Anal Gland Expression

For those who don’t know what an anal gland is, there are two fluid-filled scent glands on the inside of your dog’s anus that naturally fill and are then expressed when your dog poops. These glands are important to your dog as a means of communication to other dogs and every dog has their own scent.

Sometimes a dog’s anal glands can become infected, or the material can become thickened and not easily expressed when your dog has a bowel movement. If this happens you may notice your dog scooting or licking his bum area and appearing uncomfortable. Should you notice these symptoms happening, a trip to see one of our Registered Veterinary Technicians at The College Manor Veterinary Hospital may be required.

The technician will do an initial assessment and expression and more often than not that is all that is required. On occasion, however, if left untreated for too long, the impaction can lead to a rupture of the gland itself requiring further intervention by one of our veterinarians.

Should I drain my dog’s anal glands at home?

You should never attempt to drain your dog’s anal glands at home. Properly expressing anal glands requires a professional. It is important to know why your dog’s anal glands are not expressing on their own but also the texture, colour and smell can indicate potential problems to our trained staff.

If my dog scoots on the carpet a lot, does this mean their anal glands are impacted?

If your dog is scooting on the carpet it is certainly a possibility the anal glands are the culprit and would be the first thing we would recommend having checked. An initial consult can be scheduled with one of our technicians to assess the situation and see if they are just full, impacted or in fact ruptured.

Our technical staff would direct you to schedule an appointment with one of the veterinarians should they be impacted or if one of them has ruptured. If we found that both anal glands were empty and not the cause of the scooting, we would recommend scheduling a consultation appointment with one of our veterinarians to source out other possible causes.