SCOOTING....TRUCKING....FLOTBOT....  are terms  used when  describing the action of a dog dragging its bottom along the floor.  These are all names for what your dog does when it has an itchy bum that can be caused by impacted anal glands. 

One of the most familiar signs of anal sac problems is scooting across the floor on its bottom.  Other symptoms are when they lick their bottoms more than usual or the bottom is red and sore and sometimes looks inflamed. In the most extreme cases, there is a discharge and of course, the most distinguished symptom is the' pong'.  You spend the first few days telling your poor dog that "it stinks."  The dog doesn't know why, but it has tried to tell you by displaying all the signs of flotbot.  Now its up to you to sort it for them.

Dogs have an amazing sense of smell, that is why they spend so much of their time with their noses close to the ground.  What they are looking for are traces of other dogs.  Whenever a dog goes to the toilet, they release small amounts of fluid from the anal sacs.  The strong smell of the fluid is unique to each dog, rather like a thumb print is to a human being.  It is smelly doggy graffitti  for "I WOZ 'ERE!" This is how they mark their territory and also to identify each other - that is why they sniff each other's bottoms.

A healthy dog normally empties and refills its anal sacs every day by pushing out good, solid, healthy ' toulouse-like sausages'.  When the stools are not firm enough, they are not able to exert enough pressure to empty the sacs.  Thus a dog with constantly loose stools will end up with impacted anal glands and a red and itchy bottom. If you don't take the dog to the vet to have the glands emptied, you then get into a situation where the dog can get infected anal glands they have to be surgically removed.  We know of a dog that had this operation done several years ago and poor boy, he is now a social pariah in the dog community. All the other dogs he meets ignore him completely because,  he has no scent and he leaves no scent. Aww! shame! innit!

Heaven alone knows how this has affected his little doggy ego, but I do feel very sorry for him. And all because, for many years, the owners kept saying  "Oh! he has been doing that for as long as we have had him."

Anal gland problems are like a little warning light going on in a car. It is a sign that something is going wrong somewhere in the body.  I wouldn't recommend emptying your dog's anal glands yourself because it takes an experienced person, like a vet, to know where or how hard to squeeze, but the moment you see them licking furiously, scooting across the carpet or kitchen floor and beginning to smell, that's when you should consider a visit to the vet.

I have several remedies that I use on my dogs before taking them to the vet. The easiest one is to add cooked carrots and broccoli, mashed up, into their food every day. This fibre absorbs water in the intestines and makes them do a harder stool. This puts pressure on the anal sacs and helps them to empty. Many times the adition of veggies to the food solves the problems of 'flotbot',  but if the dog is still scooting across the floor, then it really is time to visit the vet.

Another way of keeping your dog free of 'flotbot' is to add a spoonful of  crushed up bran flakes in its food (supermarket's own brand of Bran Flakes will do just fine).  I grind some up and keep it in a container so that its easy to sprinkle some onto the food.  I also add a teaspoon of cod liver oil, good olive oil or Omega 3 oil to their dish  just  to keep the glands nicely lubricated.

Smearing a little vaseline on the red and sore area gives them some relief from the itching. It can't be much fun having an itchy bottom and no way of relieving it unless you get help from a caring human.

Do you have any home remedies to stop 'flotbot"?  Share them with us because the dog community loves to hear how different people look after their dogs.  Sometimes you read of a remedy and think "Now why didnt I think of that?"

Every week I try and search out  *videos featuring dogs that are funny, cute or clever.  Here's one I found earlier that I thought would brighten your day......week even!
(* Click on videos and the link will come up).

Until the next posting, enjoy the fine, sunny weather we are having this week.  It is after all, only the month of March so dont be lulled into a false sense of summer yet.

Until next week's blog...... toodle-do!

Dawn xx :)