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5 mos Old Expressed Anal Glands When Frightened

JerDGold

Member
Light BackStory: Our vet seems to think our puppy is not expressing her anal glands naturally. She says the pup may or may not grow out of it. Nog big deal.

It seems however that she expresses her anal glands when nervous or frightened. It happened in my car on one of her early car rides, in the house when our other dog corrected her and just now when a dog gate fell and frightened her. This last situation was the most extreme, with the expression covering the underside of her tale, a trail left on the floor and a smattering across chair backs. Aside from the fact that it is stinky (no big deal) is it something we should be concerned with or is it pretty natural?

Can it be avoided? What should I do if/when it happens?
 

Lisa P

Well-Known Member
Does your pup have firm stools?usually the anal glands empty when they have a bowel movement but if they have a very loose stool or diarrhea it doesn't happen
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
I think it's also a natural thing... and hopefully with some confidence-building exercises, socialization and age, she'll grow out of it.

I would ignore it when it happens (and then clean it up, of course). If you make a big deal of it, it might lead to some unintended consequences. I don't think it's something the dog can necessarily control (less control than bladder control, anyway).

I'd do more work on socialization (visit new places, investigate new things), confidence-boosters (lots of encouragement for curiosity, lots of "parties" after successful investigations) and LOTS of praise for the little things she does right (even if that means saying a calm "good girl" for just sitting on a rug being quiet). Make sure she's comfortable in her own skin, and stick up for her a bit when the other dog corrects her (if you think the correction is too harsh - anal expression seems a bit of a BIG response to an appropriate dog-dog correction).

If you see her getting scared and can distract her to something else, you might be able to avoid the anal expression... but your timing would have to be pretty near perfect...