Nibbly Butt

[flux]

Hi all,

I've noticed that when Riley, our 8 month old Bord.Coll. x Goldn.Ret. gets to finally sit with us quietly in the loungeroom - the first thing he does is what seems like initiation of a massive groom. It makes some sense to me, after winding down after a big day in comfy surrounds to be on a soft mat to start "preening", but Riley seems to take it a step further. Whenever he gets let through to the loungeroom, or even gets the priviledge of a cuddle, or sits on a new towel etc the grooming starts. I mean butt nibbling, leg nibbling, bits licking, feet investigating. Seems to go one for quiet a while too. Our other dog of course grooms herself but does not attack it with such ferocity and is a little more "normal" about it, and grooming won't necessarily start when on comfy/fresh grounds. I seem to remember an old family pet that was possibly the same cross having the same tendancy. Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm going to give him a bath soon in skin sensitive shampoo to see if his skin was just irritated by the fabrics. It's just a bit gross, I don't mind some settling down, but he's noisy and stinky about it all. We've had an anal gland pop (just my expression, not literally) before which was just foul and has made us re-consider if he should be intergrated into more of a kitchen and outside dog. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as always

[persephone]

If his anal glands emptied.. then I would suggest trying to fix the problem, rather than putting the dog outside.

Anal glands are emptied normally when the dog poos. IF the poo is a good size, and hard enough.. it will help squeeze out the glands .Of course, diet is responsible for this - so perhaps his diet needs to be changed a bit?

Anal glands can also easily be emptied regularly by a vet ,or an owner - once you learn how - only takes a minute .

[Kirty]

Sounds like he is itchy. If his flea treatment is up to date (and working) then I would be looking at grasses and plants, his diet, etc.

[poochmad]

I agree with persephone, you need to fix the problem (which to me sounds like there is one) rather than just ignoring it by putting him outside. If he needs assistance with the anal gland you can do this yourself or get the vet to do it (as it's foul) if it's only going to be every now and again. Regarding his nibbling sounds like something is bothering him. Have you checked the area, does he have a rash or any sores? Does he have fleas? It could be grass or food allergy. Talking to your vet can assist, at least to narrow down the problem - he could even have a yeast infection, which can affect the skin.

[flux]

Thanks guys,

Off to the vet soon. No fleas or flea dirt I can spot, and no red bottom (he wiggles too much to tell thoroughly though) and just to be very clear, I was never intending on banishing this dog to the outside garden and ignoring the problem. I must have written it pretty badly, what I meant was I was considering banning him from our carpeted areas, pretty much indefinitely until a solution was found. I was pretty stressed at the time of typing. As I type now he is by my feet, nibbling away.

He eats science diet and occaisional pro-peak, bones and fish heads. I am thinking it might be a shampoo or plant allergy thing - or I could be terrible at finding flea evidence - hence the vet. I more wondered if anyone knew of nibbling as a behavioural thing. I am starting to consider this might be another of Riley's obsessed/boredom things o_O. Trainer after the vet maybe.