I think it would be wise to start a thread on the different things that we may feed to try and deal with anal gland problems in our dogs. It seems to be a very common problem these days and a subject that comes up regularly. I was always under the impression that once you started down the route of emptying anal glands, you created a rod for your own back. So, maybe a thread on how others deal with the problem would benefit members BEFORE it leads to the veterinary surgeons door.

Has anyone had any success adding roughage to their dogs diets and if so, what did you add and how often? Personally, I found offering the sufferer a dry weetabix every morning to be beneficial, where chicken wings did not help in this case.

What do you add and how often? Has it 'cured' the problem and if it was successful, did you carry on with it after the problem seems to have passed (no pun intended)?

Hope i'm meant to answer here!

My Akita suffered alot with her anal glands as a pup, from about 4 mths upwards she was going in to have them emptied every 3 or 4 weeks.  The vet gave me his honest opinion that adding roughage wasn't going to make any difference but I did by bran for her food just incase....however it didn't help in the slightest.

I took her as often as needed to have her glands emptied...if I didn't her tail would hang down and she would get very, very grumpy and withdrawn...over time the visits to the vets became less frequent and she's now 3 1/2 and has no problems with her glands and hasn't for the last couple years.

My vet did not want to do an operation and said it would only come to this in the very worst case scenario as other problems can result due to having the op,

I have used bran with success, a good teaspoon per meal for my small to medium dogs, but got a bit fed up of adding it so returned to a food of 3% fibre and I found at this sort of level the problem did not recur.

I found that changing my dog onto a better quality food solved the problem. He's also stopped going to the groomer who used to empty his anal glands each visit - something I'm convinced may have triggered the problem. If I do take him back to the groomers I will specifically ask for her not to do his anal glands.

As i have said on my all my posts on this topic

I have had 2 dogs different breeds suffer

One worse then the other

I was recomended by a nurse to grate carrot or just some carrot chopped up into there food, mine prefer it on its on as a treat. Since they have had this they dont suffer at all

I use http://www.healthspan.co.uk/digestive-health/psyllium-husks-digestive-fibre/ProductDetail-p250-c1281857.aspx

Saw it suggested in DogsToday by a holistic vet

I've used wheat bran and oat bran; plus lots of fibrous vegetables as part of her normal diet.  Success unknown re added bran because my dog with anal gland "issues" can go months without a problem and then it starts up again.

my late beautiful weimaraner had terrible trouble with infected/impacted anal glands after she had surgery for something else and had had to have low exersise for a while.
antibitics/emtying. flushing under anasthetic did nothing, likewise extra roughage didn't help and vet was talking removal.
as she was pretty stoic about it i decided to wait a little while and as she was over the surgery was able to increase her exersise.  as soon as she was back to her very very high excersise routine the problem cleared up totally and never returned.  I would sugguest high levels of fast free running exersie are worth trying based on our experinece.

my schnauzer is much better now on half wet (naturemenu) and half dry (james wellb) on just dry she was having them done every few weeks. an old mongrel we had used to get awful trouble and the vet removed them in the end and she was fine (lived to be 15)

My dogs problem started with a change of dog food and cleared a month after I changed it again. 

My dog has occassional problems with her anal glands and I usually up the raw food in her diet to ensure her stools are hard, this usually works.  the wonders of chicken wings!  she hasn't had problems with them for a while but this may be linked to eating lots of carrots, sometimes 3-4 per day rather than other snacks.  When the vet emptied hers the first time he was surprised they were full as he was sure they were empty but it appears they are deep or high up.

My 1 boston Tiva has problems with her- hers are thick pasty and have tried fibre to no help. Even switching food has not helped as much. She ened up with an anal abcess twice and since then had my vet show me how to empty them. When I see her doing the but drag then I know its time and she only needs it done every 4-6 weeks. Since hers are thick and pasty I have to put a finger in and press on the side or they will not empty.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_anal_sacs.html 

Would just like to say that my 6 month ES pup is now a 'real' boy!! He is now dangling in the right places after having one retained!