If your dog is dragging her bottom on the carpet, it probably means her anal glands need to be expressed.
There are two small glands located on each side of your dog's rectal opening. Each gland holds a small amount of a noxious smelling substance. Most of the time, the glands express sufficiently on their own. However sometimes, the glands aren't completely expressed naturally.
It's important to have your dog's anal glands expressed when he is showing signs of discomfort (like fussing and chewing at the area, or scooting) Your vet or groomer can manually express the glands quickly and easily, oftentimes they will show you how to do it yourself.
If left untreated, your dog's anal glands can become impacted, infected, ruptured causing serious problems.
If you see your dog scooting, scoot him on over to a professional as soon as possible.
My daughter has a dachshund and the vet showed her how to do it herself. Apparently it's a simple process because she isn't good at anything she considers yucky or medical, but she handles this with no difficulty. It saves trips to the vet and expense and discomfort for the dog.
Our mixed-breed long-haired chubby dog also has this problem. Our vet recommended putting her on a diet, not only because of this problem, but for her health in genereal, and also recommended keeping her hair clipped shorter around her rear end. She also had surgery to remove some of the fat in the area that can cause this problem. The surgery did help, but she still needs to have her glands expressed a couple times a year. Our vet showed my husband how to do it, but we decided to let the vet continue to do it - the smell is really bad!
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