ANAL GLANDS IN DOGS

 If you lift up your dog's tail and imagine that its bottom is the face of a clock, then sitting at approximately the four o'clock and eight o'clock position next to the anus, and nestled snugly inside a layer of muscle that forms the ring of the anus, are two anal glands.

They are egg-shaped, measure around 1-2 cm in length and with enough practice, anyone can feel them by running their fingers over the skin on either side of the anus.  The anal glands resemble balloons, with a thin glandular layer and a large central sac that fills with a distinct and very fishy-smelling liquid. 

A single duct runs out of each gland and opens onto the bare skin of the anus at the same four o'clock and eight o'clock positions.  When your dog's anal glands are functioning normally, then each time they toilet, the physical action of stool passing through the rectum and out of the anus, and the action of the anal muscle layer contracting around the glands, forces out a small amount of anal gland fluid.

This fluid covers some of your dogs stool and also remains on the skin of its anus.  Although all anal gland secretions just plain stink to us humans, they are in fact unique for each dog.  Think of their individual secretion as the PIN number on a credit card.  And this is the reason why dogs are far more interested in sniffing each other's backsides when they meet.  They're literally 'getting to know each other' by smell rather than sight!

When your dog's anal muscles are either incompetent (a common issue in small breed dogs), or overcompetent, or the ducts of the glands become blocked, the result is one of the following problems:

 - Blocked Anal Glands

 - Anal Sacculitis (inflamed glands)

 - Anal Gland Abscess

 - Impacted Anal Glands

 - Overcompetent or 'Loose' Anal Glands