Pardon me! My dog's hiney is stinky :(

glamgirl84

Member
Sep 10, 2007
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My dog's behind is all of a sudden very stinky, and he just had a bath last week. He was groomed a little less than a month ago and his anal glands were supposed to be expressed then. From what I can tell from my internet googling, the smell seems to be the result of him needing his glands expressed once more. I have two questions about this:

1) Is it normal for him to need his glands done again after only about one month? He weighs 13 lbs if that makes any difference. He is young, just over a year old, but he has gone 3-4 months in between groomings and I never had an issue with this kind of overwhelming smell before (although I have smelled it before slightly- and a bath always resolved the scent).

2) Is this something that I can just take him to the groomer or Petco or something to have taken care of? Or is it really important that he see a vet? We've been there so much lately (stubborn ear infection) that I'd like to avoid the vet visit cost- but only if this isn't something that requires a vet's attention. I just don't want to take him there and pay all that money if it's not really necessary. (And no, expressing these glands is not something I want to do myself!:P)

Any advice would be so appreciated! I've never had to deal with an issue like this with any of my dogs before so this is new to me! Thanks! :smile:
 
What kind of dog is it? I have a Mini Schnauzer that used to have issues with his anal sacks until I realized that the groomers were causing the issue. I don't get him groomed during the winter as I like to let him get a little 'woolly' for the warmth. I realized that we never had any issues during that time. The very next time I took him to the groomers, immediately afterwards I started noticing issues again (dripping, randomly smelling it, you know..stuff like that). So I just started telling the groomers to leave his bottom alone and I haven't had another issue.
 
Is he scooting his butt on the ground?? That would be a sign he needs his anal glands expressed.

It's normal for the anal glands to express fluid when the dog eliminates...having a firm bowel movement helps to express the fluid, so a diet that promotes that is good.

Sometimes I smell the "smell"...I've asked my vet about it...he said that sometimes the fluid leaks out a little, and/or gets on the fur. I use moistened antiseptic wipes made for anal gland secretions to wipe off the fluid, and neutralize the odor.

If you need the name of the wipes, PM me!
 
My Chi's fill up pretty fast sometimes.

My hubby can express them and then they need to be done again like a week later. Other times they can go a few months.
 
I understand groomers express them differently than the vet does (someone explained it to me as the groomer does it from the outside, whereas the vet does it from the inside...) - and that they should really be done the vet way. I believe you can find YouTube videos if you want to teach yourself to do it - but it is one thing I am happy to pay the vet to do! I also don't think once a month is unusual, though, at least not in our experience with all four of our beagles over the years. Giving your dog a higher fiber food can help, too.
 
^ I agree, I'd leave vet care to the vets. They express them from the inside and will make sure that they are completely emptied, and can guide you as to what you should be doing to maintain them (whether it's a regular monthly visit, changing the diet, etc.). Trust me, you do NOT want a clogged, infected gland.

One of our beagles has had issues in the past, but unfortunately hers go from being completely fine to suddenly clogged and infected within a day, with no warning. Knock on wood, but it's been awhile since we've had the issue. It's frustrating for us and painful for her.

If glands continue to be an issue, you can opt to have them surgically removed.
 
Within the past two weeks both our Boxer's glands had to be expressed. Hemi just kept sitting down without scooting, and Daphnie's behind had an odor. They both kept looking at us like they were completely uncomfortable. This was the first experiance we had with glands with them. Daphnie is 2 and Hemi is 1 1/2.
 
Yeah, I bet it's the glands. 1 month is considered a long time for one of my dogs-I have to express her anal glands almost every 2 weeks. One of the glands tends to get impacted (TMI: but it's creamy when it should be clearish w/ brown specks) so I have to express them internally. A lot of the time groomers will only express them by pressing from the outside on either side of the anus and it either doesn't empty them enough or even at all.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone! He hasn't been doing the "butt walk" at all in the last few days but his behind is still stinky. So thankfully I don't think he's uncomfortable, but I do think it's time to get them done. I think I'll also ask the groomer to leave his glands alone from now on. When we picked him up from the groomer the last time, he acted very strange and sad, did a lot of butt walks and was afraid to go to the bathroom. He wouldn't go for hours and hours on end and when I let him outside to do it he would run behind my legs and hide. He usually acts a little sleepy and sad when he gets back from the groomer but this was something new- he was ok after a couple of days but he was definitely upset about something. I can't help thinking that this gland problem may have something to do with his last groomer visit, since it was never an issue before. hmmm...:confused1::wondering
 
Of course! So here I am talking about anal glands in this post the other day, and thought to myself how lucky I am that we haven't had to deal with it for awhile, and how it's nice that our older beagle hasn't had any issues with them (it's the younger one that has had past problems).

Yesterday I noticed our older girl was paying a bit more attention to her rear end, and at one point squatted funny like she had to poop or something. DH took her outside but she only peed (but did poop fine later). She was fine all evening so I figured maybe she was just constipated or something.

Woke up today and her poor bum is swollen on one side. It's definitely her anal glands. You can tell it is painful and bothering her. She's headed to the vet this afternoon, poor thing.
 
You should be able to go in and get just the expressions from the vet without a whole checkup charge, which should easily be under $20. If you suspect anal gland problems though make sure you keep a close eye on them. Unfortunately my little guy had an abcess which resulted in him needing a costly surgery to repair. I've since switched foods and monitor his poops to make sure they're consistantly solid. It's been a couple years now and he hasen't had any issues.
 
^ treizi makes a good point - although we get the glands expressed at the vet it is usually a vet tech who does it and the cost therefore isn't like an actual visit to the vet... definitely under $20 (and worth twice the price!).
 
Im glad I stumbled upon this thread.. lol. We've been noticing .. excuse my language.."booty juices" from Miso this past weekend. I just made an appt at our Banfield Vet office.. and it runs around $25.
 
My little girl always has a stinky butt. I always check when she poops (gross I know) to make sure the liquid came out and she expressed herself. There is usually liquid there so I know her anal glands are being expressed. Maybe she just has over stinky ones?