No, you don't have to wipe your dog's butt
Your 'fur baby' is not human, nor does (s)he have butt cheeks
Writer’s note on June 3, 2024: This post was written before I dogsat my mother’s Shih Tzu mix. I hadn’t experienced just how much gets stuck to a double-coated dog with long fur. Leaves stick to her like glue, and her white fur can look black if you don’t clean her eye area regularly. For that reason, I absolutely swore by Petkin Big N' Thick Natural Petwipes. I didn’t think I’d need these wipes when Jackie (her dog) returned home, but they come in handy for wiping sleep out of Junee’s eyes and for quick “baths” on her short-haired body to avoid that dog-after-the-rain smell.
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I don’t have much use for Instagram other than marketing, occasionally snooping on celebrities and keeping tabs on my favorite Internet dogs, one of which is Magnus the Therapy Dog. But a recent post, more specifically the comment section, left me wondering how many people actually wipe their dogs’ butts. Granted, the owner of this account is always putting this dog in humorous situations (ex. the facial, the lawn chair, payback for the wife’s silent treatment) so he could be totally kidding with the toilet tissue.
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However, the comment section is interesting for a number of reasons. One, several pet owners don’t seem to realize that their dog doesn’t have a gluteus maximus (in simpler terms, the muscles that form butt cheeks). The whole reason wipes are used is because feces can be left over in this area for humans. Two, a concerning number of people think dogs are scooting across grass just to wipe themselves instead of it being a dog anal sac issue.
As hilarious as it may look, your dog really needs to go to the vet if this becomes common. Three, anal gland fluid should regularly release when a dog poops. Genetics or a bad diet may affect this from happening — or worse, tapeworms.
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But the one thing that struck me the most strange was the number of pet owners saying their dogs left skid marks on their furniture. While my first two dogs (a Lab mix and a purebred German Shepherd) weren’t allowed on the furniture, I have never seen this happen in two years (as of tomorrow on Juneteenth) with my current dog. And considering she has a beige butt on an almost-completely black short-haired dog body, I’d notice.
So why does this happen with some dogs, but I’ve never seen it in 14 dogs I’ve dogsat or boarded, plus my own?