When the Homily is about Immunology

Dog biology

Last night Killick let go with another one of his "fear me I am big" barks while outside - very similar to when the Wiccan Native American was howling at the moon. So I got up to let him in, thinking that a big maple leaf might have fallen and startled him.

But, as he came in and laid down he simply would not let go of his obsession that something was out there that needed a good barking at. So, I got up and let him back outside, going with him to see what was up.

Suddenly he starts barking like crazy and seeing Rade come suddenly out of the darkness he makes a barking leap backwards, both afraid and aggressive. Rade is quickly able to calm the pups fears by identifying himself and they both come inside seemingly back to normal.

Sue then noticed that Killick was paying an unusual amount of attention to his nether regions and shortly thereafter a decidedly rank aroma filled the room. I knew it smelled like expressed anal glands, but had no idea why they were so suddenly being expressed. A little online research during lunch today revealed this (note their use of the "nether regions" terminology as well):

Anal Glands or Anal Sacs are small glands on either side of your dog or cat’s anus at roughly the four o’clock and eight o’clock positions.

They contain a mucous that has a foul smell - the worse known to mankind and that could well be used for chemical warfare!

The purpose of the secretion produced by the sacs, at least in wild dogs, is to mark territory. Nowadays, some bold and dominant dogs will also mark their territory by rubbing their nether regions on vertical structures such as trees. The function is the same as when a male dog cocks its leg to urinate on a tree but the scent left by anal glands is far stronger.

The sacs are also emptied when the dog is scared or frightened. You may have noted that, when your dog has had a sudden scare, it develops an awful, pungent odour. This is usually because your dog has emptied its anal sacs over its rear end.

So, in essence, Rade scared the anal gland mucus out of my dog.