Why does my dog keep having anal gland problems? Is it her food?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 2 years and 4 months old | 50 lbs
My GS mix 2+yrs old has issues expressing her glands. We feed Taste of the Wild. Fed twice/day. When she was a puppy we added pumpkin to firm up her poo and it helped, about a Tbsp give or take. In last 6 months she has been having issues w/anal glands & we have taken her twice for expression at vet & I think she is needing it again. We give baby carrots, 2-3 daily as treats. I want to resolve this vs buying something to add to her food, any suggestions? Is she getting too much fiber?
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on October 29th, 2019
Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Anal glands are sometimes difficult to determine what causes them to fill up quickly and why they don't empty on their own. What we typically recommend is switching the diet completely to a different brand / formula and adding in supplementation for the anal glands such as Glandex (which can be purchased online). I've known Glandex to reduce the time between anal gland expressions by months and sometimes the diet switch alone makes a big difference. Try this for a few months and if the problem persists after, I would speak with your veterinarian about other options. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on February 8th, 2018
Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend using a supplement called Glandex to see if this lessens the anal gland issue. I have had great success using this supplement and it can be found quite easily online. If you are doing a food trial, I would give it at least 4-6 weeks to see if it will improve the problem. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on March 5th, 2019
If you have not tried a diet trial with a hydrolyzed protein diet, I recommend to try this for 12 weeks. During this time, you cannot allow Coley to eat any other food or treats. This will let you know if food allergy is present. You can also look for a product for anal gland health such as Glandex. Give it at least 3 weeks to take full effect. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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