucky, in that Abbey has only had hers done once in 13 years. She eats loads of raw vegetables. I wonder if that helps.

Feeding marrow bones gives firm dry stools which help to express the glands. Than again some dogs with firm stools all the time still have gland issues.

This may sound dumb, but do dogs scoot for any other reason? Or is it always anal glands?

I just got back this afternooon from having my lab's glands expressed. It took about one minute, but not fun for my dog. After watching the vet do it, I believe it was well worth the $17 for her to do the deed. I hope this is not going to be recurring issue- but at least there's a quick, if not painless, fix.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tide's Mom This may sound dumb, but do dogs scoot for any other reason? Or is it always anal glands? Dogs can scoot from a pinworm infestation, and I believe it is also a symptom for other intestinal parasites as well, but I'm not sure. I know pinworms for sure though.