My friend Celia told me a few years ago about the wonders of dogs needing their anal glands expressed. Click here for More information than you might ever want to know. So when my dog was dragging her butt on the carpet for several days in a row, I knew what was up. Little dogs have this issue more commonly but my pretty, 60 pound princess was the exception. You can take your dog to the vet to get it taken care of for a relatively low rate or you can be adventurous and Google "how-to..." and do it yourself.
Ya betta ba-lieve I went to the vet.
She was shaking the second she got to the vet's office. She knows that place is bad news. She had no idea how bad it could get though. We went into an exam room and like always, they offered her a treat. She has never, not once, taken a treat at that place. She has her mind on survival and it. is. in. the. "flight". mode.
I picked her up and placed her onto this rickety, silver table. She shook so bad on the table that the bottles the nurse put on there for the procedure rattled right off onto the floor. I'm thinking, "this is not up to code" so I held under her neck around her head with one arm and the other under her stomach to her back in case she shakes the table broken.
I stayed holding her, bracing the both of us for what was to come. Before the procedure the nurse asked for back up. The new nurse came in and asked if I was sure I wanted to hold her. She said that dogs usually forget their normal selves and turn into demons. I nodded yes but I'm sure my face said something different because she stayed anyway. Then new nurse turned to the first nurse and told her not to squirt anything on her. I then thought, "Heck yes I'm holding the dog because I'm at the doggy front end and I can keep it that way with my 'choke hold'".
So it was happening. Lily flipped out and went all buldgy eyed when the first nurse...you know. My poor baby cat-dog. Being a dog mom is the pits sometimes. In all the excitement Lily was able to get her back leg onto my hip and dig.
So I'm wondering, "How long is this going to take?! Please let it be done correctly"! And then the smell came. I have never smelled something like that ever before in my whole, whole life. I don't know how to explain it but it was so bad that I buried my face in her dog side because her stinky fur was a welcomed respite to her butt musk.
It only took about a minute. The stuff got on the first nurse and all over the table. I don't think it got on my jacket but I'll probably go ahead and burn it for good measure. The new nurse went on out of the room in a flash; like I don't even remember her leaving but just came to and noticed she was gone. I must have had a horrified look on my face when I was searching around the room looking for a high school science lab shower pull when the nurse said, "Don't worry, I'll spray her with this flowery, deodorizer stuff and she'll be good as new". Um, not likely.
I felt so bad for the dog. She had just been violated so I kept my eyes on her front parts, like I was trying to preserve what was left of her dignity. The nurse wiped her up and sprayed the stuff. And thank heavens for that stuff. It was magically refreshing after the butt musk had been offending my senses for far too long.
I put the dog back on the ground and the nurse offered Lily the treat again, I could just imagine what Lily was thinking when she tossed her head away from it, rejecting it again. The nurse told me that she did indeed need the procedure and she thought she got most of it but Lily was just so tense back there...well go figure.
She pranced out of that room, right past the nurse eating food in the lobby. Lily had no desire to beg for food for she only desired freedom. I payed the lady and Lily walked her unhappy butt on out of there. Now Dan and I get to watch her BMs for the next few days and hope she stops draggin' or we get to go for round two. Lawd...have mercy.
This is the face of a defeated animal. I gave her several treats and a piece of chicken and let her recover both mentally and physically. Cha baby, cha. Real life, people.
