Why Is Your Dog Drooling So Much?
📝 Summary
Excess drooling is not just greed; it can signal illness. Causes include dental disease or teething, throat obstruction or injury, fear and anxiety, overheating, old age, and car sickness. Most drooling is normal, but see a vet if disease is suspected.
1 Common Causes of Drooling
Check the teeth, it may be an oral problem. If a dog drools and loses appetite, examine the mouth, teeth, and gums for redness or inflammation; a vet can check for periodontal disease.
Or the dog may be teething. A loose tooth bumped by hard food keeps stimulating the saliva glands, and a puppy’s swallowing is not yet refined, so it drools more.
It may have swallowed something, or have an injury. If the dog stretches its neck, seems restless, and reacts when you touch near the throat, it is likely a throat foreign object, which also causes constant drooling.
It may be fear or anxiety. A scared or startled dog drools heavily, but recovers once the trigger is gone; a dog with separation anxiety may drool a lot when it knows the owner is leaving.
It may simply be too hot. In summer or after hard exercise, dogs pant with the tongue out to cool down, which means more drool.
It may be getting old. Older dogs with looser muscles and wrinkled faces cannot fully close their mouths and drool uncontrollably.
Car sickness causes drooling too. Like people, dogs get carsick; drooling in the car can mean motion sickness.
Drooling is fairly common, so owners need not panic. Most cases are normal habit; if illness is suspected, see a vet.
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