Lovely article. At one point or another, I've had my dog's bum in my hands, squeezing for dear life. Poppet's sacs were always clogged. Boo is a once-in-a-while case. Both girls have it as bad as Poppet did, especially Tilly.
Anal sac tips:
1. Use baby wipes. Not only will it allow you to get a better grip, they're thicker (which if you've gotten anal fluids on you, you know how nasty and hard to get rid of they are), the scented moisturizer slows fluid leeching to your fingers and makes the smell bearable.
2. Right before squeezing, pull the tail over your dog's back as far as is comfortable. This makes the sacs "pop" out and easier to squeeze.
3. If your dogs scoot in private and you suspect he may have impacted glands, do a quick sniff test. If he or she has been licking the irritated area, chances are their breath will reflect it by reeking of butt juice. Always a sure sign with Poppet way before any scooting took place and same with the girls. I never see either of them scoot but I know I need to get down to business when one licks me and it smells like polecat musk.
4. When partnering in an anac sac expression (though I usually do by myself with a dog tucked under my left arm), make sure and wear proper protective gear. My aunt was holding Poppet a few years back and was the recipient of a runaway stream of fluid. One nasty little glob streamed right onto her bangs and it took three shampooings to get the smell sort of gone.
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Last edited by unchienne; 05-06-2010 at 02:09 PM.
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) but happy we now know what the breath issues were and now my boy has nice breath
13 days until my baby turns ONE!!!! 
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