Hi all, have just joined the site as we recently bought an 18mths old Cairn Terrier. We have had a few problems with a nasty smell more noticeable first thing in the morning. We had him vet checked and his anal glands were emptied and sure enough this was the same smell. He has recently occasionally bit at his back end and tonight for the first time in 12 weeks I caught him dragging his bottom along the floor. If it continues I will be returning to the vets but could anyone please tell me how often these glands can/should be emptied? He is wormed etc and in otherwise good health, not overweight and a fit and happy little dog. Many thanks for any advice.
Keith

My Chihuahua had a nasty abses with them very very sore he was my vet dose them every month to 2 months but food is a big factor in them .

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R.I.P ...Mesha xx Never Forget you xx
I will be back! i need to fight the BIG "C" atm!

You will find instructions on how to do it here:

D for Dog - How To Empty Dog Anal Glands Sacs

I am thinking of adding bran to my dogs diet when he is a little older to bulk out the stool and therefore cause them to empty themselves.

Many thanks, I think I will try the bran idea first as the vet only emptied his glands very recently. Is it best to mix bran from a pet store or give a bran based cereal or does it not make any difference?
Thanks
Keith

Im no expert on this Keith, but I went to Tesco and bought some Oat Bran. I did this because I have heard of dogs being allergic to wheat and as ours has a dodgy gut I didnt want to risk it. Its only about 50p s packet. Im sure I have seen it on this forum though that someone suggested a handful of branflakes in the feed.

Im sure someone more experienced will post soon!

I'm having the same problem with our oldest Bichon at the moment. Tonight he is really uncomfy and keeps rubbing his bottom on the floor. He has been doing this for a few days now and we had him to the vets a week or so ago and had his anal glands emptied by a nurse but I don't think she did them properly and so last Tuesday night we saw our vet and he emptied them and gave him an injection to settle things down. He's still doing it though so haven't a clue what is wrong. He was wormed a couple of days ago so it can't be worms. He just can't settle at all.

Thank goodness Hedley has stopped scooting his bum on the floor. Its quite offputting isnt it, especially if you have a new carpet! Our other dog had this problem too, but fortunately not very often. I have decided to try and learn to empty them myself. There are several sites which describe how to do it.

I've had a couple of dogs in the past with smelly anal glands, its a very pungent smell isn't it, had to get the vet to empty them a couple of times.

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there is a product on the market called pro-fibre
Protexin Veterinary
Many of the dogs at my practice are using this and have found it almost illiminates the need for manual evauation of the anal glands.

Im interested in this product.

What is the advantage over basic bran? Is it the pre/probiotic thing (still cant get the hang of this)?

I had thought of mixing oat bran and natural organic live yogurt when Hedley is settled on his food.