It's time for a bath....

[Jane Austen]

Fido asked "We read in several books about anal gland cleaning. Is this necessary??"

Does anyone perform this chore themselves? Duchess sometimes sits and screws her butt into the ground. Is this an indication that she has impacted anal glands?

[ZdogZ]

Originally Posted by Jane Austen

Fido asked "We read in several books about anal gland cleaning. Is this necessary??"

Does anyone perform this chore themselves? Duchess sometimes sits and screws her butt into the ground. Is this an indication that she has impacted anal glands?

Yes, that is an indication about the anal glands. I know this because of Zip, our cocker. He was coughing and hacking all one day and one night. We took him to the vet and was told he had a sore throat because his anal glands weren't expressing themselves. My husband said, "what does his a$$ have to do with him having a sore throat?" (At this time I almost fainted). Anyway, they explained to us that dogs will scoot on their butts to get the anal glands to express themselves. Then the dogs lick their butts (ok, I know this is sooo gross, but...) and that stuff settles in their throats. We do not do this, though hubby did have vet teach him how to. We let the vet do it!

[Cheetah]

Both my dogs get baths once per month, unless they get really dirty somehow (mud, something stinky, whatever). I use a tea tree oil shampoo on them, and Shippo gets an oatmeal protein conditioner since he's got long fur... >^^;<

[Chip's Mom]

I haven't had any problem with Chip's anal glands, but I had to schedule vet visits for Digger quite often to have that done because he would get what the vet called "tonsillitis" several times a year if it wasn't taken care of. Did this for years.

[darci]

Thank goodness anal glands havent been an issue for us.
sounds dredful.

[milosmom]

Anal glands? Sounds stinky. Milo doesn't have that issue, thank goodness. I've never seen Milo scooch his butt or try to lick it....don't think a Corgi can reach their butt, mine can't.
I brush Milo weekly and use the shedding blade weekly too. Really cuts down on the shedding. Milo hates being brushed, he thinks it's some form of weird Corgi torture. The whole entire time i'm brushing him he whines, yips, growls you name it....he protests and then bites the brush. He doesn't mind a bath at all, he even lays on his back so I can suds up his undercarriage....go figure.

[ZdogZ]

Zia got her first bath today. Boy, was that fun! She didn't like it one bit. She kept trying to jump out of the bathtub and Zip kept trying to see what was going on. Then came the drying....two adults and two dogs shut up in the bathroom. Zia was clawing my husband, so he put her down. She ran behind the toilet and hid.

[darci]

Poor Zia..........

[Michael Romanos]

I have got to say that I have never had much trouble with bathing dogs - apart from the 'chore' of it all. I have always gotten help for the first bath to ensure the puppy stays where one wants him/her and then to ensure there is no shaking until out of the bath and into the blue yonder - then it's shake, rattle & roll. One Corgi I had never ever ventured into the bathroom once he realised the bath was a permanent fixture, unless I had picked him up for bath time and then it was a chase to catch him because he always was aware when bath time was due. Taylor is unconcerned with this aspect, even though he initially did not appreciate a bath. He did learn quite quickly in the piece that to put up with the water part of the bath process there comes the application of the shampoo, and the very enjoyable towelling - both actions are very much like grooming/massaging/ rubbing.

[Dillydoodle]

Dillon's favorite part of his bath ( which he had yesterday) is after the horrible wetting portion, and the tolerable toweling part, he then gets to do his favorite thing which is the "air drying" part where he runs at top speed back and forth in the upstairs - we call it air drying! He then throws his head and nose down on the rug and runs with his back feet while his whole upper body is laying on the rug. After a bit of rolling around and running to get that wetness off him, he settles down a little and i can begin the task of the second brushing ( he gets combed and brushed prior to the bath, ears cleaned and teeth cleaned too, THEN into the tub). I love how he looks ( and smells too) after his bath, sooo handsome.
Emilie

[LuvMyFluffy]

Giz got a bath yesterday. Hubby wanted to take him to grandpas to watch the football game, and grandpa just got new carpeting. It's been rainy here so he needed a bath. I usually bath him about every two weeks, but this time we let him go longer.
Also with the holidays coming up, I like him smelling good and soft to the touch. He does good with his baths, and also likes to air dry or frap after a bath.

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Dillydoodle

Dillon's favorite part of his bath ( which he had yesterday) is after the horrible wetting portion, and the tolerable toweling part, he then gets to do his favorite thing which is the "air drying" part where he runs at top speed back and forth in the upstairs - we call it air drying! He then throws his head and nose down on the rug and runs with his back feet while his whole upper body is laying on the rug. After a bit of rolling around and running to get that wetness off him, he settles down a little and i can begin the task of the second brushing ( he gets combed and brushed prior to the bath, ears cleaned and teeth cleaned too, THEN into the tub). I love how he looks ( and smells too) after his bath, sooo handsome.
Emilie

Very funny Emilie,

That is the same thing Cody does when I do bathe him - love the air drying part

[Chip's Mom]

Chip does excellent with his bath. I put him in the shower stall and spray him with the handheld gadget, suds him up and rinse him off. Then I put him on towels and he gets his rubdown until he is almost dry. He loves this and will lay there as long as I continue to do it. After, he does the frapping. He also loves to be brushed. I am now teaching him belly up so he will roll over so I can brush his belly. I still haven't figured out why he likes a bath and I spray him but he hates the rain. Silly corgi LOL