Hi everyone, sorry Ive been out of touch. Trying to make a few bucks in this lousy economy. Anyway as some of you might have guessed, Jake spends a lot of time down at the stone yard that I work out of. If anyone wants to see what I do, go to www.artezens.com, thats me. You can also find me at www.buddyrhodes.com
So down at the stone yard Jake spends most of his time in the little river swimming. You can see the videos from the Mastador YouTube link. He's been really smelling lately. I thought it was due to the muck from the river, so I banned him from the yard for a week, and he only smelled worse. Kinda like nasty athletes foot, or my sons soccer cleats after a game! I thought it was an ear infection but after smelling in that area he was fine. His rear quarters seemed to have the worse offense.
Finally my wife Googles "smelly Labs" and comes up with a diagnosis based on his symptoms. She thinks he has a clogged anal gland. Apparently wandering dogs leave their sent when they defecate, and their glands can get clogged. Well my wife tries to get me to take Jake to the local vet to have him check, luckily I just happen to be busy, ha! Turns out she was right, Jake needed to have his anal glands relieved, possible on a regular basis. $40 a pop. Apparently there are two glands to the sides of his anal pore that if analyzed "pardon the pun" and are swollen, are a good sign of clogged glands. Excessive licking in that area also. The vet says Jakes physique is just prone to this symptom. Its not due to swimming in the river, runny feces, diet, etc...
As he lies next to me now, the smell has not gotten better. I find myself placing chairs next to my side of the bed, and empty grocery bags near me when I watch TV, he's frighten of those.. luckily. But hes still my buddy, and I take him down to the yard to swim when I'm not to busy. I just usually get busy when he's due to have his glands relived as scheduled.
By the way, Jake is now just a little over 2 years old, and weighs 85lbs. I think he knows he smells, and my be a little proud of it.
Mark
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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2 comments:
Poor guy... What is it about Jake's physique that makes him prone to this? I had a dog (not Buford) that had this problem too but she didn't smell like you are describing.
Poor Jake! Have you tried taking him to a groomer? Maybe they know. Also what did the vet say about the smell?
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