My Poppy has been chewing her paws for several weeks. According to google this may be a sign of blocked anal glands - I don't know how!

And then I noticed her scooting around on her bum......after reading into the DIY method and 20 minutes later I was left with a pile of brown, fish smelling tissues and one very uncomfortable dog who would probably not let anything near her bum again!

Has anyone else had to do this and I could only describe the smell as being similar to used tampons! *spew*

How often does this need to be done guys? And is it possible that this was causing her to chew her paw?

Rob

[Yogi]

expressing anal glands is a common occurrence. Man dogs get impacted anal glands and if not expressed they can actually rupture (a swelling then a hole will develop next to the anus). Sometimes something as simple as a change in diet can decrease the occurrence other times, the dog itself just needs to have this done regularly.
Anal Glands
How to Express a Dog's Anal Gland | Expert Village Videos
Canine Anal Glands

One of my dogs chews his paws all the time but I didn't know it could be related to anal glands. The other dog is the one that scoots around on his rear (he just did that today - thank goodness, he was outside). The dog that was scooting is the one that gets groomed regularly and supposedly gets the anal gland squeeze. I've never seen the one that chews his paws doing the butt scoot.

My sister recently took her dog to get it groomed and had the anal squeeze done and then her dog started doing the scoot and had never done it before. I wonder what's up with that?

Originally Posted by anifunk1962

One of my dogs chews his paws all the time but I didn't know it could be related to anal glands. The other dog is the one that scoots around on his rear (he just did that today - thank goodness, he was outside). The dog that was scooting is the one that gets groomed regularly and supposedly gets the anal gland squeeze. I've never seen the one that chews his paws doing the butt scoot.

My sister recently took her dog to get it groomed and had the anal squeeze done and then her dog started doing the scoot and had never done it before. I wonder what's up with that?

I don't understand why but google said apparently chewing paws could be related?

Maybe they never squeezed your sister's dog's glands properly? If not done properly it can cause increased irritation.

Originally Posted by Yogi

expressing anal glands is a common occurrence. Man dogs get impacted anal glands and if not expressed they can actually rupture (a swelling then a hole will develop next to the anus). Sometimes something as simple as a change in diet can decrease the occurrence other times, the dog itself just needs to have this done regularly.
Anal Glands
How to Express a Dog's Anal Gland | Expert Village Videos
Canine Anal Glands

Yes I know about it - I googled it.....very interesting subject! yuck

I don't think the chewing on paws is related to the anal glands.

Yikes the smell is nasty !

I have expressed my pets anal glands in the past, I had my vet show me how, I used the rubber gloves, with my dog the glands are located at the 4 and 8 o'clock areas, when doing this I placed a towel over her hip and tail area so the spray would not get on me, I did this enough times and later I just felt that the vet could do this, $15.00 was worth it to me, plus if there was any problems etc the vet was right there. I had this more or less with a female who was about 9 yrs old.

One problem with doing this yourself is that if there is an infection you may not know that and antibiotics may be needed if this would be the case the anal gland problem would keep occuring. From the Uck spray you really can't tell whats in that

Is your pets stools loose or firm? Ucky question

If this keeps happening I'd go to the vet because no doubt its an infection and that can get bad in that area.

Is your pet eating the same type of food or did you try a new brand? sometimes the foods will cause this.

Originally Posted by k9lady

I don't think the chewing on paws is related to the anal glands.

Yikes the smell is nasty !

I have expressed my pets anal glands in the past, I had my vet show me how, I used the rubber gloves, with my dog the glands are located at the 4 and 8 o'clock areas, when doing this I placed a towel over her hip and tail area so the spray would not get on me, I did this enough times and later I just felt that the vet could do this, $15.00 was worth it to me, plus if there was any problems etc the vet was right there. I had this more or less with a female who was about 9 yrs old.

One problem with doing this yourself is that if there is an infection you may not know that and antibiotics may be needed if this would be the case the anal gland problem would keep occuring. From the Uck spray you really can't tell whats in that

Is your pets stools loose or firm? Ucky question

If this keeps happening I'd go to the vet because no doubt its an infection and that can get bad in that area.

Is your pet eating the same type of food or did you try a new brand? sometimes the foods will cause this.

Here is the evidence that anal glands may cause chewing.

https://www.petplanet.co.uk/vet_answ...?thread_id=387

[Yogi]

the concept of dogs chewing their feet when anal glands are impacted is not that far fetched when you think about it. They are under stress and irritated at a problem they cannot fix. No different than people when under stress and do not know what to do to resolve it. They turn to pacing, chewing nails and overall are fidgety. The dog is only doing the same but when the scoot does not resolve the itchy feeling and tenderness it drives the dog to do what most people do, chew. Whether food or nails....

[Lara's mom]

I've had many dogs, both fosters and my own...I've never encountered this problem. However, since I'm too much of a suck to even trim my girls nails - they go to Pampered Paws at a cost of $15 each...I can't even imagine doing that anal gland thing...I'd be off to the vet!!!

First of all, I visited the site posted, and that vet did not say anal gland impaction can result in chewing pads. It says some dog will chew at their hip area as a result of anal gland problems. Which makes more sense. It's called referred pain, where a problem in one area can cause pain in another area that's close. Like getting an ear ache when you have a dental abscess.

Chewing the paws is usually related to allergies, arthritis, or obsessive/compulsive disorder. In addition to those, chewing the pads can be a sign of worms. Some worm larvae can be picked up on the paws, then they borrow into the skin, which causes itching.

There are two ways to express anal glands; internal and external. Most groomers who express anal glands do it externally, which may not completely evacuate the glands, and results in the dog chewing, licking, and scooting. An internal expression, done by a person who has been trained in that technique, will usually completely evacuate the glands.

There is some controversy regarding the expression of anal glands. Normally they should express naturally when the dog has a bowel movement. If they don't, the dog starts to scoot, and the glands need to be expressed. But when the glands are expressed regularly, like at the groomer's, the dog can lose muscle tone which results in the inability to express naturally, and the dog continues the need manual expression.

Adding fiber to the dog's diet can help. Cooked pumpkin or sweet potato are the most common dietary additions to help anal glands to express naturally.

Last of all, scooting may not be caused by impacted anal glands. Tapeworms can also cause a dog to scoot.