Anal Glands, what is it and what to do??

[catorres8988]

ok well talking about anal glands while eating dinner in front of my laptop while working on my nursing school homework lol..i love this site ive have problems w spike as well concerning this issue the only thing with him is he doesnt scoot his but like described what he does is he goes to his crate and seperates his tail from his anus and sticks it in the crate door entrance and then he gets up and smells it then does it over and over again...i don't know why he does this and he does it everyday... i do wipe his anus on a daily basis several times a day any other bullie do this?

[Libra926]

With my Vegas, what I thought might be an anal gland problem turned out to be an infected tail pocket. I had no idea Vegas even had a tail pocket. He was scooting his bottom on the floor, so when I took him in to be fixed, I asked them to express his anal glands. When I was picking him up, they said his anal glands were fine, but his tail pocket was infected. So, after researching and talking to others, we decided to have his tail pocket closed up. AKA, tail amputation. He's now 3 and he's never scooted since. Now, Orion. I don't know what sets her off, but I occasionally have to put her in the sink for a booty cleaning. She gets a "hiney shiney" with hand soap and baby wipes. It usually cleans up the smell from the glands. Ick. Hey, that should be right after Newbie. Anal Gland squeezer.

[sheshistory]

I have had this issue with both of my older boys. It was moisture and yeast around the tail that was causing discomfort and a very odd breakdance of sorts when Linus or Bentley got on a carpeted floor. Thus the tradition of the bedtime butt cleaning was born during which the dogs jump around and stick their tongues out while they get their tails cleaned with baby wipes. It must be quite an experience because it's like an event in our house, they seem to love it.

So it could just be a dirty tail area - not the glands - I would clean around the tail real good and see how it goes.

[cali~jenn]

Well I would take him to the vet and have them try to express them just so you know for sure if he needs it or not. I think it costs all of 15 bucks or so, no biggy. My boy never needs his expressed and I think I have turned him against my vet by trying more than once. haha. He does get that itchy thing where he bites the air and his butt itches but that tends to be seasonal for him and has never had any problem with his tail pocket so far. The few times I have cleaned it, it is totally clean already. he has never done the boot scoot tho either and my vet tells me that is the sign for my pug to get his glands expressed. (Turns out my pug does absolutely nothing to let me know when his are full, they are always full after 2 months or so)

[bulldog family]

My last BUllie had an inverted tail with an extremely deep tail pocket. They wanted to do surgery on him, but I refused. I told them I dodn't want to put him under (he was older when I rescued him) at his age when I could just clean it.. His tail was so inverted though it went almost to his spine. He loved getting it cleaned, too!

[TessaAndSamson]

Samson started scooting around like 7 months old. The vet thought it was his anal glands, had them expressed. Went home, he kept doing it, back to the vet. The vet looked into it more and concluded he had an inverted tail and that I would need to start cleaning it. If it ever got infected and really start bothering him I may need to look into tail amputation. Well 4 years later and it's never caused a problem. Just have to keep up on cleaning it. What I do (advised by my vet) is spray fort dodge water shampoo on a paper towel. I normally use like 3 paper towels/3 wipes to get it clean, they wipe with a dry one. Then finish with mal-a-ket wipes. I also have to get his anal glands expressed, seems to be about once every 2 months. They say it's different for every dog and just from keeping track of how quickly they fill up it seems to be about every 2 months it's needed for Samson. I take him to the vet to have it done. At some point I will learn to do it myself in school (RVT program) but for now I leave it to the pros.

[KMARINO]

Took the afternoon off work and took Vegas to our vet, his anal glands were fine, no yeast, no infection, he just wiped his butt real good and told me it was his allergies acting up He does rub his face on the area rug after being outside for a walk or play, so for now I guess he is just itching his behind. I wipe his face every night before bed with non-scented baby wipes with aloe and E, I also use desitin sometimes on his face, for now I guess I will just have to wash his butt every night as well. Wonder why his allergies just affect his face and butt, not the rest of his body??

[Maximus]

Fortunately, Maximus does not have a problem with his anal glands,
however, My PUG does. She had been "scooting" across the floor for months. The VET initially said her glands were not really full - and felt perhaps she was doing it "just for the heck of it", which I had a real problem with. When it didn't stop, I took her to the ER. The ER VET cleaned out her glands which were FULL, and told me to use METAMUCIL in her water. 1/4 teaspoon in her water. And VOILA ! No more scooting !

[Ann Farley Hamilton]

Does he have a cork screw tail or a stub of a tail? If he has a cork screw tail and it's tight then it could be his tail pocket needs to be cleaned because he could be getting the start of an infection in there. If it is tight and needs to be cleaned I use a ear syringe and warm water to flush it out, I then use a wipe that has a fungus medicine in it. Glen Haven makes them they have a great web site with charts that show all their products and what they're for. The ones I use are F3W F for fungus 3 for the strength and the W for wipes. The medicine in them is drying in it's self so that helps, but make sure dry out the best you can so nothing starts in there. But I hate to say this it but is sounds like it is his Anal glands they are not hard to express your self really there not. Also you he gets bathed every 10 days if you do it yourself you can do it at the end so what ever comes out goes down the drain or if you take him to a groomer they should know exactly what needs to be done and if they don't get a new groomer. I don't think this is ti but you might want to take a stool sample to vet so it can be checked for round worms or any kind of worms because the butt dragging is sign of that to. He could have gotten worms from thew ground in a park or the woods. My cat got them from eating a mouse and dosed the dogs with wormier extra form what's in their heart worm meds in case. Good luck and let me know if I can help with anything. Also what do you feed him? mine only go once a day for pooping, vet says the better the food the less poop because their body is absorbing all the nutriments from their food not pooping it out.

[KMARINO]

Vegas has a tiny little stump tail, in barely even covers his anus, it is not a corkscrew type more like a flap. My vet did take a stool sample yesterday and he did not have any worms. After doing this behavior 3 nights in a row, last night after seeing the vet yesterday he did not do the scooting, so maybe it was his glands and they emptied at the vets although the vet said they were not full?? He does poop 2-3 times a day it is always a firm poop, sometimes it might be just two or 3 rabbit type drops, lol, so his bowel movements are not huge. He has always had the same potty habits, usually 7 a.m. when I get off work at 5 and before bed at 10, again most days are only 2 times occasionally it will be 3.

[Ann Farley Hamilton]

Do you wipe his butt after he poops? If not try that I found that if I wipe it after every poop there are no problems. Also it can get sore if stuff has dried on there so wash it really well then put destine on him for a couple of days, that should help. I bet it's his butt that is causing him to do this. Good luck.