IDK, I'm missing something.... If I can feel the glands, then they are full. I express them. If I cannot feel the glands, that means they're empty, and I can't express them, as there's nothing to express. I usually check them if my dog(s) are acting weird. If they're acting weird, and the glands are full, I express them. I don't express them all the time, only when it's needed. I check them during bath time, I feel for the telltale bumps at 5 & 7 O'clock.

If a dog is having anal gland problems (chronic fullness, spontaneous releasing, dripping), then his anal glands need to be monitored to prevent a more serious problem, like impaction or abscessing, which require surgery and antibiotics.

In my experience, a dog with a chronic problem may need to be checked every few days, to make sure the glands are being emptied as the dog defecates. Peek went through a period where I did express his every week when I first got him. I believe it was caused from a change in diet, and he had a mild infection so he was on antibiotics. Once his body adjusted to the changes, his anal glands went back to functioning normally on their own, for the majority of the time.

If a dog's anal glands are always full, then there is a problem.

Oh, thanks for bumping up this thread. I needed to reread it! :)

I voted before but I do it either externally or internally as needed.
The vet would only do it if I thought they were infected. I don't like paying somebody to do something so easy.:)

How does one do it internally w/out bruising or hurting the dog? Help.

Little hands, tiny fingers! :D Espressing the anal glands should never result in bruising of any kind when done correctly.

Bruising? Yikes! lol.
you might Google some videos. I find externally works well for ours. But..it is really jst a matter ofputting one finger in the hole and the thumb on the outside against the goand. Your vet can show you too.

Haha! This is gross but pucker your lips, then insert your finger between your lips just far enough to reach down and to the side and pinch your cheek with your finger inside your mouth and your thumb outside on your cheek.

When you do the glands on a dog, the glands are right there, no further in than the first finger joint (not past the first knuckle)...

Do you use a surgical glove and KY jelly? It just seems like it could hurt him! I do have very, very small hands, thank goodness, but I'm just not sure I could do that to him. I can externally to it though it didn't fully work this time. Even after getting - ewwww - liquid out when I did them, the vet said his anals were full when she got him. But I might watch some videos on internal expressing and see if I could work up the courage. He's only 6 lbs., 9 inches tall and 9 inches long and I'm just so scared I might bruise him even with my small fingers as I'm not sure how much pressure is required. Oh, lordy, I might just leave the internals to the vet the more I think about it. I'm such a wuss where he's concerned.

Talk about feeling better - he's just barked and barked at me until we went through all his training commands over and over - again, doing his tricks all on his own to bait me. And then he barked more and more at me to train some more. I kept telling him "no" and he would lie down for a while and then try me out again. Finally, I got out his toothbrush and he went into his airline carrier. For a while - now he's at me again, rolling over and sitting up all on his own, wanting more training! :) :) :) This is my "old" Tibbe.

oh yes, gloves and lube are standard equipment! Has Tibbe ever pooped out what you thought was a huge BM for him? Think of your finger as reverse pooping, lol. I insert my finger extremely slowly, I spend more time on that that I do the actual expression. As for force, less than it takes to pop a pimple. If the gland won't empty, release the pressure and roll it slowly back or forward, sometimes the duct will be blocked by your finger or thumb.

Haha... too funny about the toothbrush! Really glad he's doing well!

This is an interesting thread! I'm almost tempted to watch some videos and try it next time Couver starts dragging his bum. I always take him to the vet when they are bothering him, but I'm wondering if it's something I could figure out...

My 3 all do it on their own, so we don't express them manually.

Mandie has never needed it..so far anyway.

'Bruising' lolll!
Only Mimi has to have her's expressed externally, by me (vet taught me how)...I used to express it once a week b4 her bath, but I don't do it anymore. Bc I read that it can do more harm than good. She'll let me know by licking her bum area. Another way I can tell is by her poopie, if it's really skinny & thin, it means her anal glands are full, but that rarely happens. I've also noticed that certain food/ protein makes her glands fill up more...like fish in kibble. She doesn't do well w/ that, but does excellent on fresh fish that I occasionally boil for them. Now I only express it once about 3 weeks - a month. I will have the vet check it every time we go in from now on, Mimi had one gland that was impacted & it was pasty.

My other 3 never needs it expressed. Princess did need it expressed when she ate fish based kibble too (Mimi licks Princess' bum loll!), so we avoid that now.

Tink has never had any problems with this. I guess she does it on her own.