Scooting

[Heather]

I think there may have been some threads about this, but I could not find any.

Lately, Hans, 5 yr old neutered male, has been scooting. Only about once a day. I was at the vet last week and noticed they had a sign that said, is your dog scooting, this could be a problem, and I forgot to ask.

What causes this, is it serious? What do I do about it?

Thanks.

[Meemoo]

Hi-

This usually isn't a serious problem. The problem you describe is when their anal sacs get full and they can't express them on their own. This is very common especially in little dog breeds. A vet or even a groomer can do this once and show you how to do it. It's not a big deal to do it once you know how. This scooting is to relieve the discomfort the dog is experiencing. It can even be painful for him. Sometimes you can smell a rather foul odor from the dog, which is indicative of his glands needing to be expressed. Some dogs don't ever get it, while others it is a chronic problem.

Hope this helps.

Loren

[dox_no3]

Hi Heather,

One very common cause of this is full anal sac(s). Your vet can express them and/or you can learn to do it yourself if you're up to it. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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Julie & Bugsy
/===//V..V

[Krista]

Could be one of three things.

He needs his anal sacks expressed
--could be seriously licking anal area.
--might have a funny *fishy* smell coming from the area.


He has worms.
-you'll need to have a stool sample taken in to tell if that's it.

Or just "itchy butt" -seems that sometimes when their stool is not as firm as usual that they scoot to clean off any remaining poop that clings when they go.