What’s worse than this: you have friends or family over (or even your boss!) and suddenly your little dog is walking across the living room carpet on two legs, dragging his bum.
Commonly called “Scooting” or “the bum walk” this behaviour usually signals full anal sacs.
Scooting means something’s wrong
If pictures of dogs’ ear infections and “Cherry Eye” haven’t done you in, there’s one more grooming and care issue to review for your Morkie: anal sacs. If your Morkie is scooting around or doing the bum-walk like this Yorkie, chances are:
- he has impacted or full anal sacs a.k.a. anal glands
- he’s suffering from anal sac inflammation – common in small dogs because the ducts which drain the anal sacs are so tiny
What ARE anal sacs?
- also called anal glands
- these little glands are filled with a deadly, gut wrenching stinky oily stuff
- found between the internal and external muscular rings of the anus
- not visible externally and not attached to the skin
What purpose do they serve?
- actually, experts can’t agree on why Mother Nature would create this ghastly little gland
- it could be that this is what the dog uses to mark his territory; after all it works for skunks who have THE most horrible anal sac smells in the world
Normally, anal sacs are drained in the regular course of
pooping. However, they can become impacted or plugged or irritated. That’s when you’ll notice excessive licking around the base of the tail (which is also a possible sign of fleas) or you’ll see the famous bum walk …which is just slightly more embarrassing than your dog humping your mother-in-law’s leg.
Emptying or expressing the anal glands
Most people prefer to leave this task to their veterinarian, vet tech or professional groomer…. I know I do. But if you’d really, really like to learn to do this yourself, by all means check out this site: How to Express a Dog’s Anal Glands.
Other causes of scooting
Overflowing anal glands are just once cause of your dog’s scooting. Others could include:
- parasites like fleas, ringworm or tapeworms
- food allergies
- constipation (high fiber food will make the poop bigger, typically emptying the anal sacs on the way)
- obesity – extra skin folds around the anus are prone to inflammation of the skin and anal sacs
If scooting is a big problem, you will want to check with your vet.