Anal glands

My dog got his anal glands expressed two weeks ago. The vet said he had an impaction and was able to clear that out.  Ever since then, he has been non stop licking that area and has had a leaky butthole, and a strange scent coming from it (it’s different from the normal anal gland scent that he squirts out sometimes). I have him on a high fiber prescription diet, probiotics/prebiotics, pumpkin, carrots, and blueberries as the vet recommended all of this due to him having anal gland issues since we got him. Lately nothing has worked to stop him from spraying his glands everywhere and everytime it occurs we take him to the vet to get it fixed. This time it’s not a projectile spray of anal glands and it’s just a constant irritant and stench. Any suggestions?

Hello!  Anal glands are little openings at 20 to 2 on the clock-face of the anus, which discharge a small amount of a strong-smelling substance.  This can sometimes be seen in the form of tiny tear-drops of secretion on top of the faeces of normal dogs.  I think that my 'next thing to work out' for this story would be whether the smelly stuff was coming out of the butthole as in, poo-related smelly stuff (not improbable given a recent increase in fibrous diet), or whether the smelly secretion is coming out of the now-emptying-easily anal glands?  I think that both would smell particularly unpleasant.  In the first instance, attention to the diet may help and your vet will be able to talk this over with you.  If coming out of the anal glands, it could be that the anal glands are working naturally now but discharging regularly due to stress, or it's possible that something different is going on.  Either way, this is definitely worth talking over with your vet or, if progress is not made, then perhaps with a skin specialist.