Aric Buss Webboard User Reg: 10-14-2013
Posts: 219
Loc: Canada, Alberta
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I just wanted to get an idea on what you all think of this.
Some people reccommend you manually express your dogs anal glands every 3 months. Others say 6 months, others say not at all unless they are impacted or"full'.
I had to do this as instructed by the vet today.
He then told me to make sure I do it every 3 months. Its my understanding that a small amount of this fluid is excreted when dogs meet eachother. With larger amounts being released when defecating.
So why the need to do it every three months?
I leave them well alone unless there is a problem (they look swollen, feel hard, the dog is dragging its butt on the ground and/or licking them a lot). IME impacted anal glands are more often an issue with small dogs than large ones - the idea that all dogs need their anal glands manually expressed on a regular basis seems misguided to me. Messing with them if you don't know what you are doing can cause painful infections.
I did have one old dog a while who developed chronic anal gland impaction when he was 11 and needed them expressed every 2-3 months. But in general I just take a look as part of the regular grooming/checking ritual along with ears, teeth etc. and no action is required.
Anal glands express naturally each time the dog defecates, a little drop on top of the stool to mark it as "mine".
Anal glands will violently express in extreme fear or stress situations: a dog fight, hit by car.
The glands become impacted if the dog holds stool a long time, eg a little dog who decides its too cold and rainy outdoors, and just quits pooping on a regular basis.
Leave them alone unless they become a problem. They will become a problem if you begin messing with them.
Aric Buss Webboard User Reg: 10-14-2013
Posts: 219
Loc: Canada, Alberta
Offline
Thanks for the confirmation.
I have never had someone tell me its something that needs to be done regularly. So I posted on here to confirm or deny my skepticism.
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Manually expressing anal glands.
#395733 - 12/17/2014 12:16 AM 
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Re: Manually expressing anal glands.
[Re: Aric Buss ]
#395736 - 12/17/2014 07:27 AM 
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