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Permalink Reply by christy fry on April 21, 2010 at 12:00pm

you'll know if your pup's having a bottom problem and your vet or groomers can suppress for you I wouldn't do it myself as it seems gross and I've never had a problem with the corgi's and my lab Cody only had a problem once the vet charged me 12.00 dollars I beleive it was a little while ago.
and I'm not sure what your asking about the teeth I've never even heard of teeth chipping .

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on April 21, 2010 at 2:28pm

A healthy corgi should not need their anal glands expressed. I never heard of the chipping either.

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Permalink Reply by Alice on April 21, 2010 at 4:53pm

We've never had to have Finn's anal glands expressed but I know vets and groomers can do it. i know someone who's dog developed a red, swollen booty due to extremely full glands and after having this happen twice the vet recommended neutering the dog because that tends to eliminate the problem. That's the first I've heard of a correlation between anal glands and neutering.

As far as the teeth, I have never heard of clipping teeth. Clipping nails, yes; teeth, no. With small animals such as hamsters and rabbits the teeth can become overgrown and require filing if they are not getting enough to chew on and keep the teeth filed naturally but canine teeth do not grow like this and should not require filing or clipping, just cleaning.

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Permalink Reply by Renee Kovacs on April 23, 2010 at 9:23am

No clue what "teeth chipping" is, either! But, the "smoothing stone" is called a Shedding Block, and they're WONDERFUL! You can find them anywhere there are equine supplies, cost maybe a couple bucks. Just a block of very soft pumice - to use it, you just pull the edge of the block over the dog's coat, and the pumice grabs/holds all the loose hair and pulls it out. When the edge gets worn smooth, just pull the stone along the edge of a porch step, anything that will sharpen the edge back up.

While you're picking up this item, also grab a small "tampico" brush from the equine section - BEST ever brush for finishing up after the shed block. The pumice will leave particles of grit on the top of the coat and the tampico brushes are excellent at removing this and removing dirt, dried mud, etc. To use, you just dig in, pull the brush along the body and then kind of 'flick' it by twisting your wrist, to send the dust/dirt flying off the coat.

these are about the only two grooming tools I use. To clean the tampico brush, just 'brush' it back and forth across something like the edge of the porch stair, a hand-railing, edge of a plant pot, and all the dirt will fly out of it. If you wash these brushes, they hold a TON of water and may rot before they dry.

The smaller ones are just easier on the hand, easier to manuever on a dog (as opposed to the larger 'horse' sized ones). For a muddy dog - first, let the mud dry, then grab that tampico and flick it all off in a heartbeat. =) They're very soft and won't ever irritate a dog's skin - they don't really go down to the skin.

As for anal glands - IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T 'FIX' IT! =)

Here's the links to both items at TSC (hope I do this right!)

http://www.tractorsupply.com/equine/horse-grooming/horse-brushes/sm...

http://www.tractorsupply.com/equine/horse-grooming/equine-shampoos-...

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Permalink Reply by Sunni A. on April 23, 2010 at 2:33pm

Never heard of the tooth thing. My groomer always offers to do the anal glands for $10 and I decline.

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Permalink Reply by Jacki, Nutmeg & Cinnamon on April 24, 2010 at 8:04am

I've never had Nutmeg's um..bum..done. So same for Cinnamon. The vet has never recommended it either. They goto a groomer for nails about one a month, but have never been "groomed". I furminate them once a week, and they LOVE it. I do it on a windy day, so the fluff goes into bird nests that I see :) I can usually fill half a grocery bag with both of their fluff. They love the bath as well. Corgi's are so great!

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Permalink Reply by Allison Musick on April 24, 2010 at 1:07pm

I've never heard of any of this except expressing anal glands. I had a mixed breed years ago that repeatedly had this problem. I don't know if every dog has this symptom or not, but the way I knew she needed hers done was that she would drag her bum on the ground, like she would sit down and then drag herself forward with her front legs and scoot her bottom on the ground. My Corgi has never had a problem with that though.

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Permalink Reply by Reese on April 25, 2010 at 10:13am

Reese has never had her glads squeezed... However her pug friend across the street needs to. I think it all depends on the food mostly and the size of the dog. Never do the anal glands yourself... it is disgusting and if it gets on your clothes it will stain and smell! Hope to see you soon!

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Permalink Reply by Avyon on April 27, 2010 at 5:39pm

Maybe Roxi is just a freak.. we get hers done every now and then. The Vet says its because she thinks she's the alfa and is creating more then usual. *shrugs*

That stone sounds interesting! I must have one ! lol

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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on April 28, 2010 at 12:07pm

I bought the shedding block at TSC yesterday and used in on Rosie and Rocky. It was wonderful, esp on Rocky. He sheds like crazy and after using the shedding block, you can pet him and not get a handful of hair. Rosie, who hates to be brushed, actually laid down and stretched out while I was using it on her. I used their regular brush afterwards to get the little bit of grit out of their coats. Thanks to whoever suggested it. It cost $5 at Tractor Supply and was well worth it. I was amazed at the hair that came out. I have a Furminator and it gets the undercoat but doesn't do much on the top coat. This shedding block got that loose hair that drives you nuts.

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