My 9month old pup Pippa has now been on Wafcol, Salmon and Potatoe for about a month, which she really likes. I changed because she was scratching excessively and everything else I could think of was ok plus several post had suggested food allergy.

My question is to do with her anal glands, which she had emptied in September( before I change food), do they empty themselves? Sometimes I get funny smell from Pippa, not windy smell (sorry so graphic!!).

I gave her some live yogurt, one dessert spoon, as Id read this can help any tummy issues, but now her poos are firm to start then bit sloppy- am I feeding her too much?

Any advise.

Anal glands should and do empty themselves, however at least one of my dogs has been known to stick his toung up and empty them himself (normally in front of a guest). They smell really rank and fishy. If you think the yogurt is causing a proble stop it for a couple of days and see what happens.

hi Bluebell

Yep they do stick dont they!!

Im going to stop the yogurt and see what happens- yogurt doesnt agree with me either - cant stomach the lactose!!

Noel

Noel you can always get the same probiotic effect from tablets, easily available from health food shops.

Just read my post- can anyone spot the spelling mistake?!

Sorry

Noel

I love it when you get all the typo errors, so don't worry Noel they make for good reading and some of them can be ever so funny.

Most dogs cannot tolerate lactose too well either.

Not all dogs anal glands empty themselves.  They are mean't to but sometimes they get blocked, infected or they have small design faults which stop this or make it difficult to happen.
Some breeds seem more predisposed to problems than others, but while the majority of dogs sail through life with no problems others can need occasional help to empty them and others with recurrring severe problems do benefit from thier removal.

Bev

Thanks Bev
Taking Pippa to vets to have her glands check, just to be sure.  I dont want her to get an infection in them.  She had them emptied September but hopefully as Ive now sorted her food (Wafcol Salmon & Pot)out and her poos arent soft all the time, that her glands wont be a long term problem for her.

Let you know how she gets on at Vet.

Noel

Our dog has to have his anal glands emptied at the vet every 3 months or so :-( :-(

Hi Noel, my dog has to have her glands emptied every 6-8 weeks. I have now changed her to Burns dog food as this food is suppose to help with this problem. If you are ever told to have the glands removed think long and hard about it as I have heard horror stories about dogs being incontinent afterwards, most vets wouldn't suggest it unless it is really drastic ie needing emptied every 2 weeks. My own vet even said that he wouldn't have it done on any of his dogs so that tells you something. I'm sure your dog isn't bad enough to need them removed but it is worth knowing really.

in my experience the only time that a dog has problems with anal glands are when his diet is not providing enough roughage for him to empty them naturally.

Docked dogs can also have more difficulty in expressing their anal glands, diet can be an issue and, like anything else, sometimes they are not placed correctly and so do get impacted.  It is a simple thing to DIY, and a lot cheaper.

What breed is Pippa? Cavaliers are known to have trouble emptying their anal glands, my boy and his dad both have to have them done regularly.

Hi LucyD

Pippa is JRX think Patterdale, she almost completed black.

Been to Vets glands emptied as they were full- she didnt like it and the smell yuk:(

As the Wafcol is working and im not allowing her anything else for the moment.  I dont really want to add roughage to her diet.

Thanks again
Noel

Yeah, my boy screams the place down when he has his done - he's such a wuss!! Glad your girl is ok now. :-)