Why Is My Dog Scooting?

It is almost never worms. A vet on what scooting actually means, what to check, and why the fix usually starts with the stool.

By Dr. Elena Shockman, VMD

The dog drags his rear end across the living room carpet. Everyone laughs. Then it happens again the next day, and the day after, and the owner stops laughing and starts searching.

I have had this conversation more times than I can count, and the first thing I say is always the same. It is almost never worms. Tapeworms get blamed for scooting constantly, and they can cause it, but in 16 years of practice I can count those cases on one hand.

What scooting usually means is that something near the anus itches, hurts, or feels full. And in most dogs, the thing that feels full is a pair of small glands most owners have never heard of until the day their dog starts scooting.

The two glands nobody mentions

Every dog has two anal glands, one on each side of the anus at roughly four and eight o'clock. They are small sacs that fill with a strong-smelling fluid. When a dog passes a firm stool, the stool presses on the glands and empties them a little. That is how they are supposed to work. It is the same reason dogs sniff each other's rear ends. The fluid is a signature.

Anal glands are designed to be emptied by stool. When the stool does not do the job, the glands fill up, and the dog feels it.

A full gland is uncomfortable. The dog scoots to try to relieve the pressure. Sometimes it works. Sometimes the fluid thickens, the gland gets fuller, and the dog goes from scooting to licking, to chewing, to a swollen, painful spot beside the anus that eventually ruptures. That last stage is called an abscess, and it is one of the more common reasons I see a dog in the ER on a Sunday for something that started as a funny thing on the carpet.

Why the stool is the real story

So the question is not really "why is my dog scooting." It is "why isn't the stool emptying the glands."

The answer, most of the time, is that the stool is too soft. A soft stool passes without pressing on anything. The glands never get squeezed. This is why scooting so often shows up in dogs with chronically soft stool, dogs who get a lot of table food, dogs with food sensitivities, and dogs who just finished a course of antibiotics.

Small dogs get this more, and I do not think it is a coincidence. Chihuahuas, Yorkies, Miniature Poodles, Bichons, Cocker Spaniels. The glands are small, the stools are small, and there is less margin for error.

Overweight dogs get it more too. Extra tissue around the rear end changes how the stool passes and how the glands sit.

If your dog scoots and the stool is soft, the stool is the problem to fix first. The glands are downstream.

The other causes worth ruling out

I want to be fair to the list, because scooting is not always glands.

Allergies

Itchy skin does not stop at the tail. Dogs with environmental or food allergies often have an itchy rear end, and they scoot for the same reason they chew their feet. If your dog scoots and also licks paws, gets ear infections, or has red skin on the belly, allergies belong on the list.

Worms

Tapeworms shed segments that look like grains of rice near the anus and in the stool. They itch. If you see them, that is your answer, and it is an easy one. If you do not see them and your dog is on a monthly preventive, it is very unlikely.

Skin problems near the anus

Matted fur, a bit of dried stool stuck in the coat, a small wound, a tumor in older dogs. Worth a look with the tail lifted. If you see anything swollen, red, or draining, that is a vet visit today, not tomorrow.

Pain higher up

Occasionally a dog with hip or lower back pain scoots because sitting and standing normally hurts. Less common, but I have seen it.

What I actually do about it

The reflex answer is to express the glands. A groomer or a vet squeezes them empty, the dog stops scooting for a week or two, and then it comes back. Expressing is fine when a gland is impacted. As a routine, it does not fix anything, and repeated expressing can irritate the glands and make them fill faster.

What fixes it, in most dogs, is a firmer stool. That means fiber.

Fiber does two things here. Insoluble fiber adds bulk, so the stool is bigger and presses on the glands on the way out. Soluble fiber absorbs water and firms things up. You want both.

Pumpkin versus a purpose-built fiber

Canned pumpkin is the internet's answer and it is not a bad one. But it is mostly water, the fiber dose is low, and you have to feed a lot of it to move the needle in a medium or large dog. It also spoils fast once opened.

A concentrated fiber supplement gives you a measured dose without the volume. This is the whole reason I carry Filaquin, which is Nutramax's anal gland chew. It is a fiber-forward chew dosed by body weight, so a 60-pound dog and a 12-pound dog each get a real dose instead of a scoop of pumpkin. The 132-count size I sell is the one the veterinary channel uses. The 90-count sold at retail is the same product in a smaller jar, which matters, because this is not a two-week fix and a medium dog goes through 90 chews in about six weeks.

If the stool is soft for gut reasons rather than fiber reasons, a probiotic-with-fiber powder like Proviable 5-in-1 is what I reach for instead, or alongside. The two products overlap on purpose.

Give it a month

Fiber is slow. The stool changes in a week or two. The glands take longer to catch up, because they have to be emptied by a series of firm stools, not just one. Give it a full month before deciding it did not work.

If the scooting has not improved in four weeks on a firm stool, or if it gets worse at any point, that is the point to go back to your vet and have the glands checked properly.

What this means for you

Lift the tail and look. Swelling, redness, discharge, or a spot that hurts when you touch it means a vet today.

If nothing looks wrong, check the stool. Soft or inconsistent stool means fiber is the first move. Firm stool with scooting means allergies or the glands themselves are more likely, and your vet should take a look.

Do not have the glands expressed on a schedule unless your vet has told you to. Fix the stool and let the stool do the job.

And skip the dewormer unless you have seen the rice. It will not hurt, but it will not help either, and it delays the thing that actually will.

Related reading: Should you give your dog a probiotic with antibiotics? · Products mentioned: Filaquin 132 ct · Proviable 5-in-1 Fiber Powder

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your veterinarian before starting any supplement.

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