A Stinky Answer…Anal Sacs

“My doggie smells…I bathe him regularly, but he still smells. What’s wrong with him?” A common question…a stinky answer. First you should request that your veterinarian do a thorough check-up to ensure that there isn’t a health issue which is causing an odor to emit from your pooch. If your pooch has received a “clean bill of health”, then that foul odor you might be noticing may be due to overly full anal sacs.

What are anal sacs? Anal sacs are two hollow structures that serve as a holding place for unpleasant, very distinctly stinky secretions which are excreted by a multitude of anal glands situated into the lining of the anal sacs. Every dog breed has one pair (2 sacs) which are located between the circular anal sphincter at about the 4 and 8 o’clock position of the anus.  Many pooches can empty these sacs themselves via a bowel movement. The pressure of a bowel movement may cause these glands to secrete. Sometimes the pooch will drag his/her “hinie” across the grass (and, unfortunately, sometimes across your carpet) in an attempt to squeeze these sacs and empty them. At one time, the secretions from these sacs may have been useful for personal identification and territorial marking…but for the domesticated dog, these sacs no longer serve any useful purpose. In fact, for some pooches, these sacs can be a source of health problems, ie: abscess, impaction, sacculitis, tumors. If you’re a brave pet parent, you can learn to empty these sacs for your pooch while you are bathing him/her (here’s a pointer for you: direct the “hinie” away from you…otherwise you’re going to get a very unpleasant surprise squirted at you). For those of you who are squeamish about the subject/procedure, you can ask your veterinarian or professional groomer to do it.  Ideally, the emptying of anal sacs should be done during the bathing process, externally only, by a professional groomer, and only when the sacs are full. Milking these sacs unnecessarily could cause scarring of the tissue so a reputable, experienced, grooming establishment will only attempt to empty them if the sacs can be palpated during the bathing process. Internal expression of sacs should only be done by a veterinarian. Your pooch may “scoot” a little after the bathing/grooming process because he/she may feel a little “itchy”. If the “scooting” continues, you should consult your veterinarian as there may be something more intense going on in/around the anal area. So, that is the answer to that very stinky question. Love, Norma