Your dog has two small scent sacs right beside the anus. They squeeze out a little fluid each time your dog poops. When they stop emptying, the fluid builds up, and your dog tells you by scooting across the rug.
We sell gloves, not veterinary care, so the steps below come from the Merck Veterinary Manual, a University of Bristol vet school skills guide and a guide written by a veterinarian for PetMD. Have your vet confirm your dog needs help and show you once before you try it at home. If your dog seems to be in pain, skip the steps and call the clinic.
The short answer
Put on snug nitrile gloves, have a helper hold your dog, lift the tail and feel for the glands at about 4 and 8 o'clock beside the anus. Hold a paper towel over the opening and pinch gently but firmly, with slight upward pressure. Stop and call your vet if you see blood, pus or chunks, or if your dog reacts in pain.
Why dog anal glands need expressing
Two small sacs, one strong smell
Why do dogs need anal glands expressed?
Most don't. Merck says the sacs normally release their fluid when the dog poops. Help is needed when the fluid thickens or the sacs stop emptying, which Merck links to poor muscle tone in overweight dogs and to skin disease. Small breeds are more prone.
Dog anal glands sit on each side of the anus, at about 4 and 8 o'clock. Vets call them anal glands, though Bristol's guide points out the correct term is anal sacs. For a closer look at the anal gland anatomy, Wikipedia covers them across mammals.
Merck and PetMD list the symptoms of blocked anal glands in dogs. Merck ties most of them to discomfort when the dog sits or poops:
- Scooting, or dragging the rear end along the floor
- Licking or biting at the area under the tail
- Straining or pain when pooping
- A fishy smell that follows your dog around (PetMD)
PetMD's veterinarian notes that the same signs can point to other problems, anal tumors among them. That is the case for a vet visit the first time. Someone should feel the glands before you take over at home.
What you need to express anal glands at home
Lay it all out before the dog
Set everything within reach before you call your dog over. Once the tail is up, there is no time to go looking for paper towels.
- Snug nitrile exam glovesWe suggest 4 to 5 mil, such as our heavy duty blue medical at 5 mil.
- Paper towels or gauzeFolded thick, to catch the fluid.
- A towel & a wet washclothOne under your dog, one for the wipe-down.
- A trash bagFor used gloves and towels, tied off when you finish.
- A helperSomeone your dog trusts, to hold the front end.
- TreatsFor the moment you are done.
Step 1: Put on nitrile gloves & an apron
Cover your hands & your shirt
Anal gland fluid smells bad and clings to skin and fabric. Wash your hands, then pull on a fresh pair of gloves that fit close at the fingertips, so you can feel a small gland through them.
All of our vet gloves are latex-free and powder-free. For this job we like the black medical nitrile: 4 mil, exam grade, textured fingertips, $69.95 for a case of 1,000. Black hides the brown stain. Add a plastic apron or an old shirt, because Bristol warns that fluid can get past the towel.
Step 2: Get a helper to hold your dog
One person holds, one person works
PetMD's vet is firm on this: don't try it alone. Put a towel on a solid surface, a table for a small dog or the floor for a big one. Your helper holds the front end steady and keeps the head turned away from you.
Bristol's guide for vet students also calls for an assistant to restrain the dog, and advises a muzzle for the internal version done in clinics. The job is uncomfortable, and a dog may react. If yours growls, snaps or fights the hold, stop and book the vet.
Step 3: Find the glands below the tail
Picture a clock face
Lift the tail with your free hand. Picture the anus as a clock face: the glands sit at about 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock, just inside the opening. That map comes from the Bristol vet school guide, and it is most of the secret to how to express dogs anal glands without guessing.
Rest your thumb and forefinger on the skin about an inch out from the anus at those two points, as PetMD describes, and press lightly. A full gland feels like a small round lump under the skin. Bristol puts a normal one at about 1 cm across, larger or smaller with the dog and how full it is.
Feel nothing? PetMD notes you can only sometimes feel full sacs, so don't go digging. Ask your vet to show you where they sit.
Step 4: Express dog anal glands from the outside
Gentle, firm & slightly up
Here is how to express dog anal glands from the outside. Fold a paper towel into your palm and hold it over the anus. Pinch your thumb and forefinger toward each other, gently but firmly, with slight upward pressure. The fluid should come out onto the towel.
Stand a little to one side, not straight behind, as Bristol's guide advises. Don't squeeze harder if nothing comes out. PetMD's vet says a gland you can feel but cannot empty is a reason to stop and call your vet.
Vets and techs also use an internal method, with a lubricated gloved finger inside and the thumb outside. Vet students practice it on a model first. PetMD's vet says not to try it at home unless your own vet has shown you how.
Step 5: Wipe, check the fluid & clean up
Look before you toss the towel
Check the towel before it goes in the bag. PetMD describes normal fluid as smelly and brown to tan, thin or thick. Merck describes an impacted sac as packed with a thick, pasty brown secretion. Chunks, pus or blood are not normal, so bag the towel and call your vet.
Expressing dogs anal glands leaves a smell that clings. Wipe the area with the wet washcloth or a pet wipe, then wash the towel. Merck notes the sacs are related to a skunk's scent glands, which is why dogs anal glands smell so strong.
Wipe the table with your usual cleaner. Then hand over the treat.
Step 6: Remove gloves without touching the outside
Inside out, one into the other
The outside of your gloves now carries everything you touched. CDC's removal method keeps it off your skin. With one gloved hand, grab the palm of the other glove and peel it off. Hold it balled in your gloved hand.
Slide the fingers of your bare hand under the cuff of the remaining glove, at the wrist, and peel it off over the first one. Drop both in the trash bag and tie it.
Wash your hands with soap and water right away. The veterinary infection control compendium (NASPHV) says to clean your hands after every glove removal, since gloves can hide small tears and hands get dirty as they come off. Never wash and reuse a disposable glove.
Know when to call your vet
Signs this is not a home job
Home anal glands expression is for a healthy gland that is simply full. Merck's guide for dog owners says a vet usually diagnoses anal sac disease with a rectal exam, that infected or abscessed sacs bring severe pain and often discolored skin, and that an abscess can break open through the skin. PetMD's veterinarian lists these reasons to call:
- Swollen anal glands in dogs, or red, puffy skin beside the anus
- Blood, pus or chunks in the fluid
- A firm lump that will not empty
- An open sore next to the anus
- Your dog reacts in pain when you try
- Your dog strains to poop (see the vet before you try at all)
One more from Merck: anal sac tumors are usually not painful, so a lump your dog ignores still needs a look. A vet can empty an impacted sac by hand, soften or flush it, and treat infection. They may also suggest more fiber, which Merck says bulks up the stool so the sacs empty on their own.
Dog anal gland questions
What our customers ask
Short answers from the veterinary sources above. For your own dog, your veterinarian has the final word.
What are the symptoms of blocked anal glands in dogs?
Scooting, licking or biting under the tail, and straining or pain when pooping, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual. PetMD adds a fishy smell. Swelling, redness, blood or pus point to infection or an abscess, and those need a veterinarian, not home expression.
How often do dogs need their glands expressed?
Many dogs never do, because the sacs normally empty when the dog poops. For dogs with ongoing anal gland trouble, a veterinarian quoted by the American Kennel Club (AKC) says every 4 to 8 weeks is common. Small breeds and overweight dogs are more prone to trouble. Your vet can tell you whether your dog needs help, and how often.
Can groomers express anal glands?
Yes. The AKC notes that groomers and vets usually both offer it, and the vet it quotes often times the job with a dog's grooming visits. The AKC also warns that unneeded or rough expression can damage the sacs. A gland that is impacted, infected or will not empty needs a veterinarian, who can empty the sac from the inside, flush it and treat any infection.
Sources: Merck Veterinary Manual: Anal sac disease in dogs and cats · Merck Veterinary Manual: Disorders of the rectum and anus in dogs · University of Bristol Veterinary School: Clinical skills booklet CSL_D19 · PetMD (Rhiannon Koehler, DVM): How to express a dog's anal glands · American Kennel Club: How to express dog anal glands at home · American Kennel Club: Why is my dog scooting? · CDC: Sequence for putting on and removing PPE · NASPHV: Compendium of zoonotic disease infection prevention and control in veterinary personnel, 2026
More disposable glove guides
Keep reading
