dog nursing

Question
QUESTION: We rescued an adorable chihuahua mix who apparently had a litter and was dropped off at a shelter soon there after.  Workers there said she was still producing milk on arrival.  We've had her for over 3 months now and just recently she's started sucking on herself.  We took her to the vets and they emptied her anal sacs and thought maybe that was the reason but she was back to doing the same thing a day or two later.  Is this normal or something i should be worried about?  Thank you in advance for your wisdom and assistance in making Bitsy's life as good as possible!

ANSWER: Well I am a bit confused how anal glands entered into this picture? What exactly is she sucking on?

If she is still lactating and is self-nursing then she needs to be spayed and get her hormones under control.

Otherwise I have no clue since I have no clue "what" she is sucking on.

Full anal glands will not make a dog nurse on herself. A false pregnancy might as will other hormonal imbalances. Thus the need to spay her.

After three months she is more than ready to be spayed.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your quick response... we really appreciate you taking the time to help us with this matter.  Like you we was confused as to how and why the anal glands entered into the picture when the question we had was about her nursing on her own teats.  Our vet suggested the fullness of the gland was causing discomfort that our dog was trying to relieve.  Bitsy came to us already spayed, we actually were responsible for getting the stitches taken out because she wouldn't let the ladies at the rescue do it. At that time the vet had put her on an antibiotic because there was redness at the incision site (that was approximately three months ago).  My concern was that maybe there was an infection still there??  

You and this website are wonderful - don't worry i will give you a glowing review, thank you for answering so quickly!

Answer
OKay, well that does change things. However,the only thing we have ever seen a dog do to relieve her anal glands being full was scoot on her butt.

Since not many dogs in comparison are lactating it's hard to say whether or not this was the reason.

Does she do this daily?  Is the area red? Some people give their dogs a stuffed toy to carry around and this might relieve the nursing instinct she is feeling.
It is quite possible that her litter died and thus she never was able to satisfy the need to nurse.

Just a guess at this point! I wouldn't worry much about it except if she is really aggravating a teat and making it sore or red. This will probably pass with some more time.