anyone have issues with a lab every couple months having gland issues? if so, any advice on how to stop it? i read diet is a big deal. thanks

The diet doesn't make the anal glands stink. Softer stools due to a lack of fiber or other various reasons cause them to not express themselves naturally. They should be naturally expressed when the dog squats and strains to push out solid stool.

With that said - one of our labs is a "walker" - meaning he's too ADD to slow down, stop, and take the time to poop (perfectly good solid stool..he just ain't got time for that). This causes the anal glads to not get fully expressed. Usually they'll decide to express themselves A. in the middle of the night with his butt in our face on the bed B. Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other important family function C. at any other inopportune time.

It's really no big deal if they're expressing themselves on their own. Your vet may teach you how to express them if you ask - it isn't very hard to do - but the more you manually express them - the more you're going to have to manually express them.

thanks, im thinking we need to try a better food.

i second all that's mentioned above. What do you feed? I'd try switching, gradually, to another brand and maybe different protein source and see if that helps. You can also add fiber like plain pumpkin (not pie mix) to the food.
If it's still an issue, there are products you can buy that will help, such as Glandex, which is a powder that adds fiber and is suppose to help with anal gland issues.
Hope that helps and you find a solution!

we feed science diet, but the more i read, the worse it sounds. we are currently looking to go to a better grain free food. any recommendations?
i will look into the glandex. Thanks!