Lab Puppy - Foul Metallic Odor - Glands vs. Penis

Question
I adopted a yellow lab "mix" puppy at 8 weeks and he was already neutered (which I considered quite young, but the agencies would rather not take a chance, I suppose).

He is now about 4 months old and he occasionally develops an EXTREMELY foul metallic odor, accompanied by a small wet spot - on the couch, a blanket, my shirt, etc. He has done this since I have had him - maybe once or twice every other day.

I have taken him to two different vets (for differing opinions), and both seem to think it is his anal glands expressing. In fact, the one vet expressed his anal glands and asked me if that was the odor - and it certainly was.

The vets said dogs may do this when they are excited or scared, but my dog does this for no particular reason. For example, he can just walk into the room, lay down, and all of a sudden - the smell comes out. He does not "scoot", and his BM's seem to be fairly solid and/or "normal".

One more thing that I am confused about is that it seems to come from his penis, not the anus. Just this morning he developed the odor, and I checked his penis and anus, and the smell was coming from a wet penis (a milky white substance).

He does lick/bite himself from time to time (but I would guess that is rather normal in dogs). Could this have anything to do with his being "fixed" at a young age? Are there cases where the anal glands are expressed through the penis (I would guess not)!? Is he getting too excited, and it the smell is from sperm? Does he even have sperm (since he is fixed)? Could it be an infection? I have no idea, but if I could do something about it, that would be wonderful.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Nick

Answer
You are asking about 2 separate sets of glands.  The anal sacs have a thin, oily material that has a horrible odor.  This is actually a scent gland.  If these leak, they can be removed.

The other thing you are seeing is a secretion from the mucus glands of the sheath of the penis.  This mucus gets dirty and has a bacterial component that causes the odor. It is called smegma.  This can easily be wiped off several times a day.  In fact, most dogs will lick themselves to clean out this penile sheath.