MY dog seems to be having a problem with his anual glands we,ve been to the vets on wich he emptied them and there was blood on one side sowe had antibiotics still didnt sort it so weve been back and he gave us a different one called Nisamox 250 mg for 10 days tomorrow is his last day and i can see no improvement.I can tell because my other male is so KEEN to get to smell his bottom  i think its the smell of glands and blood but cant see anything on the outside of his bum
Has anyone else had had this problem the vet said he may have to sedate him and give him a flush out
It must be troubling him as hes often biting at his bum

Has he been wormed recently as biting or licking and dragging their bums along the ground is also a sign of worms. 

Have you changed his food recently as passing hard/formed stools helps to empty the anal glands normally, if he is passing soft stools which may also be caused by the antibiotics he is getting at present then you may need to wait till the a/b's are out of his system and the stools returned to normal before worrying.

Unfortunately from what I have read and been told that once the anal glands have been manually evacuated they never work naturally, how true this is I don't know as I have never let anyone do it to my dog.

More fibre in his diet like steamed pumpkin or butternut squash given a desert spoonful each time has worked for me in the past.

Hope you get him sorted soon.

>Unfortunately from what I have read and been told that once the anal glands have been manually evacuated they never work naturally, how true this is I don't know

Thankfully that's an old wives' tale; they usually function perfectly normally afterwards as long as the cause of the initial problem has been resolved.

It may be an old wives tale but I know at least  6 dogs belonging to friends and colleagues who have to keep going back to the vets with continued problems 2 of those the glands were evacuated by the vet on the first check after bringing them home, neither pup had displayed any problems in the few days since they were with their new owners,both had had dogs before, they said it was done before they realised what was happening, one continued having to go back to the vets for the 6yrs of her very short life, it was the same practice I used to use so kept a close eye when I took my pups/dogs into the vets for any reason, changed to a vet which is easier to get to and seem more modern and don't have a "thing" about breeders or early spay/neuter of all dogs. 

Some dogs' anal glands aren't in quite the right position, so they're always likely to have problems, although they might not show any of the classic symptoms. Other dogs can have intermittent problems - if they've had a stomach upset the stools might take a while to get back to emptying the glands normally, and in the meantime they can fill very quickly and need expressing, but once the cause has been sorted out they'll never need doing again. One of mine went from absolutely no symptoms in the morning, to a red bottom at noon, to a burst anal gland at 2 o'clock! Once that was cured she never had any problems again. So to say that once they've been done manually they'll never work again thankfully isn't true. :-)

Hi

Just been reading these posts about anal glands my westie has had continuing problems over the past 2 years and they are regularly emptied every 4 weeks as they start to stink and he bites his bum and scoots, he is fed on a raw diet and the vet seems to think they are just out of line thats why they are not emptying, he doesn't want to remove them as feels the risks are high with this op and i must admit i am not keen on the op either, he said a lot of small dogs suffer with anal gland issues.
We have lengthened out since switiching to raw feeding as at 1 time we were every 7-10 days of blocking but don't think they will ever work properly now as now matter how long we try and leave them they just don't kick in and then he starts licking his back foot and seems to start shaking his head aswell for some reason.
Did you have to have the gland removed where it burst?

>Did you have to have the gland removed where it burst?

No, I had to keep the hole open by bathing several times a day and squirting antibiotic ointment directly into the gland for 10 days. Then it was allowed to heal and it never bothered her again (she lived about another 8 years afterwards).

Both my staffies get blocked glands ( Daisy's an artist at giving her bum a twirl on the rug when we have visitors )my vet commented that they both have quite deep set glands and thought this was most likely why they got blocked so often.

I have emptied my dogs anal glands every 2-3 months. I got him at 2 years.
I used to have to do it once a month,
He is 10 now!!
I once got told if you empty anal glands you will Have to have them removed,
Well nope, 8 years of emptying them when needed doing and they dont cause him any problems other than the ocasional empty!!!
I do them externally.
Where as about 5 years ago, my Rottie had a problem (cant remember what it was) the vet emptied her anal glands, internally, didnt get much out. problem cleared up. Never emptied them since on her!!!! So nope, if you empty them once you donnot have to keep doing it!!!!
Lea :) :) :)

One of my dogs started suffering from blocked anal glands. It gets worse with certain foods, so it all goes as trial and error. He's had them cleaned out by the vet a number of times. They are apparently quite difficult to express says the vet and therefore not going to be an easy task for me to do by any means..
We are at a current stage of them being okish..