Your Dog's Anal Sacs (Glands)
Posted: Saturday, September 02, 2006
by Sandra Riordan
http://www.standardpoodlesusa.com
My Personal Experience with Anal Sacs!
Well, I know from an up close and personal experience that anal sacs are smelly when expelled! My sister-in-law and I had the unpleasant experience of having them expel, or should I say explode all over us!
One Christmas, we decided to go look at Christmas lights in her neighborhood and her and I were sitting in the backseat with her Border Collie. We came up to a beautifully lit house with a life-size lighted plastic Santa outside. Her dog Moe got so scared and upset seeing that Santa that she went hysterical barking and trying to claw her way out of the car! At the same time her anal sacs released all over both of us. It is hard to describe what it smelled like, kind of like a cross between a skunk and vomit! Needless to say, that cut our holiday lighting festivities short. We couldn’t get home fast enough to shower and wash our clothes!
What are Anal Sacs or Glands Anyway?
They are two small glands on either side of your dog’s anus. The material secreted is used for marking territory or for self-defense (against plastic Santas!)
Most dogs empty their sacs by normal walking around and defecation. Some dogs have problems emptying them and they become impacted and sore. If you see your dog scooting across the floor, it may not be from worms; he may be trying to empty the glands. Other signs that they may be having problems are that they will often chase their tails or lick their anal area.
Taking Care of Your Dog’s Anal Sacs
Well, if you’re brave and have a strong stomach, you can try expressing them yourself following either of the two following methods:
The first method is to hold a rag up to the dog’s anus and squeeze both sides of the anal area. This may not work very well if the secretion is thick.
The other method is to insert a gloved finger into the anus and squeeze the gland between the thumb and finger, doing the same thing on the other side. You may have to have someone hold the dog while you are doing this, as I don’t think they’re going to like it very much!
You may have to perform this over a period of several days to get them completely empty.
If you can’t seem to get them expressed yourself, you’ll have to have a vet or your groomer do it for you, which is my preferred method in the first place! If they are impacted, they can get an abscess which can rupture and that’s really a mess!
Now that you know what anal sacs (glands) are and how to take care of them, hopefully it will help you get rid of one of those mystery doggie odors!
This Article has been viewed 7,993 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Well...I was actually hoping that this could be cleared up with a pill or a change in diet. I just dont see me taking care of this "manually". I wonder if walking him more will help any??? I guess I'll pay the VET.
Good a vivid article Sandra. It cannot be explained without being quite graphic. But I agree with you, it is a horrible mess and I usually try to allow nature to take it's course with them but it doesn't work with some. I have a small Rat Terrier who appears to travel sliding on his fanny. But it seems as if he is able to take care of it much of the time. But I usually take him by the vet's office if he isn't able to clean them himself. My vet is an expert at it. He takes a towel (light weight or even paper sometimes) and with one squeeze, he can handle it. I just don't have the stomach for it. We have found that it helps if, each time we bathe him, we wash his rear vigorously with the wash cloth.
No. Just no. I love dogs. I love MY dog. But- no. We're going to the vet. Add I'm staying in the waiting room. Forgive me.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.