Will Your Dog Be A Drooler?

ALL dogs may drool at certain times but the kind of lips a dog has, effects the amount of saliva that escapes the dog’s mouth.  It’s good to know about dog  lips for two major reasons.

1. To help you understand why your dog is so slobbery, they don’t mean to slime everyone and everything and they can’t help from doing it.

2. If you are researching what kind of dog to get, and it matters to you, if a dog breed tends to drool a lot or not so much, knowing the type of lips a breed has, will help you make an informed decision.

What causes all dogs to drool and why are some more likely to have streams of saliva hanging from their mouths than others?

Find out in this week’s episode of Raising Your Paws podcast, Number 54.

Now, here are some photos of the dogs that have the two different types of lips. This is by no means a complete list of the breeds with either type of lips.

In dogs, the upper lips are called “flews.” The flews vary in length from breed to breed. Hound dogs and other heavy-muzzled breeds such as the bulldog and bloodhound pictured below, have long, low-hanging flews draped over their upper jawline.

These dogs have pendulous or saggy lips and will tend to normally, drool more.

Compare this photo of an English Mastiff’s mouth, with pendulous lips to the mouth of a standard poodle that has tight lips.

Here are some more of the breeds with tight lips that regularly drool less.

Keep in mind that even though, dog drool may seem gross to you at times, it is a sign that your dog is producing saliva and just like you, your dog needs saliva to aid in the digestion of its food, and it also helps keep your dog’s mouth comfortable. If you’re not seeing any slobbering from your canine and its mouth seems overly dry, your four-legged companion may have dry mouth, also known as the condition called xerostomia. Without a liquid (saliva) regularly washing over the teeth to keep them clean, dry mouth can cause bad breath in both dogs and people. Besides noticing bad breath, dogs with dry mouth may have sticky, dry-feeling gums. Xerostomia can affect your dog’s  swallowing and eating so if you suspect this condition in your pooch, take them to see their vet.

All of these dog breeds no matter how drippy they are, still merit our respect and care. If you have one of the more slobbery breeds, you just have to manage it a bit more. With all the love and fun and happiness that exists between you and your dog, its worth carrying tissues, or handkerchiefs or towels or a sponge around with you, isn’t it? And remember, that ALL breeds of dogs may drool at certain times – when food is present, when they are excited, when panting or when feeling sick or ill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Show Notes For Raising Your Paws Podcast – Episode 54

Title: The Reasons Dogs Drool So Much & Why Family Dogs Bite Family Members.

Does your dog leave puddles of drool on the floor in anticipation of eating when you open the container of its food? Or perhaps you have one of those large dog who slobbers constantly. Why do dogs drool? There are many reasons for this. Find out what they are in this episode.

You may be surprised to hear that some of the most common dog bites happen to family members from the family dog. Why is this? What are the circumstances that can lead to your dog biting you or someone in the family? And most importantly, what can be done to prevent this? I’m continuing my conversation with Melissa Berryman, a dog bite prevention expert and author of the book, “People Training for Good Dogs: What Breeders don’t tell you and what trainers don’t teach.” We’ll cover those topics today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your cat sometimes act like they are hearing things? Maybe you figure they’ve gone kind of nuts – because you don’t hear a thing. Actually they are – hearing what you are not! In this episode I’ll explain just how much better your cat’s hearing is compared to yours.

Additional Resources for the show

Source for the story about dog’s drooling – The Secret Lives of Dogs by Jana Murphy and the Editors of Pets – part of the family.

Melissa Berryman’s People Training for Good Dogs website.

Amazon link to Order “People Training for Good Dogs.”

Source for the story about cats hearing – What Your Cat Knows by Sally Morgan.