Problem:
Excessive drooling
Hello
Shannon,
I
have recently given a home to two fully grown Ridgebacks,
a male of 3 years old, and a spayed female of 2.5 years.
We have had them now for about 3 weeks, and during this
time I have never seen them drool over anything, not
food or anything else, except my mother's pocket-sized
Yorkshire Terrier (male, about 10 months old). We introduced
the dogs outside the house as she was visiting for the
weekend, and the Ridgebacks were obviously inquisitive,
but at no stage were they aggressive or overly protective
of their environment. The Yorkie was obviously very
submissive. What astounded me, though, is that the Ridgebacks
started drooling over this little pup - which was the
first time I've seen them drool over anything. We decided
to let the dogs only have supervised contact as I have
absolutely no idea why they would be drooling so excessively.
They kept on sniffing him and drooling.
Do
you have any idea why this would happen?
Regards,
Draped in drool
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Hi
Draped
Thanks
for your very interesting question. The first thing
that would spring to mind for the novice would be that
the Ridgebacks are perhaps salivating at the thought
of a tasty snack, which of course would give one reason
for concern. While one would have to consider that there
might be some triggering of prey drive in the Ridgebacks
in the presence of the Yorkie, I would tend to think
that the behaviour has a less ominous trigger.
The
medical term for excessive salivation or drooling is
ptyalism. This term is used more to describe
a sudden event that persists for an extended period
of time and it is usually associated with illness or
injury (Brum). However in your
situation there appears to be a particular stimulus
that triggers these episodes, so I would not say that
your dogs are suffering from ptyalism per se.
It
has been reported that some dogs will show excessive
salivation during times of high excitement. I would
assume that the presence of the tiny Yorkie was quite
an exciting event for the Ridgebacks. Due to the Yorkie's
small size and long coat, the Ridgebacks may have also
experienced some transient confusion with regard to
the Yorkie's species, gender and age. I would tend to
guess that the Ridgebacks were not exposed to a wide
variety of other animals during their socialisation
phase, hence their excessive reaction.
Furthermore,
the dog's sense of smell is often assisted by his production
of saliva. It is theorised that the saliva helps to
trap scent molecules thus giving the dog a longer time
to analyse scent. One only has to look at traditional
"scenters" such as Bassets and Bloodhounds
to see the link between scenting talent and saliva production.
"The
wrinkles hold the scent and the ears will stir it up
and the saliva that everybody finds disgusting actually
enhances the scent" (Joe
Canfield, Bloodhound Trainer and Founder of the USA
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Dogs
scenting a bitch on heat, or anything of particular
interest, will often salivate excessively. It would
appear that this intensifies the scent. This excessive
drooling is often reinforced as it gives the dog a desired
result i.e. intensified scent. In some cases this may
result in the behaviour being performed in the same
context, but without the initial motivator.
The
Ridgeback is traditionally classified as a Sighthound,
but they certainly seem to be gifted Scenthounds as
well. In my experience I have noted that some Ridgebacks
do tend to drool when presented with something of high
interest or value.
In
summary I think that the Ridgebacks are salivating excessively
due to the excitement and to intensify the scent of
the Yorkie, which they find particularly interesting
and arousing. To be on the prudent side I would suggest
that the Ridgebacks are not left unsupervised with the
Yorkie. Their high interest could possibly transform
into prey drive and with the two of them the Yorkie
could possibly be in danger.
I
would suggest short low-key visits to try and habituate
the Ridgebacks to the Yorkie. The Yorkie could also
join the Ridgeback during on-lead walks as the other
stimuli present during the walk will remove the focus
from the Yorkie and thus aid in habituation and acceptance.
Reference:
Ptyalism (Hypersalivation) in Dogs, Dr. Douglas Brum,
2002