Doggy Saliva Dripping

May 27, 2006 12:32 PM

Why do dogs dribble saliva and is there anything we can do?

Our 7 month old golden labrador (who is wonderful by the way!) occasionally dribbles saliva from her mouth in a kind of gross way (although its nearly cute!)

Is this normal and secondly is there anything we can do to help if this is a problem area? We accept that it may just be a doggy thing but it would be good to know if this indeed was the case.

posted by pettins to Pets & Animals (8 answers total)

My 2 and a half year old yellow lab drools all the time, all over the place. You get used to it--I thought it was gross when we got him, now I hardly mind at all. I think it's just a dog thing.
posted by gokart4xmas at 1:51 PM on May 27, 2006

dogs perspire by letting their mouths hang open and panting ... and drooling can be part of that

there's nothing you can do about it ... that's just the way they are
posted by pyramid termite at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2006

still teething or having new teeth replace old teeth can cause drooling.
also dogs don't really sweat and drooling is about helping them cool down (or so I have heard)
posted by NoMich at 2:14 PM on May 27, 2006

Drooling is normal. And it seems the bigger and goofier and hairier the dog, the exponentially more amounts of drool. So you end up with a really big hairy wet-faced beast sometimes. My condolences. :-) Wait until he horks up a giant loogie on your bed some night. Fun!
posted by SuperSquirrel at 2:20 PM on May 27, 2006

My five year-old Old English Sheepdog drools like crazy. You'll definitely get used to it.

Make sure she gets enough water, and leave the lid on the toilet seat down:-)
posted by invisible ink at 2:21 PM on May 27, 2006

A cousin of mine had two Great Danes that were big droolers. She taught them to get their "mung" (I have no idea why she used that word) towels when it got really bad. The towels soaked up the worst of it and were easily washed.
posted by deborah at 4:31 PM on May 27, 2006

I've known friends who have used Deborah's trick and it's worked well for them. They tried to approach it as a toy and comfort device so the dog was more inclined to us it.
posted by beowulf573 at 5:50 AM on May 28, 2006

Watch "Turner & Hooch" (with Tom Hanks) and just be thankful that is not your dog!
posted by shifafa at 8:53 AM on May 28, 2006