Have you ever noticed extra saliva strings hanging from the dog’s jaw when it is around other dogs? We understand that it is kind of frustrating and annoying when you see the dog’s drool everywhere around your house. Now, you must be wondering, “Why does my dog drool around other dogs?” There are a lot of reasons behind it, thankfully none is alarming, but you will have to deal with some mess. If you are one of those people who want this answer, you are at the right place. Let us discuss the reason behind dogs drooling around other dogs in detail.
Reasons a dog drool around other dogs:
Have you ever observed your dog drooling when you take it out with other dogs for a walk? Commonly, people have a perspective that a dog drools around other dogs when it is either anxious or exciting. Every dog has a distinct scent hence when a dog smells some other companion around it, it feels fearful or exciting. Basically, it is the dog’s instinct that reacts as a response to multiple emotions, let it be fear, excitement, or anxiety.
Drooling is most common in younger dogs and the ones who are socially interacted with other dogs as well. However, if your dog is salivating excessively, it may indicate any kind of disease so get your dog checked immediately by a vet. Following are some of the reasons, which are responsible for dogs drooling around other dogs.
Exposure to a new scent:
Dogs perceive most things in this world by their sense of smell therefore, if they smell anything unusual, they will tend to drool. Their sense of smell is 10,000 – 100,000 times better than that of humans depending on the dog’s breed. As every dog has its particular smell, so one’s scent is unknown to the other. No matter you are in the park with your dog or sitting in the house if your dog smells anything unfamiliar, drooling is not uncommon. In short, if you are wondering, “Why does my dog drool around other dogs?”, then it can be a consequence of an unfamiliar scent.
Proximity to food:
The oral waterworks rev up as a visceral reaction to the smell of any exotic, delicious, or edible food. A single whiff can lead to dogs drooling around other dogs also if they see anything pleasing to eat, they tend to give the same drooling reaction. This means it is not always obvious that the dog is drooling at lunch, or picnic due to the presence of other dogs because it can be the food as well.
Anxious Disposition:
When a dog isn’t ready for something, it gets anxious by not knowing how to respond to that situation. Anxiety is quite common in dogs hence, it is necessary to build their confidence so that, they may experience new things without getting anxious. Well, most of you would be wondering that how anxiety is related to the question that why does my dog drool around other dogs.
When a dog sees another dog, it can experience some emotions. If your dog meets other dogs regularly, it will behave normally with them but if it meets a new dog, there are chances it may get anxious and as a result of getting uneasy, it drools around them. Especially, if the dog breed changes, the dog will take a lot of time to behave normally.
A fear response:
In few cases, a dog may get scared of other dogs. This kind of behavior is less common in dogs of the same breed, but when a dog of two different breeds meets, initially one can get scared of the other. Usually, the smaller one is scared. Although the dog may stand still and do not show its fear, deep inside it is scared which is indicated by the saliva dripping from the sides of its mouth. As a response, a dog drools a lot along with some growling, baring teeth, and pulling back. Hence, always make sure your dog is interacting.
If you are looking for a solution for this, just make sure you are fulfilling its activity needs, and it is properly socialized. These factors bring a lot of change and confidence in the dog’s personality, and they can easily tackle different new situations.
Feeling sick:
If a dog is sick due to any reason, drooling can be a response t it. For instance, if you are traveling in a car along with 2 dogs, your dog might get nauseous due to car sickness, not the presence of the other dog and as a result, drools. To get over it, just let the dog out of the car as soon as possible.
Secondly, if due to any reason your dog is drooling around another dog, it is normal but when the drooling gets excessive, it becomes obvious that the other dog has nothing to do with it, but the dog itself is not okay. In that case, do not delay and waste any further time to make things worse, but rush to the vet immediately.
High excitement level or nervousness:
When you bring a new pup to your home as a family member, your dog can experience multiple emotions. If it gets exciting, you are going to observe slobbering definitely also, if it is nervous, it will drool as a response to its nervousness. Along with drooling, you may observe some other symptoms as well including the dog showing the white part of its eyes, stiff body, or hunched back.
In such cases, you first need to make the dog comfortable around the new pet. Keep trying until you feel that now your dog has accepted its new companion as a member of the house. This will automatically stop the dog from drooling here and there or getting nervous.
Happiness:
Perceiving that a dog is either happy or sad is quite easy. You can simply notice their facial expressions or behavior, and it will be clear to you. Well, if your dog is happy to find a new companion for playing around with, it might express feelings of joy. The emotion of happiness is one of the causes of why does my dog drool around other dogs. If you are one of those owners who don’t have enough time to play with their dogs, then this behavior will be common. Also, if your dog has a playful personality, it will drool on seeing another companion to play with.
However, most people consider it a concern. Don’t worry! This drooling is a result of happiness which is good for the dog’s physical as well as mental health. Not only it saves your dog from feeling separation anxiety.
Jealousy:
You may have a lot of dogs in your home, but the only owner your dog has is you. So, when you welcome another dog to your home, it is quite common that the other one gets jealous of seeing you both close. It can hurt the dog psychologically as a response to which, your dog may drool. Along with drooling, your dog will ignore you for some time showing its emotions of jealousy to you.
To avoid such circumstances, always treat both of the dogs equally, cuddle both of them, or take them for a walk together. If you are playing with one dog, tell someone else to play with the new one.
Sexual Desire:
When the dog gets mature, it is pretty normal to have sexual desires. As a sign, the dog drools also, crying and howling is common in these kinds of situations. It is not compulsory that the male and female dog should be near or together but, being able to smell or listen to them will do all. So, if you observe drooling in such circumstances, we suggest you visit the vet for professional advice.
How to stop dogs from Drooling?
We know that the drooling of a dog is annoying as well as messy. The dog owners, who have dogs that drool, are finding ways to stop their dogs from drooling. Honestly, if your dog is drooling just because of the presence of another dog, there is not much you can do. All you can do is gather some eco-friendly paper towels, and keep cleaning the messy area. However, in case of anxiety and depression, you can seek help from the vet as he will most probably prescribe some anti-anxiety pills which helps the dogs a lot.
Additionally, some ways may reduce the amount of saliva that a dog drips. When you feed your dog dry food, its salivary glands release more and more saliva to make the food wet and easy to digest. So, if you make your dog eat wet food directly, the salivary glands will produce less saliva.
Which dogs drool more?
Every dog has a distinct nature. Some dogs become excessive droolers around other dogs while others may not show such signs. This entirely depends on the nature and personality of the dog. Although a dog can drool due to different situations it has to face around other dogs, but if they drool without any of these reasons, then they are natural droolers. The dogs which drool more commonly include Great Dane, Boxer, Bullmastiff, Bernese Mountain dogs, Neapolitan mastiff, Newfoundland, Bulldog, Bloodhound, Dogue de Bordeaux, and Saint Bernard.
Is drooling of dogs a concern?
Drooling is usually not a concern when you are concerned to “Why does my dog drool around other dogs”. But if your dog is drooling excessively along with some drastic behavioral changes, then it is something to be taken care of, for sure. Also, if your dog is showing other symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, or lethargy along with drooling, you need to take your dog to the vet. Some of the conditions in which the dog tends to drool more include dental diseases, heatstroke, ptyalism, rabies, and pseudoptyalism.
How to train a dog to be relaxed around other dogs?
If your dog is calm and comfortable around other dogs, it will not drool hence, try to make your dog relaxed around others. Well, if you are wondering that how to make your dog friendly like others, then we are here for you to guide you. Follow the below-mentioned steps, and your dog will stop drooling because of experiencing no deep emotions around other dogs.
- Ask one of your friends who have a friendly and calm dog to take his dog for a walk along with you.
- At this walk, take your dog along with you, and join your friend. Don’t forget to put on the harness on both dogs.
- After a little walk, when both the dogs are at a certain distance from each other, let them stop. The dog will stay relaxed at this moment hence if you ask it to sit or stay, it will follow your command.
- Now ask your friend and their dog to approach your dog. At this moment, your dog will start to get excited or anxious.
- Now, make your friend and his dog go away for a while.
- The dog will get relaxed again when the other dog goes away.
- After it gets calm, try doing the same procedure again.
- Keep trying the above-mentioned steps again and again until your dog gets calms down.
- Finally, your dog will get to know that other dogs are not something to be worried about, and they will stop getting excited about seeing other dogs.
Bottom Line:
Why does my dog drool around other dogs? If you are worried about this, then forget all the stress. It is quite normal when your dog drools around other dogs as it is the response to the emotions which a dog experiences at that time. Just make sure, your dog isn’t suffering from any medical condition, and if no, then there is nothing to be worried about.