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Why is My Dog Drooling?

October 21, 2019
Why is My Dog Drooling?

Some breeds like Boxers and Great Danes drool more because of the structure of their mouths. They have big and saggy cheeks that don’t catch the saliva to keep it in the mouth of the dog. Thus, they slobber naturally, and that’s a normal condition for them. However, they can drool excessively, too. If you see your dog’s saliva running down more actively than it used to, you should understand why it is happening.

Why Can the Dog Slobber too Much?

The first reasons you want to look into are medical. And sometimes, excessive drooling can happen due to less troubling things.

There is something in the mouth

Maybe your dog was chewing on a stick, and a bit of wood is stuck between the gum and teeth. It will make the pet slobber. So first of all, check if there are any objects stuck in your dog’s gums, cheeks, tongue, throat, or between teeth.

Your dog is overheated

Drooling is a way for animals to cool down. You can compare it to sweating. But if there are rivers of saliva running down from your dog’s mouth, it might have a heat stroke. Then the slobbering will be followed by vomiting, weakness, and other symptoms of the overheat. Take your pet into a cool place, give it some water, or even ice cubes to chew on.

Why Can the Dog Slobber too Much?
Overheated pug drools

Dental problems

It is one of the most frequent causes of excessive drooling. If your dog has issues with teeth or gums, it will slobber a lot. The main indicator here is bad breath. You should take your pet to the vet so that the doctor can see if there are any dental problems.


One of the signs of nausea is excessive drooling. If you’re traveling with your pet, and you see that the dog begins drooling when it’s in transport, it is nauseous. Stop the vehicle if you can and let the animal drink some water and breathe normally. To prevent nausea during the travel, don’t feed your dog right before it. And make sure there is enough air in the car or other transport you use. Usually, as the animal grows up, this issue goes away.

Over-excitement and eating

These are two natural reasons for slobbering. If the dog is overly excited because of something (most likely about some smell), it will drool. Almost every pup will slobber when it’s sexually aroused. Also, it’s normal for the animal to slobber while eating, mainly if it eats kibble. So if drooling happens only in these scenarios, you have nothing to worry about.

If the pet slobbers because of stress, try to find out what stresses the animal out and take this thing away. You can counter condition the animal by feeding it near the stressful object or in a stressful situation. Once the dog stops stressing out, it will stop drooling as well.

More serious reasons for drooling

A dog can slobber because of:

  • Poisoning
  • Kidney infection
  • Respiratory infection
  • Stomach diseases
  • Mouth cancer
  • Rabies
  • Many other diseases

Incase rabies try to protect your dog from extraneous mammals. If you have large territory in the extreme area – better to keep your dog in the outdoor dog kennel.

More serious reason for drooling


If you’ve thrown away all the reasons listed before this paragraph, immediately take your dog to the doctor. It might be seriously sick, and you most likely don’t have much time to help it. If you’ve noticed changes in your dog’s behavior along with excessive drooling, it might be even rabies. So don’t waste any time and go to the vet.