However, there are certain dog breeds that produce more drool than others! Saint Bernards and Bloodhounds often drool more because they have slouchy upper lips.
In most cases, it’s completely natural for a pup to produce a certain amount of saliva when it’s eating or simply because it’s happy! We’ve put together all the reasons to answer your question- Why is my dog drooling so much? Here, you can find out the not-so-obvious medical reasons that cause excessive drooling in dogs!
The Main Reason Why Your Dog Is Producing Excessive Drool
Dogs salivate when they don’t feel alright or come down with toothache. It’s perfectly common for your chihuahua to start drooling, especially when it’s the mealtime. However, a drooling problem could be a sign of mouth disease among dogs.
Tartar buildup, tooth decay, and ulcerations make it painful for your dog to swallow food. When that happens, they slobber more to make the digestion process easier. Dogs usually give up taking food at later stages of an illness. In the meantime, they try to cope up with the situation by pulling out all the stops on drooling!
Moving forward, if your dog ingested something toxic like household chemicals or random stuff off the sidewalk, it could suddenly start drooling. Whenever something doesn’t sit right with its stomach, a dog could be drooling more than necessary.
If you think your dog is drooling a lot, follow up with a full-body checkup. There’s a chance it’s stuck with a foreign body in its throat that needs to be removed immediately. More often than not, drooling is the result of chronic dental problems and is not life-threatening.
Reasons Your Dog Is Drooling Excessively
Has your dog’s drooling problem gone out of hand? There are many causes of drooling- one stranger than the other! We can help you figure out what’s troubling your four-legged friend and put a stop to it.
Before we start, keep in mind that every breed is different. So, your dog might not have any of these problems, but it’s best that you take it to a vet’s clinic anyway. Better safe than sorry!
Dog Breeds with Short Muzzles
Dogs with short snouts, also known as brachycephalic dogs, can drool more due to their unique facial features. English Bulldog, French Bulldog, and Pug are common brachycephalic breeds.
They’re prone to hypersalivation simply because they have sloppy upper lips. For example, they have extra folds of skin around their muzzle, which can trap wet food and water under their flews!
Whenever male and female pugs shake their heads, saliva can drip down due to their short head formations. And guess what, it’s completely normal! As for other breeds, the drool collects inside their mouth as usual. Either way, a certain amount of drool is normal for a beagle, chihuahua, lab, or golden retriever.
Stomach Distress and Tumors
Creating too much saliva or drooling all of a sudden may indicate stomach issues in dogs. An upset stomach is not a reason for concern, but a tumor in the esophagus or mouth is. If that’s the case, your dog will show other signs such as difficulty eating or swallowing, loss of appetite, abnormal swelling, and lethargy.
Profusely drooling can also mean that your dog is experiencing an upper respiratory illness. Temporary infections can occur in the nose, sinus, throat, or anywhere in its respiratory tract. If your beagle or Yorkie develops an infection, a discharge will come out from its nose and eyes.
A retriever can drool more than others when it has eaten something bad. Another reason for a dog’s drooling could be an inflammation of the stomach, gastrointestinal obstruction, or bloating. Keep reading to know more.
Exposure to Toxic Substances
Your dog could be feeling nauseous from touching poisonous plants and substances. Some dogs are picky eaters and will end up with an upset stomach if you give them human food. Baby food or human food is not necessarily toxic for dogs. But it could be one of the causes of drooling.
Our food is rich in carbohydrates, and an active dog can have 20% of those in its daily diet. While carb is okay for an old dog in reasonable amounts, don’t make the mistake of giving your dog almonds or macadamia nuts! They can cause your pitbull to throw up and drool all over the place.
Anxiety, Anticipation, and Excitement
A Labrador, Frenchie, or Rottweiler has a free pass to excessive salivation. They’re energetic and fun-loving dogs, which often lead them to drool uncontrollably. Then there are dogs like Pitbulls who don’t even need a reason to dribble. As long as they seem healthy, the causes of excessive drooling can be completely psychological.
Dogs don’t handle stress, anxiety, and loneliness that well. Stress can cause your dog to drool. So, if you moved home or brought in a new pet recently, you might notice your dog drooling more than usual.
Heat Stroke and Motion Sickness
A dog gets surprisingly jittery when it’s traveling. Motion sickness and nausea are pretty common for older dogs and will cause them to slaver.
You can make your trips enjoyable by keeping a drool rag close by. A Labrador doesn’t seem to mind road trips. When it comes to a big boxer, you can have the front seat of its drool show!
Dogs don’t shy away from the sun. They have plenty of fun in the summer, which often leaves them dehydrated, or on the verge of a heat stroke. It’s normal for dogs to pant, drool, and try to cool down during a heat stroke. Walk your dog outside in the early morning and evening, when the sidewalks have cooled down.
What Drooling in Dogs Means for Dog Owners
During summertime, your puppy could be getting a heat stroke and slobber uncontrollably. But if your dog’s drooling is out of control, you may want to sit down and take a closer look at it.
Oftentimes, drooling profusely is a sign of various dental problems or poor gum health in dogs. As of now, tooth decay, painful gum, and improper swallowing are the top causes of drooling.
Surprisingly, gums tell a lot about your dog’s health. The best part? You don’t need a vet to see if your Yorkie has bad gums. A healthy adult dog will have moist gums that are light pink in color.
Gingival hyperplasia is a medical issue where a pup’s gums or gingival tissues become inflamed. Enlargement or overgrowth of gums can prevent pups from swallowing properly. These conditions make saliva pool up inside your dog’s mouth.
Common Mouth Diseases that Cause Dogs to Drool
Many things can cause your dog to stray from its normal behavior. If it’s drooling more than usual, it might not be that excited to see its meal; rather, it’s a mouth disease or a dental emergency that needs attention.
While you’re at it, look out for plaque along their gum lines. Any inflammation, lumps, or bumps in the gastrointestinal tract can cause excessive drooling.
For what it’s worth, your dog can have healthy-looking gums and suffer from underlying tummy trouble at the same time. Let’s look at five common dental problems that might be causing your dog to drool out of nowhere.
- Tooth decay
- Tartar buildup
- Inflamed gums
- Oral tumors and ulcers
- Infection in the salivary glands
Moving forward, a sudden accumulation of thick mucus in the gallbladder can result in canine gallbladder mucocele (GBM). Pups suffering from GBM find it hard to swallow food.
Similarly, salivary mucocele happens from a ruptured salivary gland. A suitable treatment for mucocele is the removal of those ruptured glands with the help of a small surgery.
Talk to Your Vet about Treatments for Excessive Drooling!
At the end of the day, we’re not medical professionals and cannot say for sure why your dog is drooling unusually. We have kept dogs (two Golden Retrievers, a Pug, and a Labrador!) since early childhood. Therefore, we’re familiar with most dog troubles that happen at home.
Our personal experiences aside, an adult dog could be drooling because of a heat stroke, stomach infection, inflamed gums, and most dental issues.
It’s difficult to narrow down the causes of slobbering in dogs. Our suggestion would be to consult a vet, especially if you notice absurd lumps and odor coming from your dog’s body. The vet will likely order a microscopic evaluation of your dog’s feces, blood tests, or a rectal examination to be sure.
Bottom Line
Among all the things a dog can do, it can certainly not smell trouble. Your pup won’t tell you what’s up with its recent drooling. Unfortunately, you have to figure it out yourself. We’ve listed down all the facts that cause dogs to salivate, including dental issues, motion sickness, infections, and stress.
Maintaining good oral hygiene can prevent future dental emergencies and salivary gland problems. But if it’s already in deep water, make sure to pop by the vet’s clinic. We hope we could help everyone who had the question, “Why is my dog drooling so much?” Thanks for reading!
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