My dog keeps dragging his bottom across the carpet — does he really need his glands emptied every month?

Scooting means something is irritating that end of him, and the anal sacs are only one of the possibilities — a monthly squeeze is treating a suspect nobody has actually identified. Worms, allergic skin at the tail base, and a flea problem all cause exactly the same dragging and licking. The first step is finding out which, not booking a standing appointment.

Most dogs empty their sacs perfectly well on their own and never need any help at all. Expressing sacs that don't need it can bruise and inflame them, and that can create the very problem you are trying to fix. The fact that he is still scooting a few days after the groomer does it is itself a clue that the sacs may not be the story here.

So, concretely: check around his anus and in his bedding for tapeworm segments — they look like grains of rice, sometimes moving. Look at whether he is also licking his paws, rubbing his face, or itchy elsewhere, because that is an allergy pattern rather than a gland one. Photograph the area in good light and bring the photo with you.

Go sooner rather than later if you see a red or purple swelling to one side of the anus, blood or pus, or he yelps when he sits down — that pattern suggests an abscess, and those burst.

Fibre in the diet and body weight both affect whether the sacs empty naturally. Your vet can examine him, work out what is actually driving this, and tell you whether any of that is worth trying in your dog — rather than a standing monthly appointment at the groomer's by default.