Anal glands.. do bones help?

My pup/dog (11 months) has just had her anal glands emptied. She has 'leaked' in the house about 5 times and after speaking to a vet nurse they suggested I had them expressed.

The lady that did it said that small dogs (she's 13kg) are more prone to it as they are fed on softer foods resulting in softer stools, which mean that it is harder for them to express small amounts when they defecate. She's fed on a dry kibble (no different to my big dogs, but have never had a problem there). She did say they were full though!

Anyway, she said I should give her a bone once a week which will solidify stools? I bought her 2 bones today so hope it helps

Anyone else know if this will help or have any other suggestions as to how to keep them emtied.. she suggested I get them done every other month too. What do other people do?! I'm new to this!!

If poos are firm they squeeze the glands as they pass, helping to empty them.
If your dog has poos so soft, I would be looking at her diet anyway, tbh. Different foods suit different dogs, so it could be that what suits your other dog doesn`t suit this one?
I have always given my dogs raw chicken wings - one or two a day, which kept the poos firmer and also cleaned the teeth.

Her stools are not really soft. The first one of the day is usually a good solid poo although subsequent ones can be a bit softer (I would not go as far as to say runny).
I have tried her on a few foods, Pro plan, JWB, ND etc and her poos don't seem to change. Do you think I should be looking in to other foods? I prefer not to mix wet food in and she can be a bit picky about what she will eat dry.

I bought her a ham bone and knuckle bone.. will these be as good as chicken wings?

When Cain was on kibble he had a very sensitive stomach and produced soft poos. As a result his had some anal gland issues. He'd produce the most awful metallic smell and would be licking his back end a lot as it leaked. Since changing to raw, he very rarely has any problems. He has once or twice but it's lasted a few hours and gone away after he's done a poo and expressed his glands himself, it's not a regular problem at all anymore. I'm convinced it's because he has more solid poos.

The problem with the ham and knuckle bone I'd that they are not very digestible, mostly for chewing not eating. You'd be better off bunging them a couple of raw chicken wings or ribs which should make the poos a bit more solid as dogs will actually eat them. Another option is raw carrots, these don't digest will and come out as they went in. I find the carrot chunks help firm up poos a bit too (oh dont we have lovely conversations on here at times )

Yep, such lovely conversations

Thats interesting he does much better on a raw diet. It is something I will consider in the future, but at the moment sadly I simply don't have the fridge/freezer space - sounds silly but there's barely enough room for my food!

I will get some wings or ribs when I'm next at the shops.. that's a worry ham bones aren't too digestable as she pretty much destroyed it in about 30 mins so hope she's ok

How often do you think she should have bones? Also someone I know mentioned adding bran to the diet?

The issue with ham bones is of course ham is COOKED so therefore so is the bone!

Cooked bones should NEVER be given.

Bran can help some dogs.

Hi, years ago in Holland I had a pyrenean who had the same problem. My vet at that time recomended to give her a hard boiled egg with the shell ( crushed ) mixed into her food, once a week. She had the problem where as my Leonberger never had it and they were fed the same food. Some dogs are just more prone to it then other dogs ( like humans and their problems really). She still had the glands emptied once in a while but not nearly as often as before. Eventually it never had to be done again. Even now I still give my dogs the egg.. maybe not once a week but still on a regular basis and never have had any more gland problems. Good luck. Eva x

My dogs have at least one chicken wing a day. Except the rugrat who gets poultry necks.

Willow used to have problems with her anal glands needing to be expressed in the first few months we had her. I changed her over to a raw diet and never had to get them expressed since; that's about five years ago.

I started them off on chicken wings once a day and never intended to fully raw feed, and look where I ended up. Never looked back, best thing I ever did for all my dogs.

How silly I didn't even think about it being cooked. Luckily she seems ok but will avoid them from now on. Are kucle bones cooked too?

That's intersting, is it to do with the calcium which solidifys stools then? Last time i gave her egg (cooked) she was sick but could always try again

What is the difference feeding poultry neck and wings.. are the bones much softer in the neck? I have read elsewhere chicken bones cooked or raw shouldn't be given but notice on here lots of people are happy to do it.. no problems ever?

I think from all the reccomendations of chicken wings or ribs I will give them a go.. I am interested in feeding raw but as I said cant do so atm, although I guess chicken wings give me an idea to how much she likes raw or not