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Originally Posted by orchid25  Have you done this? What are the signs that it is time to do this? How often is this done? Do they even need it done? |
I have a yorkie and a yorkie mix, and they both need theirs done every couple of months. The yorkie lets me know when she keeps licking herself "down below." She was 8 years old when I got her and so I didn't know what that licking meant at first. When I noticed she'd licked herself to the point her skin was raw, I took her to the vet who diagnosed this VERY simple fix. The yorkie mix does the scooting behavior that others have described.
A word of caution, anal glands can get impacted and infected and in the worst cases - even rupture - if they don't drain on their own when your dog defecates, or else if they aren't expressed manually when they are full. Your vet can show you how to do it so that you don't injure your dog. It's not difficult but most of my friends find it a rather "distasteful" task and prefer to have it done by the vet. My vet does it as a walk-in, I don't need an appointment. I just hand them over to the vet tech, she's back with them in a few minutes and is about $12 each. Groomers can also do it as part of their grooming service, but they usually squeeze from the outside and this method doesn't always drain the glands completely.
My yorkie seems particularly sensitive, and will start licking even when the vet tech reports that the glands were not very full. One of the admins at the vet said her dog needs hers done every three weeks. Every dog is different.