Ugh.....anal sacs

[Boobearsmom]

Ok, so Boo woke up in the middle of the night last night and I let her in bed with me.  About 3am she decided she didn't have enough of the bed and stretched out so I was left with a whole 1/2 inch square of room, but when she moved, I got a whiff of this horrendous odor, something between poop, landfill, 2 week old roadkill with a sprinkling of tuna fish juice.  UGH!!!!!!!  I realized she had been kind enough to emtpy an anal sac.  Needless to say, I rolled over the other way on my 1/2 inch square, buried my head in the pillow and tried to make my eyes stop watering.  I'm now convinced if the US had filled bombs with anal sac juice, there wasn't a war that couldn't have been won in two days.  Please tell me dogs doing this is a normal thing, or should I take her to the vet?    I swear I smell like it now at work. 

[my3dogs]

Ugh....the dreaded smell.  Isn't it terrible?!?!?   
Even a small drop can smell forever.

I hope she doesn't mind me giving out her name but Marit (mastiffmommy) has always come to my resue when I've had anal sac/gland issues.  She the guru. 

I didn't even know what an anal sac was until I adopted Daisy.


Good luck.

-Wendy

[Perdi's Mom]

It's funny, but I've never had any of the 'pleasure' that ya'll have had with anal sac smells!  I am soooo thankful too...now watch, next week I'll get my just for bragging about not ever having to smell what sounds like a wretched stench! 

[greek4]

I empty my dog's anal sacs on bath day.  It's not too bad, you will get used to it.

[Boobearsmom]

I empty my dog's anal sacs on bath day.  It's not too bad, you will get used to it.

Is this something I should be asking her groomer to do?  I was under the impression she did it on her own when going to the bathroom.  And if her groomer does it already, I am sooooo glad I give her a tip!!

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Ask your groomer. Most offer the service, and they charge for it. Usually it is a problem in Small breeds, the BPO's usually take care of it naturally but it does happen and it does stink.

[Newf Lover]

Ok this is gross, but I have to share.  So last night we noticed that Drake REALLY reeked.  We have never expressed his anal sac, because he has never stank so badly before.  Well, while I was cooking dinner, Sarah and my sister-in-law Katie went down to the garage with rubber gloves to do the deed.  Katie used to do it all the time on her Golden Retriever so she was going to show Sarah how to do it.  Before long I heard screaming and gagging coming from the garage and I knew something nasty had happened.  Katie, who had just finished work and was still in her business suit, pressed on the anal sac and a whole bunch of the "stuff" sprayed all over her chest and FACE!!!  She was so grossed out and poor Drake ran away like he had done something wrong.  Katie says she has never had anything so gross ever happen to her before.  I guess Drake had a lot to get out and boy did it ever get out!  I think we'll have our vet or our groomer do it in the future.  YUCK!!! 

[GR8DAME]

Ok this is gross, but I have to share.  So last night we noticed that Drake REALLY reeked.  We have never expressed his anal sac, because he has never stank so badly before.  Well, while I was cooking dinner, Sarah and my sister-in-law Katie went down to the garage with rubber gloves to do the deed.  Katie used to do it all the time on her Golden Retriever so she was going to show Sarah how to do it.  Before long I heard screaming and gagging coming from the garage and I knew something nasty had happened.  Katie, who had just finished work and was still in her business suit, pressed on the anal sac and a whole bunch of the "stuff" sprayed all over her chest and FACE!!!  She was so grossed out and poor Drake ran away like he had done something wrong.  Katie says she has never had anything so gross ever happen to her before.  I guess Drake had a lot to get out and boy did it ever get out!  I think we'll have our vet or our groomer do it in the future.  YUCK!!! 

LMAO!!! I am sorry for laughing, but there are days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed...and that would be one!
Stella

[Nina]

LMAO poor SIL, Gladly I haven't had to do Harley's (knock on wood) and if it ever has to be done, I think we'll take her to the vet to get it done.


Nina

[Boobearsmom]

Oh my, I'm laughing at your poor sister-in-law's expense.

That is exactly why I took Jack to the vet last saturday to have that very thing done.  Whew, did he ever stink up that exam room.  They were training a new vet tech and she was not even very excited about her first observation of a Great Dane having his anal glands expressed.  I gladly paid the $10 to let someone else do it.

Tina

How often do you take Jack to have it done?  The $10 would be worth it at the vet to not have to spend the entire night washing all my sheets and blankets!

[andtron]

    what??  anal sacs??  what the heck are anal sacs?  I've never noticed this/smelled this/had no concept what it was and I've had 2 shepherds, a husky and now a Dobie.  Where do I find these... "anal sacs" and how do I uhm... take care of them? 

[my3dogs]

   what??  anal sacs??  what the heck are anal sacs?  I've never noticed this/smelled this/had no concept what it was and I've had 2 shepherds, a husky and now a Dobie.  Where do I find these... "anal sacs" and how do I uhm... take care of them? 

If you don't know about them.....thank your lucky stars, close the thread, walk slowly away, and never speak of them again.   Run while you can....RUN!!!!!

Ahhh....to still be anal sac/gland innocent......*sigh*

Seriously..... if your dog doesn't have issues then don't worry about them. 
Jilly and Jack never had an issue so I never even knew what they were.


Forgot to add this link to a site that explains anal sacs and even has a nifty cartoon animation...ug h!
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_anal_sacs.html

[andtron]

Well, Astro's only been with me since late November.  I haven't noticed anything yet.  Is there an age when these things start to ... pop up? 

[my3dogs]

I add a website to my last post.  Sorry I forgot it the first around.
I adopted Daisy this past June.  She was 5.5 months.   The awful smell started around aug/sept.   I had no idea what it was.   Smelled like poo/old fish/rot/garbage....it was awful.   And all it takes is a tiny drop to smell horrible so sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where it's coming from if you've never smelled it before.   
The dog may scoot it's bottom across the floor although Daisy doesn't do this.
Daisy does lick a lot more which is another indication that the sacs are full. 

I hope your pup has healthy sacs that never need any tending to.   

[andtron]

   I'm still floored by the whole thing.  Knock on wood I never have to take to the glove though I suspect I'd join the club and gladly pay 10$ to have the services rendered by a third party.  Yeah, that sounds like a better plan.  Yep.  Definitely.  Will forget I read this thread, unless I smell something rank in the air.