[FrankieB]

Good morning,

I own a year-old chocolate Lab. She licks under tail constantly which drives me crazy. She has lost all her hair under her tail. She is a beautiful dog, from that front that is, but looking at her hairless anal area is a pretty ugly sight. She has started to sits on her butt and drags herself along the floor.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with Bella?

Thank you. Frankie

[heather83]

It could be a number of different things, you may want to take her to the vet and have her looked at. If its bothering her that much, it can't be comfortable.
Also, some dogs can develop a kind of OCD about licking themselves and actually cause injury by licking the hair and eventually the skin away... if she doesn't have any other health issues, it could be possible that she's OCD, and there is medication out there for it. But from what I understand it's not all to common in Labs. But you'll want to take her to the vet regardless, even if just for your own peace of mind.

[labman]

If you are feeding a regular dog chow and little else, I would go to the vet. It could be anal glands or worms.

If you are adding very much else of this or that, cut it out. You could be ruining the carefully formulated complete and balanced diet and causing the itch.

And yes, I am recycling much of my answer to the BC with an itchy chin.

[ballengerb1]

Both posts are very much on the money. OCD or a "hot spot" can start a viciuos cycle that you can't stop. Your vet will determine if there is any infection or parasite. You may be in the market for a Queens collar shortly.

[shelley7180]

My Rottweiler had the same problem. Her anal glands are blocked. You need to have them expressed. (Which is NASTY! It's the worst smell you could imagine.) The vet can do it (usually around $15-20) or you can take her to a groomer.

[RubyPitbull]

Labman hit on the problem head on. Your dog needs an anal gland expression. The constant licking, the dragging the butt on the ground are clear cut signals that her anal glands need to be cleared. I deal with this constantly with my dog because of her poor start in life. She has an ongoing intestinal problem which leads to softer stools. Please take her to the vet. Talk about the consistency of her poop. You may need to feed a dry food that is high in fiber if this happens more often than once a year. Wet foods tend to add to the problem. I finally found a very high fiber/low protein food through my vet that has solved the problem.

P.S. I didn't see Shelley's answer until after I posted mine. Right on target Shelley!

[FrankieB]

Thank you very much everyone for all the useful answers.

At first, I thought that maybe she was poisoning herself because Bella likes to attack my plants. But I think its more an anal gland problem. We will be visiting the vet. Thanks again.

Frankie

[LM1977]

Good morning,

I own a year-old chocolate Lab. She licks under tail constantly which drives me crazy. She has lost all her hair under her tail. She is a beautiful dog, from that front that is, but looking at her hairless anal area is a pretty ugly sight. She has started to sits on her butt and drags herself along the floor.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with Bella?

Thank you. Frankie

Hi my name is Laura and I am a qualified Veterinary nurse, currently working in a busy practice in Adelaide SA.
I t sounds to me that Bella could poss have blocked anal glands? Anal glands you ask, What are they? Well they are little glands about the size of a marble that sit just inside the anus.. They secrete your dogs scent onto her faeces each time she defecates. All dogs have them but some dogs can run into problems with them.. Occaisionally they can become blocked and become quite uncomfortable and by licking and chewing at the area can sometimes relieve this blockage ans scooting along the ground with their bottom, but sometimes you have to have them manually expressed. Yes that's right, someone (preferably a vet) can do this by gently placing 2 fingers just inside the anus and gently squeezing, thus removing the build up of secreta. Some dogs just have to get them expressed manually and can sometimes run into problems with anal gland abcesses? (not nice for the dog or your pocket)

It could also be worms. Are you worming your Bella regularly? She needs to be wormed for intestinal worms every 3 months with an ALLwormer that you can purchase from your local vet. Sometimes worms will cause an itchy bottom!!

It could also be some type of allergy. Maybe a grass allergy or a food allergy? I would recommend getting her on a premium diet Perhaps EAGLE PACK DUCK & OATMEAl or perhaps HILLS SCIENCE DIET SENSITIVE SKIN. Get her on one of these 2 diets asap and trial it for a month or 2.. Sometimes it is diet related...


Request to email questions was deleted because it violates site policy. - Labman

[labman]

I may not be a trained vet tech, but I have some of the top people in the country advising me. They would never go switching any of their thousands of Labs to a duck and oatmeal chow without good cause. They want their dogs on a simple chicken and rice chow until there is some real proof of allergy problems. They also don't recommend routine worming, although have no problem with products such as Heartgard+ and revolution that provide protection from heart worm and a number of other things.

Even the largest private veterinarian practices don't have access to info the service dog schools do.

[Jessyfay]

After seeing a vet and clearing what is causing her to lick this spot, a great product to use to help her grow her fur back is called solid gold seameal. It's sea kelp, you can use it on horses, cats or dogs, I use it on all three. It's great for keeping a well kept coat of fur.