Source
r/NoStupidQuestions•
HummingArrow

Do female dogs have anal glands?

NSFWUnanswered

I worked for a bout a year as a kid in a grooming business and not one single female dog I had to wash I was told to express anal glands. Part of my training was that “female dogs do not have anal glands.”

I saw on another post a dog shitting directly on a fence and the comments led me to believe I was living a lie my entire life and the three dogs (female) I’ve had to put down (old age) in the last year, never got the satisfaction having a free flowing anus.

How should I handle this with the business that we still frequent for our dogs today? Is anti-fem-gland a thing I will have to break up years of loyalty over?

Posted Apr 8, 2021, 3:16 AM UTC · edited

19
MoulinSarah•

They do

2
HummingArrowOP•

Do all dogs need it? The reply not mine to your comment suggests maybe not?

2
MoulinSarah•

No, they don’t need it, honestly. Constantly messing with them each grooming can cause them to become inflamed and be a problem. In the history of dogs on the planet, and even wild dogs, do you think people squeezed their sacs for them? Lol no. They are fine on their own.

2
HummingArrowOP•

But what if this is causing (constipation?) discomfort while she’s shitting? Like she’ll shit the main turd then almost howl at that last little bit.

Kinda just squats here and lets out sighs of discomfort.

1
MoulinSarah•

Does she butt-scoot on the floor? That is them releasing their own sacs if necessary.

1
MoulinSarah•

I never get my female dog’s expressed because she hates it. She will flip out and then refuse to walk or poop or pee or do anything for days.

1
xoCuntBetch•

All dogs have anal glands

1
Beccaben•

All dogs have anal glands. They are expressed naturally when the dog poops and the poop squeezes the glands - a smear of gland 'juice' down each side of the poop. If the dog has soft or tiny poops or the glands are not quite in the right place or blocked, the glands don't get emptied.Then they might get over filled, inflamed and uncomfortable - that's when the dog will scoot it's bum on the ground. If you put on a plastic glove and feel either side of the anus, a little way away, on the fur. Push in gently and squeeze your fingers in towards eachother - you might feel a little ball either side of the anus, a little into the body (not on the surface). Those are the glands. If they are hard and your dog is showing discomfort - they need expressing. If the dog is not showing discomfort - do not express just for the sake of doing it. You may well cause problems. I have 3 dogs, 1(f) never needs it, 1 (m) needs it every 6 months and 1 (f) almost every week.

1