| There is an ongoing debate which has raged for lo these many years, as to whether expelling glands of dogs make them dependent on it, or if it is simply necessary regardless. Most vets don't really know for sure what the anal glands are for, they theorize that a bit of the fluid is expelled when the dog has a b.m., and its for scent identification in the doggy world. ( I don't think its ever been proved that our expelling makes the dogs' systems dependent on it, but I sure could be wrong on that...) Whatever its for, I can only tell you that over a lifetime of grooming, I have found that larger dogs seldom need their anal glands done, while smaller dogs do. I believe it may have something to do with exercise, since most larger dogs are provided with more exercise than many toy dogs who live in apartments etc. I also cannot say for sure that expelling them manually means we must keep that up, but I always did my smaller breed dogs' glands with every bath, about every month for the most part, and never had a problem with impacted glands for sure. The only larger dog I ever owned who needed her glands done was a chow cross I adopted from an SPCA, and she had been in the SPCA for something like 6 months, so very little exercise, so perhaps my little theory is correct. If you are going to do your dog's baths yourself, its not hard to learn to do the glands, get the vet to give you a demo. Certainly you can try his fishoil solution too, but keep an eye out for her scooting meanwhile, don't let them get impacted, that's painful and expensive... I guess what I am trying to say in my long winded way, is, if you have no problem with doing them, with each bath or every other bath, why take the chance on her developing problems? | 
