# Stinky Butt..Fishy smell when scared



## Audrey

Jasper is almost 5 months old and I take him out frequently for all different experiences. I have noticed this odor twice. The first time was when we went to the park and he was leashed for the first time and hated it. It is a strong offensive musky, fishy odor. I actually thought he just got into something in the grass and gave him a bath when we got home. Today, he followed me out into the pasture and after playing with the horses by running circles around them,our gelding Gandolph trotted after him playfully and scared Jasper into a full run to get to the other side of the fence. Again, the smell! It is definitely a smell brought on by fear. Gandolph wouldn't go back to the pasture until they touched noses through the fence, I think he felt bad for scaring him but after a whiff of him he even snorted a few times to get the smell out of his nose....its bad!
Is is anal glands? Is there anything I can do to eliminate the odor? :crazy::fingerscrossed:


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## wdkiser

Wow, I never have heard of this. It will be interesting to hear the opinions of others on here.


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## onyx'girl

anal glands expressing themselves.
What are you feeding? And I'd be working on confidence building.


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## gsdsar

Yup. Anal glands!!! Fear response. No way to stop it. Except to get rid if the fear. If your pup is so scared it's blowing it's anal glands, then you need to step back and try again. It's never a good thing or appropriate in training. 


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## Twyla

If you haven't gotten started with training, locate a good trainer and explain the responses your pup is having to new stimuli. Maybe even start with private classes to begin with. Along with your pup being trained, you will be trained as well how to work him through new experiences without pushing the pup over his threshold. For some dogs, this can escalate into major problems down the road, get ahead of it now.


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## misslesleedavis1

Extract them and work on confidence building


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## carmspack

lots of information - https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=cr&ei=DjFzUq-8GaL42AXnzYCgDw#q=5+month+old+dog+anal+gland+fear


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## onyx'girl

misslesleedavis1 said:


> Extract them and work on confidence building


?? extract them? You mean express them? They obviously aren't impacted if the dog is blowing them out of fear.


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## misslesleedavis1

onyx'girl said:


> ?? extract them? You mean express them? They obviously aren't impacted if the dog is blowing them out of fear.


Yeah express them..dont get upset with my comment..it wasnt ment to ruffle feathers and cause problems.


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## onyx'girl

Not upset, no reason to express them, dogs do it naturally on their own...and in this case the dog is doing it out of fear. When you post extract them, that means removal, that is why I questioned your response.


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## Audrey

I am feeding him Lamb and Rice large breed puppy food from Diamond foods sold at tractor supply. I figured it was anal glands. I appreciate everyone's responses. Jasper is doing amazing in training and I pay for one on one classes with a very good trainer who has taught military and police dogs in the past. She thinks he is exceptional. He is introduced to new stimuli frequently from city streets to parks, playgrounds, outdoor tennis matches, chickens, Horses, goats, he will even sit and stay while the deer stroll through the backyard. We go on a field trip 4 days a week. He loves the car. He is a very smart dog who is praise driven with training. I have only noticed the smell twice, despite the continual new experiences so I am not overly concerned about his confidence. He handles everything with an alert and forward curiosity. The first time I noticed "the smell" he had been in my home for 2 days and he was 9 weeks old. (Moms gone, siblings gone and this woman who took them from me just put something around my neck and is leading me with it) This time he is 21 weeks old and it was because a 2000 pound animal decided to run with him rather than just graze while Jasper ran circles around him. I can imagine for a 21 week old puppy that can be scary not understanding Gandolphs intent. Normally the horses just graze on their feed, they are so bombproof with dogs they dont react to Jasper. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a metabolic issue secondary to a fear response. I will talk to my trainer about this when she is back from the holiday trip she is on. Thanks again!


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## Audrey

*back at it again!*

I forgot to tell you the best part. Jasper followed me back out to the pasture again today. He didn't run circles around the horses but he did sit ten feet from them and watch them eat their feed while I groomed them. No stink butt! Yes! I was so nervous he was going to be afraid from now on.


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## huntergreen

wonder if this is something he will grow out of.


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## Linda1270

I used to get a similar situation with my chocolate Lab, but not out of fear, with Cocoa it was when he got excited. Training and a couple of tablespoons of pumpkin every other night helped this situation out tremendously.


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## Audrey

I wanted to revisit this as some time has passed. GOOD NEWS!! We have not had another occurrence of this and he still loves to go to the farm. He is also cool as a cucumber walking on city streets and experiencing new things. I NO more stinky butt


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## Floody

My 12 week puppy has also emitted a strong odour when afraid. It was because of a loud noise from a grinder my husband was using. As they grow in confidence it should sort itself out. She also did it when we were out for one of her first walks and was scared by all the sights and sounds. She has normal bowel movements, but does defecate when frightened. Hope this helps
Jayne


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## Jenny720

Yes that fishy order is when they express their anal glands. When they are impacted they need to be expressed. Signs of that are scooting on the floor.


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## Magwart

If it ever happens again...one tip for clean-up: wash the rear end with Dawn instead of dog shampoo. My vet told me that's what they use in the clinic for cleanup after they express them--it works better than anything else they've found. That mess can be very persistent in the fur.


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## RZZNSTR

Jenny720 said:


> Yes that fishy order is when they express their anal glands. When they are impacted they need to be expressed. Signs of that are scooting on the floor.


absolutely spot on! :thumbup:


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## MoxyPup

My 16 wk old girl is having this problem. Any time she has a butt clinch (scared, excited, quick movement when getting off of couch) she leaks some out. She will be laying on couch then gets up and there is a dark wet spot that smells like stinky butt cheese. Thank goodness the cushion covers are removable and washable! 
Her glands are not full as I notice most every time she poops she sprays out a quite a few drops of "anal juice" and the vet monthly checks her glands and says they are not full. 
To anyone who has had this anal leakage problem: does it go away once they are older and the dogs anal muscles get stronger (if they even do get stronger??? just guessing they might)?


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## Momto2GSDs

Our first GSD did this from fear. 

Unfortunately, it never did completely go away, just got less frequent with age and us watching for what sets this off. 

You need to watch/learn what triggers it and work on calming that trigger. 

You may need professional help from a trainer who KNOWS GSD's, to show you how to help the dog/pup overcome it.

Moms


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## MoxyPup

Momto2GSDs said:


> Our first GSD did this from fear.
> 
> 
> 
> You need to watch/learn what triggers it and work on calming that trigger.


Really anything can make her do it. Not just fear. Let's say she is sleeping, and I call her, she jumps up to come running. - butt clench 
Sometimes it can be from excitement, I come home and walk through the door and she is so excited. - butt clench
Sometimes from fear, she hasn't learned yet that the cat is the master and we are all her slaves and she gets too close to the cat without realizing it. - butt clench
She sneezes. - butt clench

Now she does not leak every time but enough that I am daydreaming about all leather furniture. :wink2:


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## Thecowboysgirl

My pup has an issue with his glands. They just don't quite drain properly the normal way and then they get overfull. When they are overfull they tend to "leak". With him it is not related to anything, it will happen while he is asleep sometimes.

With him it means I have waited to long to express them, because we get approximately 2 weeks peace after expressing. Mid week 3 he might start having skunk butt if we don't get to him in time.

Maybe yours needs to be expressed. I did my first one from watching youtube videos, and later got a tutorial from my vet.


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## MoxyPup

Thecowboysgirl said:


> Maybe yours needs to be expressed.


Thank you for the advice. I will try this.


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## Brady12

MoxyPup said:


> Really anything can make her do it. Not just fear. Let's say she is sleeping, and I call her, she jumps up to come running. - butt clench
> Sometimes it can be from excitement, I come home and walk through the door and she is so excited. - butt clench
> Sometimes from fear, she hasn't learned yet that the cat is the master and we are all her slaves and she gets too close to the cat without realizing it. - butt clench
> She sneezes. - butt clench
> 
> Now she does not leak every time but enough that I am daydreaming about all leather furniture. :wink2:


Hi, just wondering if this ever subsided or went away? My GSD has randomly been doing this in his sleep and for the last week I can notice as small brown spot when he gets up from sleeping. In the last week, he had a vet visit to check anal glands and everything looked good according to the vet. Blood and stool samples came back clean. He poops normally outside, no diarrhea. He just seems to squirt a tiny bit of liquid out once in a while, most usually during the night.


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