I just don't know what to do with my adult boy, his bum is just far too stinky for words now, no matter what I do and now the youngster has a stinky bum too. I just wondered beyond food if there were any other things which set them off? I can't see that it would be infectious in any way? No amount of bathing makes any different and the boy has been on pro texin which helped, but alas its just stopped working now..

I've been scouring the web for ideas beyond medical intervention, its one thing to keep getting them emptied but this doesn't stop the smell in my boy.. Have no idea about the youngster as i've just noticed it now as she laid on me.

I've gone through raw food and various dry foods and we think we've found something and then before you know it it starts up again and i'm sick of it!!

This is not a normal thing so there must be something in yours husbandry that is causing it. One would have thought it would be food or perhaps water, what does your vet say about it. Some breeds of dog can be prone to wind but that in nothing like the smell of anal gland fluid, as both dogs are now having a problem there needs to be something done to help you I am sure that keep changing foods will not help in the long run and you need help with this from someone who has knowledge of the problem.

Just wondered are the dogs related?

Different breeds so not related..

I don't change food regulary, its when I try something I give it a go for a good while and then when it starts the problem up again I try and find something else in the hope we can combat the problem. The other thing I was thinking is that I moved in Oct and the water is different here, but the boy had the problem before.. I'm looking at what else I feed them say treats and in all honesty I can't see its anything.. The vet said just to keep getting the boys glands emptied as and when. I can't do his as they are so difficult the vet has to clear them with an internal expression..

I have found something that pumpkin can help, so off to buy some tomorrow and to give that a go.. My girl is still on the same food as she's always been on..

I'll give the vets a call on tues for an appointment to see if they can fathom anything else out for me and to also get them cleaned out..

> I can't do his as they are so difficult the vet has to clear them with an internal expression..

I had always believed that all vets cleared them this way.  It is the normal procedure.

I was looking online and you can do it yourself by squeezing on the outside of them, however I know this would never work with my boy..

My girl's bum seems to of cleared up re the smell, maybe she was having a moment, hope so..We are now cuddled up together..

> I had always believed that all vets cleared them this way.  It is the normal procedure.

Some vets will clear them internally & others externally - I believe it depends on there position & the consistency!

>I was looking online and you can do it yourself by squeezing on the outside of them,

You can always learn something on here!   Although I'll give it a miss personally!  :-)

I have cleared out many a compacted rectum on old boars, but have never tried with a dog, so always open to learning.

You'll need to shampoo the area thoroughly after emptying cos a little bit left on the fur lingers for ages!

A decent groomer or vet would probably be happy to show you how to do it - I learned to when I was learning how to groom, and it is handy.  Especially now with 2 dogs that need doing regularly - £8 a time at the vet so I am saving a few pennies!  Saved my friend some too for her lab :-)

The internal clearing is something new to me - never seen a vet do it until last year, now they all seem to.  Handy for the harder ones - time before last that Paige needed doing I'd done what I could and she was still having trouble, took her in and I hadn't cleared one side at all and it had to be done internally.  But then, she's got quite a sticky-out anus anyhoo so harder to get it done.

And yes, definitely shampoo!!  When I do mine I lift them into the bath to do it - for one thing, they are much more tolerant of it in there, I think because they know it's going to happen whatever they do :-P and also because it's the routine - in bath, bum done, out of bath.  I tried to do them downstairs last time and couldn't get near - in the bath and got done straight away.  It also makes the difference between an easy job and being munched with Tia :-O

Re Nala is it anal glands or wind ? Brooke has the stinkiest bum imaginable regarding wind no idea why poos are always good and as you know she is raw fed. have now decided to live with it :):(

I think Nala just must be wind that I smelt last night in the end, she'd not had it before and not since.. Mine aren't generally windy though, roll on tuesday, these flipping BH's don't help do they?

That's what I thought too - as a groomer I clear them externally, but if it seems sore I leave it alone and tell them to go to the vet. I do it during the bath, that way you only get the smell for a couple of seconds before the stuff gets washed away!

yes roll on tuesday need life backin routine for all of us

I have to wait until monday to get in..:-(  Well at least he seems to be better right now re the smell..

Don't mean to hijack this post but just wanted to add my experience as I have had a poorly dog at the vet re this. I am very hands on with my dogs, lumps, bumps, smells etc.
3 days ago my youngest started furiously washing his bottom, I noticed he was drinking a bit more, as he is raw fed normally his poos are firm and compact but for the last couple of days they have been wetter and sort of "Mr Whippyish" at the end, he has been ok in himself. Yesterday his anus was bulging and baboon like, if he were a bitch I would say he was as stretched as when they whelp!
Around his anus was blood red, phoned vet, of course they were shut. I cleaned him with a saline solution and cut away the hair. Now, if one more person tells me how easy it is to empty anal glands I will scream. Infact if anyone looks at my computers history they will wonder what I watch on youtube! None of my dogs have ever had anal gland problems.

Went to the vets this am and she had to give him a pain killing jab before she emptied the glands, which poured  green pus ( sorry if anyone is squeamish) he is now on anti inflammatories and antibiotics. He is now much bouncier and if he goes to clean himself I can tell him to stop and he will.

I just cannot believe how quickly this progressed, I have been over and over if I missed something but I'm sure I didn't. The vet said that things can develop very quickly, she was very good and showed me exactly what she was doing but agreed that if I had done it myself I would have released all the yuck into his system. The only thing I did notice was that he was nibbling at his paw which apparently they can do or irritate at something else.
The stench in the vets will stay with me for a long time :( so if anyones dogs suffer from this- I sympathise.

Oh gosh, glad he is on the mend now so to speak..

Thank you for your input and hijack away as its very relevant. I think I may cut his fur right back around his rear end, he's not going into the show ring for a while..

I glad he is alright now sawheaties that must have been really painful for him and so quickly.

> Now, if one more person tells me how easy it is to empty anal glands I will scream.

You are not alone.
Lost count of the times I've watched the videos, been shown, even little diagram's drawn by various vets, but still can't do it internally or externally and it really really irritates. Our kindly vet just smiles & says it took him six months of practise.
Hope your dog is on the mend.

Ach, it's so easy to empty anal glands...lol.  Seriously, I do anal glands too.  Only thing is that a lot of people don't do is, once you get the 'fluid' coming out, have another couple of goes at it.  Imagine paste inside a balloon,  you would need to squeeze from the back a few times to get it all out.  If you don't , this is when it can cause problems.

I feed my big dog raw because if I give him any dried food at all, the gas is indescribable.  I seriously don't know how anyone could smell so bad and still be alive!! But I still know the difference between anal gland smell and farty bottom smell.

Will he eat raw bones?  My vet told me to feed the dogs raw bones to empty the glands naturally.  I must say, I don't notice much difference but it might work for yours?
Also, my vet said that once you start emptying the glands manually, you will then need to keep it up.  He said this was a big mistake that groomers were making when emptying the glands.  I only do it when necessary or asked.

Raw bones are what started all of this off, they actually blokes them up in the first place, I saw what came out a the vet always shows me, mainly bone, since then I've been wary to give him raw bones and have gone back every now and then....but alas it's not to be with him :-(

As for my girl she must of been farting out the same smell as my boy as it was the same stench!! Normal farts are sooo different I agree!! Lol

> I saw what came out a the vet always shows me, mainly bone

Food does not pass through the anal glands.  They are full of secretions only.  This sounds more like constipation ie a blockage in the rectum that the vet was able to manipulate out.
Constipation can cause the anal glands not to empty properly though as a decent sized motion has to pass in order to squeeze them outwards in the their position either side of the anus.  There, is that enough detail at tea time? :)
This is why diets that produce very small motions are not great for emptying and why a little bran or some other form of fibre, creating a bulkier "object" can be of benefit.

Love it, stooge!!! Only on champdogs?!

> and why a little bran or some other form of fibre, creating a bulkier "object" can be of benefit.

All I've found with 'bulking additives' such as bran, pumpkin or carrot is that motions are more plentiful, bone is the only substance that firms things up to actually squeeze the glands rather than just more waste passing by!

my pug used to pass the most horrible smell from her anal glands , gut wrenching is not the word for it and the vet said to me put a teaspoon of dried porridge oats on her meals i have done this must be for 6 months now and we have been stink free for that length of time really pleased

>my pug used to pass the most horrible smell from her anal glands , gut wrenching is not the word for it

My girl pug was the same, sometimes after sitting on my knee she would leave the stench on my clothes so it followed me everywhere! Yuk!

I took her off her fish based food and have not had a problem since.

Well we've been to the vets and had then expressed. They are infected and he is now on AB's.
The vet said we'll look at trying something added to his food once the infection has cleared and if that doesn't work then he'll sedate him, flush them out and then pack them in with a concoction  in which he has an 80% success rate. He said he won't remove the glands which i'm glad to hear as I know the side effects can be quite bad, like incontinence and that I feel is worse than this...

Popped to the supermarket and no pumpkin anywhere, purchased porridge oats and will add this dry on him food to see if this helps in the mean time..

I had a terrible smell from my GSD when he was on a certain dried food. I wasn't sure at the time, but know now that it was 100% the food that caused the smell. It was a terrible bad fish smell. He also had to have his anal glands empied on a regular basis. I changed his food & we have never looked back.