General Dog Chat 4

[geekone]

Apologies I just noticed the thread was running out so I am going to repost.

Just had to do both dogs anal glands.

Madam kept scooting about and managed to empty hers nicely.

Thought I would try with little shit even though she wasn’t scooting and it actually spurted out

Least it’s done now

Dare I ask... how do you "do" your dog's anal glands??? I have seen Bitey talk about going to the vet's for this... am I misreading this in thinking you've done a DIY job there Soubriquet?

Yeah I do my two pretty regularly. Would cost a bomb if I took them to the vet every month.

It’s pretty simple and there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it but it helps that I’ve taken animal management in college so had alot of hands on experience.

But the gist is, to see if they are full, raise the tail and hold firmly up by the base.

Then using your thumb and finger, feel at the two bottom “corners” to where the anus is. If they are full they will feel like hard little lumps. If empty they won’t

Then to empty them, get a tissue and place just underneath the bum. Then push down on the bumps pushing upwards at the same time. You need to be quite firm doing it but if done correctly it doesn’t hurt

Thick brown coloured liquid should then come out of the bum. Beware it stinks and sometimes it can squirt out

Soubriquet you are braver than me . I tend to make sure I am firmly away from that end when the vets does them .

Well we have had two nights in a row where BiteyDog wanted a poo at 3am. I don't think he does it for attention as he does his business then runs straight back to bed. However, I wish he would get his bowels back on uk time rather than whatever his current one is . I am sure he thinks 'bad dog' is a form of endearment as I say it nicely to him in the morning when I am bleary eyed and have to work.

Not braver...just dafter I think

Nah in all honestly the smell doesn’t bother me much. But then again I used to work in a dog kennels so used to the random smells

Hope biteydog starts controlling his bowels again

A benefit of raw feeding is they don’t need this doing. Thankfully. Would hate to think of this problem on a wolfhound scale. Grim!

I am very bemused by all the talk of anal glands.
I have never done Steppedog's. How do you knwo if they need doing?

steppe they scoot their bottoms along the floor and or you get a terrible rotten fish smell from them. The scooting can help empty them but I know when I need the vets when he is scooting several times a day and then frantically starts biting around his bottom and whining because they are impacted and really irritating him and no matter what he does they aren't emptying.

Yep. They scoot around a lot

They can also chew their paws as it’s a redirection tactic to try to control them

Neither DH nor I have ever changed a nappy or wiped anyone's bum... not sure either of us would be ready to do this for Ddog, and actually it would have to be me - she is so much better bonded with him these days but that would be a step too far!! I actually am not even that put off from a squeamish point of view (though it does sound grim) but I would be really scared of hurting her (ditto claw clipping).

I maybe see Ddog do a 5 second scoot once a week or something (it's always short and infrequent) but now wondering if this is something we need to be checking? Do you do it every month Soubriquet?

distant if it's an occasional scoot I think that's probably ok as they should empty them with a hard poo. It is really noticeable with BiteyDog when it's a problem and even last time when we went as he was whining all the time by the time we saw the vet he had managed to empty some of it himself.

Usually at least once a month. Sometimes can go a couple of months but if she has an upset stomach (which doesn’t happen often) the glands aren’t empty properly and she ends up needing it doing

Some dogs are just more susceptible to it than others

Distant, if she occasionally scoots I wouldn’t worry...you would know if she had a problem. My old lab used to scoot all the way from the top of the sloping garden to the back door. Trouble was the kids found it funny and then the dog, who was quite the comedian, used to do it as a trick☹️ You can damage the glands if you DIY so you do need to be shown how to do it or my personal choice... haul off to the vets.
I will say I have only seen Cocodog scoot briefly once since we started her on raw food.

DH went into town this morning and returned with two huge cow knuckle bones - free from the butchers. BastardPup thinks it is better than Christmas

Obviously, raw food is not all it’s cracked up to be cos Cocodog has just stolen two slices of bread off the work surface that DH took out of the freezer for his sarnies tomorrow. He must have left them too close to the edge because she wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. First misdeed of this kind ever😬

Awww but forbidden food is always better .

I am trying to wean BiteyDog off turkey. Since Christmas I have been defrosting bits of turkey and sprinkling it over his food. I think he is now addicted

RunPup is raw fed and only scoots is she’s snaffled bread as it gives her a dodgy bum.

RunOut, looking forward to tomorrow then😂 She is currently lying with me on the sofa looking a wee bit over full.

SquirrelDog LOVES carbs - bread, crisps, pizza, doughnuts*.
I buy him only the finest unprocessed high quality treats, and lovingly roast chicken for him, even though I don't eat meat. The little git would rather have toast.

*I don't feed these things to him, but he's exposed to me eating them rather too often.

Cocodog never touched nibbles low on the coffee table over Christmas, doesn’t beg when we are eating etc BUT obviously unattended goodies are fair game...sneaky little mare!
Perhaps Squirreldog is also a vegetarian😁

Ha ha, maybe! Poor thing . Someone should tell him in that case though, that birds and rabbits are not ambulatory vegetables...

BiteyDog can't reach any counter surfaces but he does sometimes get his feed of bread from the birds. Took me ages to work out where he was getting it from but I think someone leaves bread out for the birds and they sit on our fence eating it and tend to drop most of it on the floor.

Anyone want a working cocker, partially trained and a pain in the arse at night ?

We had 'monsters' invading our house last night according to him. Growling and barking in the middle of the night . Then at 3am he gets up and I jumped up and pointed back to his bed and he sulked back on it until the morning.

OK, well I've never seen steppedog scoot! I don't think he is suseptible to anything when it comes to food and digestion!

He is also well behaved around snacks etc, but as soon as you leave the room.....
forbidden treats.

ds was away, so he slept on dd1s bed. Dd1 unfortunately didn't sweep her room of Christmas chocolates beforehand. Steppedog waited til she was asleep and then took all the chocolate out and downstairs, and then had a feast.
One whole chocolate orange, one whole hollow chocolate santa, 3 mini lindt teddies, and he TRIED to eat a packet of chocolate milk straws, but couldn't get into the packet.

Thing is, we didn't realise that he had eaten any of it, until the middle of the next day. Too late to make him sick etc, and no meds a vet can give. He was HYPER all day, really restless and being a nutter, we watche dhim closely for any other symptons (hyper is one) of chocolate poisoning, and nothing else came out. According to on-line calculators he was borderline if it was a dangerous amount. Very anxious day.
Today he is back to normal, just beheaded his Christmas reindeer...

Phew glad steppedog didn't have any lasting effects from his chocolate binge.