This is the Dr. Fox article that appeared in The Post:

http://drfoxvet.com/info/QandA/post/2012/09/23/I-have-a-question-about-my-two.aspx

We had this issue with out dog. Were expressing them internally on a weekly basis. After trying food changes etc. with no improvement, we opted for Sx. The surgery is tricky mostly due to the bacterial content of the area and a ruptured gland; however, find a specialist in this area, ours was in Bethesda and routinely removed glands from ferrets and skunks etc. as well. Sx is a last resort, but worth it in the event when all else fails, just research your vet.

Someone told me that the animal doc in the Post did a story on this lately. Anyone see it/able to find it?

Yes, if the anal gland surgery messes up, you have a dog with no bowel control at all ... And there is apparently only one surgeon in WDC area that my vet would trust with the surgery, even then it is risky. We will try the gluten free diet .. .

DH of OP here: We (I) express them internally and it's terrible.

The change of diet is a good idea. A colleague of mine (a vet) recommended Purina One so we'll give that a shot first then try Gluten Free.

Have read some horror stories of anal gland surgeries gone wrong so would rather avoid that.

If it gets really bad you can actually have their anal glands removed. Sounds awful but my sister did it with her dog who was leaking all over the place and it took care of the problem.

Okay . . . a bit TMI here . . . but are you expressing your dog's anal glands internally or externally? Can make a difference, so we take ours to the vet about every 2 months and have it done internally.

We have a pug and he used to have terrible issues with anal glands. I switched him to a gluten free diet (Wellness Salmon from Whole Foods) and we've never had an issue again.

I've read that the more often you express them, the more often you need to express them because they lose the ability to do it on their own.

But I've read lots of things about other topics that I know are false when it comes to my own dog, so who knows.

I have a 5 year old mixed breed dog who recently developed anal gland issues. We've had them drained by the vet once or twice but otherwise have done it on our own because of the cost. It seems like it needs to get done weekly. We've tried putting pumpkin in his food. Any other suggestions?