Our 3 year old GSD has a problem with chronic anal gland impaction. His stools are always soft (no medical problems--he's already been tested. I've tried adding a small amount of pumpkin with his food with no success, just added moisture. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Switch him to an all natural raw diet, which is what he should be eating anyway

The bones in the diet will harden the dog's stools and will help prevent the anal glands from impacting.

I'd recommend doing your research before switching though (this site and web board have an overload of information on the topic!), just so you don't overwhelm his system if he's sensitive to food changes.

Good luck.


(If you're already feeding raw, maybe he just needs more bones added to his diet...)

Thanks Yuko. Since he can't eat turkey or chicken it's so hard to add bone. Right now I'm able to use goat, duck, lamb, buffalo etc. Do you think human grade bone meal would be a benefit?

I have no experience using bone meal, so I don't know...

Can you add in bones from goat, lamb, duck or buffalo?

As an adult German shepherd he shouldn't have any trouble crunching up the larger (but softer) bones like ribs, shoulders, necks, or backs of an animal as big as a buffalo.

Can he eat beef or pork? Pork riblets are a great bone source for big dogs and are very cheap compared to other cuts.

(Great-looking guy by the way! I just looked up his photo on the pedigree database that you posted here a while back. Very handsome dog, quite a looker )

OK, this is gross. Has your vet showed you how to express anal glands to keep this under control?

If its really bad, those glands can be surgically removed. I've never heard of bad effects from removal.

May I ask how you know he cannot eat chicken or turkey?

Just wondering as my GSD, who has EPI and often has soft stools, cannot eat kibbles that are chicken based (well, really any kibble...but she has nasty gas on those that are mostly chicken), but she can eat raw chicken. It is the mainstay of her raw diet.

You might also consider rabbit as a meat source. I also wonder about going raw with a mixer like Honest Kitchen or Urban Wolf. With Urban Wolf, my girl has had more firm stools, even when she was not eating bones.

No, the question isn't gross, infact the gland openings are extra small and even the tech or vet has a hard time expressing them. We're there about once a month, thankfully he's good with the doctors and techs and always kisses the techs when they're done.

As far as the removal of the anal glands, we have been told he could have "stool incontinence" for a while--uck.

As for the goat, duck, lamb and buffalo, I'm able to get his goat, lamb and duck from an upstart raw food company here in Michigan, his buffalo I get from another company close by (Butcher Boy) so the additional bone is not readily available. Since beef is iffy, I'll get some pork riblets and give it a try.

Thanks so much for your suggestions, I really appreciate them.

Yuko, thanks for taking a minute to check out his picture. He's a great boy. We'll be starting class for his CGC soon. If I can ever figure out how to get his pictures in photo bucket, I have some real treasures to show off. My dentist has a framed picture of him with his own Sonicare toothbrush in his office.

Is lamb a problem? Lamb flaps are cheap.

Rabbit is great, IMHO, if he can eat that.

 Quote: CathyScott

...Since he can't eat turkey or chicken it's so hard to add bone....

What do you substitute for the bone in his diet (for calcium)?

Melissa,

Out of frustration when looking for kibble to feed him, I kept a log of all of the food tried and all of the ingredients. Then I put the information on an excell sheet and the #1 ingredient was Chicken then tukey. When changed to a duck based food, things improved greatly--still not great. Then to 'test' chicken again I gave him a raw chicken neck (on an empty stomach) and back to pudding stools again, along with rashing between his toes. Turkey has the same type of effect. Thank you for reminding me about the gas he used to have--oh my gosh! Thanks for the tip on Urban Wolf,I'll check them out shortly. I did forget to add rabbit is another food I'm able to order for him. Please feel free to keep up the suggestions!