My 5 Mths Old Puppy Is Having An Itchy Backside... O.o

[Wing]

My 5mths old puppy recently developed this habit to drag himself on the carpet... scratching his anus area.. and sometimes I put him on my lap on the sofa and somehow I found that he smells really bad at that particular area... I heard that they have this kind of thing need to excrete somehow.. and you can actually help them make it happen, but I really have no idea how to do it, and are there any ways to help him letting it out by himself??? Please help my poor puppy... I'm very worried that if I don't do anything about it then it would became something serious...

[VJB]

Sounds like anal glands need emptying. You can get your vet to do it. Is your dog up to date with worming medications?

[Wing]

Sounds like anal glands need emptying. You can get your vet to do it. Is your dog up to date with worming medications?

Yes he is... so I should bring him to the vet to empty it? How often should I do that?

[Danois]

Its called anal glands. Do not try and express them yourself - a quick trip to the vet nurse will have them done there. It is not a pleasant smell.

Some puppies can take longer to grow into their anal passage therefore they do not get emptied naturally when they pass stools. It can also be a sign that he needs more raw bone in his diet - firmer the stool, the better natural emptying.

Nothing will happen per se if you do nothing - other than waking up at 3am with them expressed on your doona after they have let themselves off due to the dog moving or licking them.

There can sometimes be infections in anal glands - again, the vets will be able to tell this.

So no need to panic tonight - just go to the vets tomorrow and ask them to empty them for you. I had to get my dog's emptied every couple of weeks for a few months but he seems to have grown out of it.

[Wing]

Its called anal glands. Do not try and express them yourself - a quick trip to the vet nurse will have them done there. It is not a pleasant smell.

Some puppies can take longer to grow into their anal passage therefore they do not get emptied naturally when they pass stools. It can also be a sign that he needs more raw bone in his diet - firmer the stool, the better natural emptying.

Nothing will happen per se if you do nothing - other than waking up at 3am with them expressed on your doona after they have let themselves off due to the dog moving or licking them.

There can sometimes be infections in anal glands - again, the vets will be able to tell this.

So no need to panic tonight - just go to the vets tomorrow and ask them to empty them for you. I had to get my dog's emptied every couple of weeks for a few months but he seems to have grown out of it.

So as they grow up this anal glands problem will be gone? That's what you saying?

[Erny]

So as they grow up this anal glands problem will be gone? That's what you saying?

Assuming your pup's diet is good (resulting in firm - not rock hard, though) stools and in the absence of anything physically being wrong, then yes.

[becks]

Some dogs will need their anal glands emptying every so often, no matter what diet they are fed.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Diet can really help but yes, I had a dog that needed them doing every 6 wks or so in spite of an excellent diet.

He developed a serious disease at around 7 yrs and the anal glands issue was part of the disease.

Having fostered over 50 dogs in the last 4 years, I have come across many dogs with anal gland issues, eg they haven't ever been emptied or hardly ever, pretty easy to resolve and some only need it once or twice a year.

[Wing]

so a raw diet is the way to go yea? does raw diet including bones? cos wks ago i gave him lamb chops with bones, he ended up vomitting and diarrhea for two days, i was afraid to give him that ever since. i am thinking of adding cooked chicken breast into his dry food. Would that be helpful? Any suggestion?

[puggy_puggy]

Chicken necks, lamb flaps, kangaroo tails, lamb necks, turkey necks, whole fish. These are all good raw meaty bones to include in your dogs diet.

Did the lamb chops you gave have lots of fat on them? Were they cooked?

[Danois]

so a raw diet is the way to go yea? does raw diet including bones? cos wks ago i gave him lamb chops with bones, he ended up vomitting and diarrhea for two days, i was afraid to give him that ever since. i am thinking of adding cooked chicken breast into his dry food. Would that be helpful? Any suggestion?

Why cook the chicken? Go to Lennards and get minced chicken carcasses and feed that raw.

Feed chicken necks and wings - raw.

I would not give a lamb chop to a dog personally. Some dogs may also find lamb too rich - feed soft bones while they are young such as the chicken, maybe some lamb flap or beef brisket.

Were the lamb chops cooked? You should not give cooked bones to a dog as they can splinter and damage/ irritate intestines etc

It is not a case of raw being the way to go - it is a case of ensuring that your dog has some bone in its diet - usually in addition to dry food. Feeding a complete raw diet to a growing puppy takes quite a bit of research as you need to ensure that you feeding a balanced diet with all the right nutrients, vitamins, minerals and also with the correct protein/ fat ratio. Personally, I would feed a dry food until at least 12 months and then consider raw.

[Wing]

so a raw diet is the way to go yea? does raw diet including bones? cos wks ago i gave him lamb chops with bones, he ended up vomitting and diarrhea for two days, i was afraid to give him that ever since. i am thinking of adding cooked chicken breast into his dry food. Would that be helpful? Any suggestion?

Why cook the chicken? Go to Lennards and get minced chicken carcasses and feed that raw.

Feed chicken necks and wings - raw.

I would not give a lamb chop to a dog personally. Some dogs may also find lamb too rich - feed soft bones while they are young such as the chicken, maybe some lamb flap or beef brisket.

Were the lamb chops cooked? You should not give cooked bones to a dog as they can splinter and damage/ irritate intestines etc

It is not a case of raw being the way to go - it is a case of ensuring that your dog has some bone in its diet - usually in addition to dry food. Feeding a complete raw diet to a growing puppy takes quite a bit of research as you need to ensure that you feeding a balanced diet with all the right nutrients, vitamins, minerals and also with the correct protein/ fat ratio. Personally, I would feed a dry food until at least 12 months and then consider raw.

oh my god.. I have no idea i shouldn't feed cooked bones to my dog.. I felt so lucky that he is alright and it didn't hurt his intestines. But yea.. thanks for the advice.. I might just take it slowly and start to do some research on raw diet. Thanks so much for all the advice guys... =)