Why Does My Dog Drag Their Bottom on the Ground?

You've surely seen your dog, or some other dog out on the street, dragging their bottom across the ground while walking on their front legs. The situation itself is pretty funny, though I doubt the dog finds it as amusing as we do when we see them in that position... which can look a bit like a penguin waddling.

The reason my dog drags their bottom is very simple: it's itchy. Dogs can have itching around the anus for several reasons, and since they don't have hands to scratch with, the most practical thing is to lower their bottom and drag it along the ground. Let's look at the most common reasons a dog does this and how to fix them.

Dogs dragging their bottom because of the anal glands

If your dog's bottom is itchy, one of the most likely causes is full anal or perianal glands. Dogs, cats, and some other mammals (humans don't have these) have glands around the anus that drain into the rectum before being expelled to the outside.

These glands serve several functions: lubricating stool so it passes more easily, and leaving their personal scent, like an identity mark. The fluid from each dog's anal glands smells different (undetectable to humans), so when dogs smell a poop, they already know the sex of the other animal, their age, level of dominance, and so on.

This leads to the famous question: Why do dogs sniff each other's bottoms? Simply put, to learn things about the other pet. It's a curious way of leaving their personal mark on their droppings, but also a very effective one.

It's not necessary to manually express the anal glands — dogs generally empty them when they poop, from the pressure of the stool against the glands. But sometimes the glands don't empty (with loose stool), and our dog ends up with bothersome itching, leading them to drag their bottom along the ground.

If this is the case, we simply need to protect our hand with a latex glove and, with a piece of paper towel, gently hold our dog's anus firmly and pull slightly outward, so the glands empty onto the paper towel. If we don't know how to do this, it's best to go to the vet and have them do it, so we can learn how to do it at home for future occasions.

It's extremely important to properly check our dog's anus before doing this, since it's also possible our dog has a fistula near the anus (an abnormal connection between the gland and the outside from excess fluid) or in the glands themselves.

If we notice any wound in or near the anus, we should see the vet so they can give us the right treatment. That said, we can buy "fibor" (natural fiber) to help our pet keep these glands emptying properly if they're having trouble.

My dog rubs their bottom on the ground because of parasites

Another common, though less common than the above, reason our dog's bottom is itchy is the presence of internal parasites. Dogs are our passion, our life, our most faithful companions and friends, but they're still animals with a natural instinct to eat and drink from their surroundings while out walking (and where other animals do the same).

That's why our dogs pick up internal parasites (what we humans call worms) fairly easily, which show up as small, thin, long worms in our dogs' own poop, along with frequent anal itching.

The best way to check whether our dog has intestinal parasites is by examining their poop — if we notice small worms in it (usually very thin and whitish), our dog has a parasite infection.

Another way to check, if we suspect it but don't see them visibly in the stool, is to bring a container with three consecutive days' worth of stool to our vet, so they can examine it under a microscope for eggs. But don't worry — this is very easy to fix.

The best way to get rid of internal parasites is by giving a tablet made for this purpose. Our vet will give us the right tablet for our dog, since the dose varies by weight. We simply need to give the tablet with their food, and this will solve our dog's parasite problem.

To make sure our dog doesn't get more parasites, we should give them a deworming tablet once every three months or 48 days (depending on the medication), keeping them healthy and free of that bothersome itching.

Other causes of anal itching

Another much less common reason could simply be some itching from their diet. If it doesn't quite agree with them, or if it contains an ingredient they're intolerant or allergic to, or if they've eaten something spicy, it's very likely to cause anal itching.

In these cases, simply switching their food until you find the right one will do the trick, ideally focusing on grain-free or hypoallergenic kibble.

What to do if a dog's bottom is itchy

Knowing the main reasons behind bothersome anal itching in our dogs, let's go over how to fix it. It's important to observe and examine our dog to figure out the cause of their anal discomfort.

If we notice our dog frequently licking their bottom or dragging it along the ground, the first thing to do is examine their bottom. We should check that there's no piece of grass stuck or hanging there, since sometimes when they poop, some previously eaten remains get stuck. That can bother them and be a reason for dragging their bottom. If we find that, we'll simply help pull out the stuck piece.

We should make sure our dog doesn't have anything unusual around the anus — no wounds, tears, fistulas, bites, dermatitis... If we notice anything unusual, we'll see the vet so they can determine the problem and give us the right treatment.

If we haven't noticed anything on our dog's bottom, we'll check their stool (look at their most recent poop) and make sure there are no worms. If we find something moving that looks unusual, we'll simply see our vet so they can give us a tablet to eliminate internal parasites.

If we haven't found anything around the anus or nearby (glands), and haven't seen anything unusual in their stool either, it's possible our dog hasn't properly emptied their perianal glands and needs us to do it manually. It's a very simple process, but if you don't know how to do it, it's a good idea to learn from the vet so you can do it at home in the future.

As you can see, these reasons aren't serious in themselves, though some do call for veterinary care.