Hi all,

I have an 10 year old Border Collie - X, we adopted her back in April. She was a regular border at the kennels where I work and the parents done a runner.

She is very loving and also a pat dog. She is very healthy, fully vaccinated, wormed and quite fit. The problem is she keeps on hotching or scooting not sure what you call it, basically dragging her bottom along the floor. I have taken her to the vets on two occasions - where she also had her anal glands emptied. The vet cannot now really see a reason for this and I am at a loss. I don't know why she does it and at times becomes embarrassing especially in front of other people, in the garden and in the house. On average she does once a day.

Any help pointers or ideas wolud gratefully accepted.

Cordially

Chaz

The vet was right to satrt with it is only her anal sacs, the best bet is too squeeze them in and this will empty them and free her from sccoting. Don't worry she will stop eventually anyway.

From a 15yr old yorkie lover.

I must point out, if it is anal glands, dont empty them unless you are sure you know how. It isnt easy if you are unsure of what you are doing, and you could cause serious damage. Get your vet to show you how it is done.
Have you ruled out worms? Has it had any diarrhoea at all?

Some dogs drag after going to the toilet. They are simply "clearing away" any bits that may have stuck. They end up doing without thinking after a while

It can be a habit too My cavaliers seem to go through spates of it

My sisters springer does it. She's done it for years and she was taken to the vet for her anal glands to be emptied. They never really needed doing. One day it struck us that she only did it when we stood still chatting. As soon as we moved, she started running around. She was just in a rush to get going :-)

Helen

I would love to agree with the habit forming theory... my middle bitch has always done it. She is happy, fit, no anal gland blockages, no worm problems, food triggers eliminated from her diet (stopped the paw licking thanks to raw feeding). Every morning, first thing, she will charge upstairs and bumslide along the landing for five annoying and very noisey minutes, the only piece of carpeting in the house. Her backside has suffered over the years, like you can get thickening of the ears with excessive scratching her bum looks similar, skin looks desensitised and very much battle scarred. I would love to find the cause, just hope she is not suffering because of something I have missed!!!!

Are you sure her anal glands haven't filled up again? My old poodle suffered with anal gland problems and the need to empty them got more and more frequent. The site of him dragging his keel across the floor at full sail only stopped once his glands were surgically removed. He never had a problem after that - my nose has never been the same though.

With my bitch it is not anal gland blockages... I regularly check, empty and clean :o

Hi, I took Buster, my Staff of 1 year to the vet's last night as he had classic full anal gland symptoms, chasing his tail and scraping his bum across the floor. She checked those and said they were empty, and whilst it is not relevant to this post, I was most embarrassed to be told that he's got worms. I have been faithfullly worming him, or so I thought, from wormers from the supermarket and to not put too fine a point on it, the vet said they are absolute crap, do'nt protect dogs from both types of worm ... this is my first dog and I thought I'd been very conscientious in the worming/flea department, she said she has been round the supermarket herself and gets very cross with what they can get away with selling, and they're not cheap either ... so I came home with my tail between my legs, gave Buster a dose from the vet's and will have to get it from there in future or she said she's' happy to have a look at the label of whatever I buy. No doubt experienced dog owners may already konw this, but you first timers out there, be careful what you buy! Nicki

Very sensible advice, Nicki.
:)

Supermarket wormers and flea treatments are a load of rubbish, they are not worth the packaging they are in.
The reason being is because supermarkets are not licensed to sell the chemicals that are contained in medication such as drontal, frontline, stronghold etc etc.
I wouldnt go near bob martins, johnsons and alike with a 10 foot barge pole.

I posted about my 2 bichon pups bum scooting recently. We also went through the whole worming with drontal/ anal sack emptying thing. I thought that we had it sorted but only a couple of days later they were back at it again. They are hairy bottomed little beasties and I have come to the conclusion (however mis-guided some may feel) that they must just have bits stuck occassionally, an itchy bum or maybe even just like the feel of certain surafces for a scratch. It only happens with my 2 on grass,carpet or the doormat.

My breed have very clean backsides, tail carried over the back and no hair to become contaminated but I have one who always wipes her bottom and I think that is just what it is, bottom wiping. Wish she would not do it on the carpet though and it makes my eyes water when she chooses concrete.

The vet named Bob Martin's as being one of the worst offenders. Nicki

Interesting. My friend had an elderly border collie bitch who recently started this dragging thing. He took her to the vets and they emptied the anal glands on several occaisions but it didn't make any difference. Then one day she was lying on her back and he noticed that her vagina (do you call it that on a dog?) was red and sore and probably irritating her. Nobody had noticed because she had a very thick coat. Now he applies some cream he got from the vets and she has got much better. I'm not sure what was causing it but the dragging movement looked like she was dragging her bottom so everyone automatically thought anal glands. Its worth a check anyway!