Foul, disgusting topic, but please read anyway!

[Bridget and Lupin]

Tonight I smelled a smell the likes of which I have never smelled before.  Something akin to rotting fish, but worse...more like rotting fish tangled in rotting seaweed marinating in a toxic spill.  It seemed to appear out of nowhere and drift through the house like that Dracula movie when Dracula turns himself into a vapor.  I was going nuts...sniffing and stumbling from room to room like a crazed bloodhound...desperate to find the source and bleach the hell out of it. 

Then I saw it.  A small, seemingly innocuous puddle of dirty water on the wood floor.  But the smell emanating from it....there are hardly words. I have NO idea why but it suddenly occurred to me that this was the dreaded anal glad secretion.  I have sanitized the floors...all of them bc you never know...and her ass, but how in the name of all that is good and pure do I keep this from ever happening again?  She goes to the groomer and presumably they deal with this and I've never had this happen with dogs in the past.

I know its gross, so very gross, but I'm hoping someone has some suggestions.  Thanks for reading! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I never have my dogs anal glands expressed by the groomer. Increase the fiber in Lupin's diet. She should be able to keep the glands from overfilling. If you need to have the glands expressed have the vet do it. They do it internally as opposed to externally as the groomer does. That is the better way to do it. Once in a rare while Calla will scoot. Dogs should not need to have the glands expressed and the more you do it the more you may need to do it. Of course some dogs have a problem.

[Bridget and Lupin]

Thanks.  Can you recommend a good fiber supplement?  I'll be sure and tell her groomer to leave well enough alone from here on out. 

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Buy a bag of frozen cut green beans.  Microwave about 1/2 to 1 cup and add it to her meal.  It is also good for bulk when needing to cut back on their kibble if they need to lose weight.  Make sure the beans are not hot when you add them though...you don't want to burn your baby's mouth!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I know some people add cooked green beans to their dog food. But I haven't added extra fiber myself. Sweet potatoes and pumpkin can help too. I am sure others will chime in.

[BG and Gavin]

Your post/picture made me chuckle.  I have never had this issue, nor do I want it lol.  A high quality dog food to start, with no fillers.  Try adding veggies that are high in fibre like sweet potatoes, pumpkin or squash.  You want good firm stools.  Karen will have more advice.  Check out the food group.

[Bridget and Lupin]

Thanks.  I'll try the green beans.  Oh, and she eats Blue Buffalo Life Protection food. 

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Gracie is grain free and eats Acana kibble mixed with Honest Kitchen which is natural dried food that we hydrate with water along with her green beans.  Her treats are made by Honest Kitchen as well.  She almost always has nice poops and hardly ever has that "horrible" odor but every now and then, she will have it for a few hours.  Just part of a dog's life I am afraid.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, she needs to see the vet and have her anal glands expressed. This happened to one of my dogs once, and a subsequent vet visit revealed that the glands were impacted. They expressed them, I adjusted her diet, and it never happened again. 

Don't let the vet sell you Rx food. Do see the vet, though, to have the glands checked and most likely, expressed. When this happens, usually the glands are full, which means they are not being expressed regularly and normally when she has bowel movements. 

If you want to stay with Blue Buffalo, try switching to the Wilderness grain-free formula. That will increase the fiber by more than 50%. The other suggestions here of adding green beans, pumpkin, and/or sweet potatoes to her diet are also good. Canned green beans labeled "no sodium added" and wamred slightly are the most appealing to dogs and the easiest for them to digest. 

And so tell the groomer to leave the anal glands alone. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I've never had this happen, although I do smell a strong, foul odor near Oscar's bottom from time to time. I assume it has something to do with his anal glands, but I leave them alone (and now that I'm doing my own grooming I know the 'groomer' isn't expressing them!). The smell disappears after a few days on its own (I am so very thankful!). Everyone has given you great advice. I hope Lupin checks out okay.

[Leslie J]

There is hope- in addition to the dietary changes, many dogs outgrow the anal gland problems. I think Cocoa stopped having problems by 18 months. I also made sure she ate twice a day, and produced decent sized poops so the pooping process would help express the glands.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Please see your vet about this. Chloe had MANY issues as a puppy-probably her first whole year. She was getting expressed frequently by our vet because she had issues. We never had what you did as far as a puddle, she was just always licking and it was inflamed. Our vet suggested having surgery to remove her glands! Time to find a new vet-so we went to another and he asked if they ever did an infusion shot? Nope! He took her downstairs and gave her one and have not had any problems since. So do not let your groomer do this ( we never had) some dogs just have issues, some grow out of it and some need help like Chloe did. So if it gets extreme I'm sure your vet would know when to intervene. Good luck, I know it's gross but I'm sure it will improve.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Are Lupin's stools consistently firm?  If they are, and you still had this problem there may be something else going on and I would talk to the Vet.  My Murphy has occasional IBS episodes and his stools are runny for a few days....that always leads to anal gland issues for him and I have to go to the Vet to have them expressed.  I can always tell when a problem is developing because he won't "scoot" but he will lick his anal area.  When his stools are firm he's able to express the anal glands naturally as he poops, but when he has the runny BMs this does not happen and they get full.  Karen is right, if it isn't taken care of they can become impacted.  That happened once with Murphy (and it happened in just one day) and it required that he be put under so that they could go in, clean them out, and make sure there was no trace of infection.