It is often the source of a good chuckle for many households, especially those with children, when we see Barkly scooting his bum along the carpet or grass with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face. Once the giggles calm down and poor old Barkly is no longer the “butt of the joke”, we should really be stopping to think why he is doing such a thing. Even if he is the class clown at puppy school, or has an undeniable thirst to appear on Australia’s Funniest Home Videos, we should still make sure all is ok with our furry fella. After all, it’s not something we see every day.
Bum scooting is often put down to being a sign of worms, fleas or skin irritation which all attract a good scratch, and should be things we take care of pretty quickly. However the strange behaviour can also be the result of inflamed, impacted or infected anal sacs or glands. When little Barkly does his business, the anal sphincter muscle causes the anal glands to release a secretion which helps the passing of poop and aids in the ease of bowel movements. They can become inflamed or impacted, and even get infected and become quite painful, if they do not empty properly. This is often caused when Barkly’s stool is quite runny and doesn’t stretch the anal sphincter muscles enough to cause the glands to empty fully. Now that little chuckle actually makes us feel quite guilty for making fun of poor Barkly, and it will feel even worse when costly Vet trips follow.
One way to avoid this, and to aid in prevention is to ensure you feed Barkly a good quality balanced diet, high in meats and protein, and something called ‘faecal bulk’, which is pretty much a fancy word the Vet will use for good fibres that fill out Barkly’s stools. Of course, that guilt needs to subside and a great way to apologise to Barkly for giggling, is to give him a high quality meat based treat, like any of our Blackdog bones or jerkies which are a natural high source of protein, freshness and all the good stuff that he may be lacking in his everyday food. You can also try adding some extra fibre to his diet with Blackdog’s world favourite oven baked biscuits made from whole grain wheat, real ingredients including beef liver & kidney, activated charcoal and loads of extra vitamins & minerals and good stuff he needs to be his healthiest, and continue being the class clown at puppy school.
