Are you wondering why your furry friend is suddenly drooling excessively and licking their paws? Well, my friend, let’s dive into this topic and understand everything there is to know!
Dogs may drool excessively and lick their paws for various reasons, such as eating the wrong food, irritating skin, having a foreign object stuck in their mouth, being exposed to poisonous plants, having wounds or thorns on their paws, or even psychological issues like anxiety or stress. If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s best to consult with a veterinarian for the best solution.
Since the cause of excessive drooling and paw licking can be normal or abnormal, it’s important to comprehend the exact issue to make the remedial process easier. So, let’s explore the possible reasons and solutions together! With proper care and attention, your furry friend will be back to their happy and healthy selves in no time!
Why is your dog drooling and licking his paws?
Although there are many causes for drooling or licking paws, it’s a little weird when this happens all at once.
Here is why do dogs excessively.
- Mouth disease
- Heatstroke
- Digestive problem.
- Caught a foreign object between teeth.
- Anxiety or stress.
- Tooth decay.
- Breeding.
- Poisonous plants or scents.
Here are the causes for paws licking in dogs.
- Self grooming.
- Skin Irritation.
- A pain.
- Separation anxiety or boredom.
- Food allergies.
- Parasites.
- Behavioral issues.
Due to the nature of this issue, we cannot specify a precise reason for this. This is because there is a minimal correlation between excessive drooling and licking paws.
However, all we can do is examine the causes of drooling or licking paws and guess the exact events that will give both of these problems.
1. Psysochological issues.
The first one we can suspect is psychological issues, especially including stress, separation anxiety, and boredom.
So, this excessive salivation may be caused by these psychological issues. The dog may be licking its paws for the purpose of self-soothing.
This licking behavior is often combined with other destructive behaviors like digging, destructive chewing, and barking.
So don’t be surprised if you find chewed shoes, chewed clothing, or anything else chewed.
2. Eating wrong food.
Another suspicious cause is the food. Usually, digestive issues are a significant cause of heavy drooling. Also, food allergies are an essential cause of licking paws.
Just remind a little bit whether your dog has recently eaten something inappropriate? Here are a few suggestions to refresh your memory.
- Eating human food. It can cause even a small table scrap.
- Eating the wrong dog food. For example, a large dog cannot eat small dog food and vice versa.
- Adult dog eating puppy food.
- A puppy eating adult dog food.
- Eating something found in the trash can.
- Eating something found outside. Often puppies do this.
3. Irritating skin.
Irritating skin is another cause for licking or chewing paws. Even though this directly causes drooling in dogs, it causes it indirectly.
When a dog licks and chews its paws due to an irritating issue, it tends to do this even for hours straightly. Therefore, dripping can occur on both sides of the jaw, especially when licking paws after drinking water.
Usually, irritation in dogs is often triggered by certain grasses, dust, food allergies, flea allergies, and a few others more.
3. A foreign object stuck in the mouth.
Another suspicious and common cause is a foreign object getting stuck between the teeth, tongue, or mouth. Excessive drooling can happen in such a situation.
Initially, the dog tries desperately to remove this foreign object by pawing at the muzzle or putting a paw inside the mouth. In doing so, they strive hard to remove it with the help of their toes and tails.
Doing so for a long time can scrape their paws. So, they lick just for self-soothing.
4. Having poisonous plants.
Another common reason for excessive drooling has poisonous plants in the house. I’ve mentioned earlier the causes of licking paws.
So, the chances are the dog may be licking its paws due to one of those reasons, and meantime, there may be poisonous plants in or around the house.
5. Wound or thorn.
We all know that dogs are playful. There is a higher likelihood of happening an injury to paws or a thorn stuck under the paws.
So, if there is a wound on paws or thorn goes into paws, the dog may be trying to get rid of the thorn or get some comfort by licking or chewing the paws.
When a dog does this for quite some time, dripping on both sides of the jaw is an entirely normal thing.
6. Other Reasons.
Here are some other reasons I can suggest to you. (Assume that something is causing your dog to lick his feet. We discussed those causes at the beginning of the article.)
- Some breeds tend to drool more than others. For example, St. Bernard, Bloodhound, Newfoundlands, and bulldogs.
- Dogs tend to salivate more during the hot days.
- The dog feels the smell of food and he is hungry.
Suggested Reading: Read this if your dog’s licking sound annoys you.
Do these if your dog drools excessively and licks its paws.
We’ve discussed some of the major reasons why a dog may manifest these signs. However, what should you do about this?
Well, in terms of solutions, I’d meet the vet rather than trying different kinds of home remedies. Because you will never know the exact cause for this.
Even you know that still you gotta consult a vet. Apart from drooling as a breed behavior and licking paws as a behavioral issue, pretty much all of the other causes for drooling and licking paws are abnormal.
Therefore, consulting your veterinarian is highly recommended.
Moreover, you can do several other things to prevent such situations from happening in the near future.
Mental stimulation: As I mentioned earlier, psychological issues are a major cause of this issue. Always try to provide enough mental stimulation. Provide adequate exercises, play nose work games, spend some time together, give chew toys to chew on, train the dog, teach new tricks.
Don’t overwork the dog: As we discussed earlier, overworking is also another cause for this issue. The activity level of a dog depends on many factors, including breed, age, gender, health status, the season of the year, and many more. Therefore, consider discussing with your veterinarian the amount of activity your dog needs.
When feeding: Don’t change the dog’s diet without veterinary recommendations. Also, you gotta be extremely cautious when buying food. Always buy correct and high-quality food.
Supervise the dog: Always supervise the dog when playing outdoors. Don’t let her play among the bushes.
Check paws: Examine its paw after every play session to ensure paws pads are clean.
Conclusion.
Many dog parents are desperate to find out what causes their dogs to drool excessively and lick their paws. Here, we’ve discussed a handful of possible causes. Hope you found this helpful.
Cheers.
