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Do any of your BC have anal gland issues? Moms dog Tinker gets a smell about her and I know it's the glands. She doesn't leave any residue where she's been, but how are we able to smell it? We have changed her food. Still a chicken formula, so maybe we need to try a different protein.

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It is those kind of sweeping statements make me wary of anyone labeling himself as holistic.

Of course, might be true, but based on what?

Since we started small time farming the dogs haven't had any trouble with their anal glands. I think it is the huge amount of silage, horse and sheep dung they have added to their diet.

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This is completely anecdotal, but my old Lab/Border Collie mix, Maddie, had anal gland issues on a regular basis, but when I changed her over to a grain free diet, they went away completely. Based on the fact that her stools were firmer on the grain free diet, it stands to reason that was at least part of the reason for that change.


There are a lot of good quality grain free kibbles out there. It might be worth a try.

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It is those kind of sweeping statements make me wary of anyone labeling himself as holistic.

Of course, might be true, but based on what?

Since we started small time farming the dogs haven't had any trouble with their anal glands. I think it is the huge amount of silage, horse and sheep dung they have added to their diet.

 

Well, that sounds rather holistic! :lol: Quinn started having anal gland issues over the winter. Once the thaw finally came, he began eating dirt with a vengeance. Since he has a history of GI problems and a shaky immune system, I agreed to blood work. Everything came back fine. He continues to eat dirt and I haven't noticed any anal gland trouble lately. I have heard anal gland problems are often helped with more roughage in the diet. Quinn gets a home cooked diet with plenty of grains, so I didn't think that was it but maybe the dirt is helping. It certainly makes his stool denser. :)

 

The holistic vet I used for over 5 years was very passionate/militant. She really helped Quinn when traditional vet care did not and I will always be grateful for that. However, when he developed perianal fissures, holistic did nothing for a rather horrible problem, so we are now back with traditional care. My main vet is very flexible to trying different approaches, but the holistic vet insisted holistic and traditional could not be mixed. Since holistic wasn't my religion, I pulled Quinn from her care.

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Mick has suffered anal glad issues his whole life. Used to be I had to express about once a week or he'd get impacted. I switched him to raw and they got way better. Maybe once a month.

Now that he's older I can't afford raw anymore so he's on a good quality food. But I do think there are some grains in it. Just not corn (not that that's the issue) and he's much more laid back and so are his anal glands.

 

I think the change to raw did really help get them under control. His poop was really hard when he ate raw.

 

I really think the difference is nerves or stress for Mick. He was a hard dog to train, I was a green handler. Lots of tension. Now he lives the life of riley. No training, he doesn't really like to go anywhere and only works stock when he wants to and how he wants to. I do them when someone else comes over and asks me to check their dogs bum. It reminds me to do his.

My friends think I'm the professional dog butt lady! :)

 

It's an easy thing to learn to do. I never did them internally and I got good enough that I hardly ever get anything on me or the dog. Mick actually has a command for doing them. "let me see your butt" puts him right between my legs with his bum facing out. It's one of his parlor tricks! LOL

 

I forgot....I had a different dog long ago. she was a nervous dog too. Every time we'd go in the car she'd blow her anal glands and whew....we'd be baling out of the car quick. Mick never blew his glands but this dog would actually get nervous and blow them. You couldn't really see any residue (she was an outside dog) but you'd go from no smell to wowza yuck in a second.

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It's an easy thing to learn to do. I never did them internally and I got good enough that I hardly ever get anything on me or the dog. Mick actually has a command for doing them. "let me see your butt" puts him right between my legs with his bum facing out. It's one of his parlor tricks! LOL

 

Quinn knows "butt" and "let me see your butt" too, though the daily routine for fissures is different than expressing anal glands. When he first developed the fissures, I thought it was an anal gland issue and took him to the vet. As I explained my concerns, I used the word butt a couple of times and Quinn swung his butt toward the vet like he was saying, "Yeah, it's driving me crazy, Doc." The vet was astonished and asked, "He knows what we're talking about and wants me to look?" I had to admit "butt" was one of the words Quinn knew.

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the holistic vet insisted holistic and traditional could not be mixed.

 

That's not very holistic, now, is it? :P (ETA: It's also just plain wrong!)

 

The reason the "alternative" medicine folks (both human and veterinary) changed the terminology to "complementary" medicine was to acknowledge that they should not be considered mutually exclusive, but should instead complement each other. It recognizes that there's a place for both in a holistic approach to health care.

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Well I guess hard is a relative term. It was harder than when I fed kibble. But at that time I was feeding less quality kibble so maybe that was the difference.

FWIW Mick and Dew both have hard little poos now. Dark in color. Specially compared to the dog I was keeping here who's owner brought me cheap dog food. His poop was yellow and squishy and whoonasty stinky. I switched him to the better food and when I gave him back the man thought something was wrong cause his poop was dark and hard(er). And less stinky.

So these terms can mean something to one person and something different to another.

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As I explained my concerns, I used the word butt a couple of times and Quinn swung his butt toward the vet like he was saying, "Yeah, it's driving me crazy, Doc." The vet was astonished and asked, "He knows what we're talking about and wants me to look?" I had to admit "butt" was one of the words Quinn knew.

Call me immature (I love it) but it makes me giggle every time!

Mick sticks his head in the corner and shuts his eyes when we go to the vet. The vet always asks me what's wrong. I tell him, if Mick can't see you, you can't see him! That's still how we do nails. He shuts his eyes.

Funny little dogs!

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Mick sticks his head in the corner and shuts his eyes when we go to the vet. The vet always asks me what's wrong. I tell him, if Mick can't see you, you can't see him!

 

Mirk used to hide his head under my arm if there were any hypodermic needle in sight. It was very sweet, but also very sad, especially when he was being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and he was getting jabbed with a lot of needles. :(

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That's not very holistic, now, is it? :P (ETA: It's also just plain wrong!)

Now that you mention it, no. But that was her opinion and how she practiced. When the fissures started, she told me if I used any traditional vet care, we could never go back to (her brand of) holistic. Like I said, she was very passionate/militant.
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Mirk used to hide his head under my arm if there were any hypodermic needle in sight. It was very sweet, but also very sad, especially when he was being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and he was getting jabbed with a lot of needles.

Poor Mick was the same reason. He had Lyme and rocky mountain, took 4 vets for proper diagnosis (it was a while ago and vets were not as versed as they are now) so he got poked, prodded, and finally acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments. He was just tired of going to vets. The close your eyes for nail trims was just his way of dealing with it. Works for us.

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I should have elaborated a little in my post. I do know how to express glands both internally and externally. So we are ok there and she does ok for it. When I express them they are runny, absolutely no firmness to them. The first food she was eating was Nutrisource chicken and rice adult. We switched because I found out about Hi-Tek Naturals that I can get through the clinic I work in. So she's been on the regular adult chicken formula for about 20#. I may either try one of hi-tells grain frees or the Fromm Game-bird grain free, which is what my Patches is on.

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Micks are a dark clear liquid with a bit of gunk once in a while but mainly clear dark liquid. I had an old girl whose was always thick opaque looking. We thought she had an infection but that was just her.

Ive seen way to much anal glad juice than 1 person should have to for not being in the business. Every dogs has been different.

Let me know if grain free makes a difference. Is your dog a nervous type dog? Mick isnt but training was stressful due to his strength and my greeness in working dogs.

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I love this topic!! I agree, every dog's anal fluid is different. Gideon's is light brown liquid with cottage cheese and coffee grounds in it. Micah's looks like melted ice cream with caramel sauce. And Angel's looks like toffee, but liquid. The Saluki I used to have was straight cottage cheese and it shot out in clumps too.

 

Dog's with allergies/intolerances over produce glandular fluids, whether it be skin oil glands or anal glands or saliva or who knows what, so that is a consideration, but you would probably see other signs if it was that type of food issue. I would look at trying to adjust his stool volume. For some dogs, more fiber is needed, for others, it's less.

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Figure I'll join this convo....My BC has anal gland issues sometimes. Can't figure out why. I did take her to Petsmart one time when it was bad and they said she didn't have much in there. She is on Earthborn holistic grain-free dry dog food- coastal catch . Her poops are firm, so I don't get it. Any ideas? My other dog (Aussie mix) has no problems.

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She may need more fiber to bulk up her stools so that they press against the anal glands better as she defecates. Try adding a couple spoonfuls of pure pumpkin to her food.

 

Wait a minute... You said they said there wasn't much in there? What makes you say they were bad? Was she scooting a lot, or were you seeing something else? If she seems itchy, then I would try a food change.

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I was saying I think they are bad sometimes because all of a sudden she will smell fishy (very strong smell) for like 10 mins. You can smell her from across the room. She doesn't seem itchy at all.

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AH!! That explains why she had very little in them. I would try adding the fiber in hopes that she expresses her glands while defecating rather than when they are over full in the house. I used to have a beagle that would have bad dreams and release his anal glands while sleeping. How unpleasant!

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Micks are a dark clear liquid with a bit of gunk once in a while but mainly clear dark liquid. I had an old girl whose was always thick opaque looking. We thought she had an infection but that was just her.

Ive seen way to much anal glad juice than 1 person should have to for not being in the business. Every dogs has been different.

Let me know if grain free makes a difference. Is your dog a nervous type dog? Mick isnt but training was stressful due to his strength and my greeness in working dogs.

She is very submissive. She's actually been peeing the last few weeks randomly when dad pets her or little kids while on walks. Mom is gettin her in next week to make sure it's not a uti, but I told her it really sounds behavioral. Not like she's trying to be naughty.
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