This morning Molly scrunched her bottom on the ground, pulling herself forward by front feet, you know the sort of thing. I've only seen dogs do this who have either impacted/sore anal glands or are wormy. Molly is being regularly wormed and there is no sign of worms. Is it possible she has anal gland problems at this age? I would have thought she's too young, 14 weeks today, but I don't really know. Has anyone any thoughts as to why she's doing this or is it something I need to talk to the vet about?
I would bring her to the vet. My 7 month old lab has some anal gland issues at the moment. He had them dealt with and he stopped butt scooting and licking but it's been two weeks and it looks like he needs to go back to the vet to have them done again. My other dog Odie always butt scoots so it's hard to know when it's because of anal glands. Sadly because he does it so much I didn't notice until he had an anal gland abscess and it had burst at home so now when butt scooting starts I take them to the vet to be safe
Sometimes they just have a momentarily itchy bottom. I'd wait to see if she does it again soon, and if she does then consult with the vet. But if she doesn't do it again in the next day or so then I wouldn't worry.
they do get itchy bums and they have no hands. If it gets to be a problem then speak to the vet my dogs have no worms and have no anal gland problems and the will scratch their bums on stuff. The most eye watering is the gravel on the garden
Willow does it from time to time, especially if she has an upset tummy. I wouldn't worry about it unless it is a regular thing, in which case, you're definitely best speaking to your vet.
Thanks everyone, your replies are much appreciated. I think I'll wait and see if she does it again in the next couple of days, and get it checked out if she does. Quite understand your advice Kelsey&Axel on the basis of your experience, thank you.
Quinn was butt scooting and licking (her breath was terrible) on and off around 15 weeks...we took her to the vet a few weeks later and she had her glads expressed and has been fine ever since. We also discovered worms at 6 months, despite de-worming so we aren't sure if it was related, as she may have had worms for some time before we discovered them. Just keep an eye out and call the vet for advice.
Oh, thanks QuinnM15, that confirms that they can get anal gland problems at this sort of age. Worrying about the worms though, despite worming That is bad news, does that mean some treatments aren't working or is it possible to mis-apply the treatment? I'll certainly keep a close watch.
Re worms...apparently it is very easy for dogs to pick up worms at any age as the eggs of some types of worms can last for a very long time in all weather conditions and it can happen as easily as the puppy stepping somewhere with these eggs and licking paws! She was de-wormed at breeder and 2 more treatments when we got her home, so likely she picked them up sometime after her last set of shots. She had her first heart worm treatment in May, which we apply ourselves monthly spring to fall and this must have killed the worms, as we then saw one in her stool and brought a sample to the vet. She had zero symptoms such as dull fur, loss of energy, slow weight gain....the only thing we noticed was after her spay she took a little longer to recover than average and had mucus in her stool (which can also be a sign of worms, but is also common due to stress from spay, so we'll never really know). The vet prescribed another round of oral de-worming, same as when she was a puppy and we are to get a stool sample tested to ensure the treatment worked.
