About anal glands

So, here's the thing.... I always empty the glands while bathing them, and I have been told that the other groomers have been charging extra for this service....should I be increasing my price?? I usually do it for the comfort of the pet (the owners do not even know it should be done in some cases) but now I am wondering how many of us do it on regular basis.

I don't do anal glands at all. I was trained how to do it but never really felt comfortable doing it and not causing harm to the pet. I would definatley charge extra if I did do them though. Even an extra $3 or something.

We don't do them either. There is no way to tell if the anal glands are infected or impacted, if done improperly there is a risk of rupturing the gland so we chose not to do it. I did do them in the past but now that we have bathers we just don't feel that we should take the risk. Besides I don't think every dog needs them done, better left to the vet to decide.

We don't do it either, unless a vet has asked the owner to tell us to do it for the sake of the dogs health. If we are doing while the dog is being groomed, we don't charge for it, if it is a walk in we charge $10.

From what i understand about anal glands, dog should be able to express them themselves, if we continue to assist this when there is no apparent reason for it some dogs may become lazy and not do it at all, causing a problem down the road. One of my groomers used to do her dogs anal glands every groom, now she is 8 years old and cannot express them herself, so she is now dependant on her mom to do it.

From what I understand, it is illegal for groomers to express glands (in Ontario at least). It is practising veterinary medicine without a licence. For a very few of my clients I would do it if their vet is ok with it, but wouldn't charge extra. I think that if you did choose express glands, you wouldn't want to advertise that, or have a client with a receipt that you charged for it. I think it would be easier to get caught by OVC that way if someone complained.

Is it illegal for the internal expression? We do it externally only, from what i understand that is allowed.

I ran my salon out of a vet office for 5 years and never heard such a thing, he knew I did it and I do it internally(I was taught this way from a vet) and never had a problem. Actually doing it externally is when you get problems because you don't get all of it out, so I will only do it internally!

Well I am assisting a vet and he said it is perfectly fine to express them...my question was whether or not others charge for it, I don't. Also, just as a side not...not all the dogs need it. I may have unintentionally given the impression that I do it for all the pets but I do not.I am also going to school for vet assistant here in Ontario and I never heard of any groomer being charged for expressing glands.

Years ago when I did do them we didn't charge extra if it was part of the grooming. If someone came in just to have the anals done then I charged, but I can't remember how much.

Same here, I don't charge extra if they wnt it done while being groomed, I used to do it with every groom but I do not now unless asked. I to would charge for it if coming in just for that ,probably $10-15.

Thanks all! Not sure if I will start charging or not, since it's not an every day thing, but it is something to consider! Mind you, like mscosta said, if they come in just for that then maybe! Again, Thanks! Cheers! Sherry

I work at 2 vet offices. I don't do anal glands the vet techs do them and its included in the groom. I definitely will not do them I personally believe its being overdone and some of these dogs now always have to have it done. Its ridiculous. I've had alot of dogs big and tiny and not once did any of them need this procedure. My question is what is going on? If you feed your dogs a good diet they should have no problems. I'm not saying all dogs don't need it done but I'm saying the majority shouldn't need it done.

My vet prefers for groomers NOT to do them....she had a client who did their own at home and ruptured one...not my cup of tea. I let people know that I am not medically trained and only deal with hair, nothing inside.