Have you ever noticed your dog drooling in their crate? This behavior can be concerning and confusing for pet owners. In this article, we’ll explore the reasons why dogs drool in their crate and provide helpful solutions.
Dogs may drool in their crate due to anxiety, mouth problems, breeding, exposure to poisonous plants, overheating, bark collars, injuries, uncomfortable surroundings, stomach issues, or nervousness. To address this behavior, you can maintain your dog’s oral health, avoid situations that cause anxiety and stress, ensure a comfortable crate, and consult with a veterinarian.
Identifying the exact cause of this behavior is crucial in finding an effective solution. As a responsible pet owner, it’s essential to be aware of the possible reasons why your dog may be drooling in their crate and take appropriate action to ensure their comfort and well-being.
Anxiety may cause your dog to drool in the crate
Suppose you leave your house anything longer than 5-10 minutes by crating your canine friend. Have you ever seen that your dog starts to excessive drooling or panting and drool all over itself in such situations?
If so, your dog friend may be suffering from separation anxiety. Give him/her some extra attention and check if he/she engaging with these activities.
- Urinating everywhere
- Panting
- Drooling
- Spinning
- Unusual barking and whining
If you crate a dog who shows this kind of behavior, he/she is more likely to drool all over the crate. Basically, this happens because your dog may not feel the crate is a “happy place”.
In fact, your dog can understand that picking up the keys, putting on your jacket means “It’s crate time”. This causes increase anxiety unless the crate isn’t a “Happy place” for your canine friend.
That may lead to drool inside the crate. Don’t worry, I’m gonna give you possible solutions in the solution section for this.
Reasons
- Only crating them as you leave the home.
- Letting the crate feel like the worst place for them
- Using the crate as a punishment tool
Solutions
- Crate him/her up even you are at home
- Turn the crate into a happy place.
- Let your dog the crate as a safe spot
- Don’t use the crate as a punishment tool!
Crate him/her up even you are at home
Don’t forget to crate him/her while you are at home. I mean, not for a long time. You can crate him/her for about 30 minutes and get him/her out. By doing that, you can easily make them feel that your leaving is not equal to crate him/her up.
Turn the crate into a happy place.
You can make the crate a “happy place” for your dog, and let them feel the crate as their own territory. So, you can easily do that by placing the crate in a place where you mostly hang out.
As an example, you can place it next to your working desk. Then occasionally throw a puppy treat inside the crate. But remember not to treat him/her up as he/she is outside the crate.
So, you have to train this for at least 2-3 weeks. That means you cannot do any other pieces of training while crate training. Because you need to let them feel that going to crate is a rewarding behavior.
And eventually, your dog will love the crate and he/she will successfully overcome separation anxiety. That means, no more drool inside the crate.
Let your dog the crate as a safe spot
To do this, you need to place puppy treats randomly and let your dog find them out. Moreover, throw some treats even he/she inside the crate.
The worst thing you can do is only crating him/her as you leaving the home. I mean, it can make it feel like people leaving = crate. I hope it makes sense to you.
If you do those bad things, it can increase your dog’s anxiety level and start to drool all over the crate.
Recommended reading: (9 reasons) why does my dog drool around other dogs?
The surrounding may cause your dog to slobber
Does the surrounding of the crate really matter? Yes, it is. If you place the crate in a place where,
- Dark
- Middle of so many objects which will cover their looking.
- Uncomfortable sounds near the crate
- Wet surrounding
- Direct sunlight
- Heat surrounding
If you place his/her crate in such a place, that means your dog is really uncomfortable with its surrounding. This means your dog is more likes to drool all over his crate as a reaction to uncomfortableness.
Reasons
- Uncomfortable surrounding
Solutions
Think more about the place you gonna keep the crate
If you are at home, make sure to keep the crate in these places,
- A busy place in your house where they can see and hear what’s happening
- The most recommended places are the corner of the kitchen or living room.
- The place should not be a drafty place
- Check if there any heat sources around the dog crate. I mean, those places can be fireplace or radiator
- Make sure your dog is not exposed to extreme heat or cold.
- Avoid direct sunlight
As a stress reaction
As my experiences go, I have seen loads of dogs tend to drool in their crate as a stress reaction. In most cases, stressed dogs tend to lick as a self-soothing behavior.
In fact, we can expect some unusual behaviors from stressed dogs besides drooling. Those are,
- Occasional aggression
- Occasional panting
- Destroying furniture in your home
- Unusual repetitive behaviors
- Peeing or pooping inside the crate
No one wants to live with stress. So, you need to quickly figure out the possible reasons for this unusual slobbering or salivating behavior.
Reasons
- Loud noises
- Moving
- Introducing your dog to new people or strangers
- Leaving him at home
Loud noises
Dogs usually hear in the 40-60000 Hz range. That means they can even hear very sensitive noises. You might feel some noises as normal noises, but the fact of the matter is dogs might feel those sounds like an amplified version of what we hear.
So, It is excruciating and can cause them stress. As a result, they will end up drooling throughout the crate. (Note that it’s only one symptom)
Because of this problem, it’s recommended to take the necessary action to avoid those noises. Here is why some dogs are afraid of musical instruments.
Moving
We know that most people have to change their house because of some inevitable causes. Even humans can feel some kind of frustrating feeling as they change their territory. So, your dog also can feel the same feeling, and they can get stressed.
When we think of moving, the other sad problem that dogs face is rehoming. As humans, we need to understand that dogs are not toys, and we cannot delegate them to someone stranger.
Because of that, they lose their lovable family, and they have to get used to a new life in a completely strange environment and people. That can lead them to get stressed, and you can see occasional drooling as they are inside their crate.
Introducing your dog to new people or strangers
Suppose one of your friends arrives at your house, and he is a complete stranger to your dog friend. Dogs might show various types of reactions to people, and it depends according to the individual.
If your dog starts to show some kind of aggression toward that person, you will definitely have to crate him up. So, on these occasions, dogs tend to salivate in their crates.
Leaving him at home
You might have a handful of reasons to leave your home for an extended time during the day. Being alone inside a crate can amplify their stress exponentially, and eventually, they will be prone to separation anxiety. So, this also can be a reason.
Solutions
- Give consistent training
- Think about their meal plan
- Give them enough exercises
- Get advice from a veterinarian
Tooth & mouth problems may cause your dog to drool inside the crate

We know that dogs love to chew things. Even when playing throughout the backyard, they are more likely to chew objects like small stones, pieces of wood, etc.
So, in such a situation, take a look at inside their mouth and make sure any stuck object is between their teeth. If so, try to remove it with your finger; it’s possible. If not, get the help of a Veterinarian.
Reason
- Small objects are stuck between their teeth
- The gums may have been injured
Solutions
So, in such a situation, take a look at inside their mouth and make sure if there is any stuck object between their teeth. If so, try to remove it with your finger it’s possible. If not, get the help of a Veterinarian.
Due to injuries
Some dogs are extremely playful, isn’t it? Mostly, Puppies cannot stay in one place for more than a minute. So, there is a high chance of getting injured while playing or other unfortunate circumstances.
Sometimes those injuries may be internal and not visible from the outside. So, your dog is more likely to lick those places and drool throughout all over the crate.
Reasons
- injuries
Solutions
- Meet a veterinarian as soon as possible
Bark collars can be a reason for excessive drooling
Which kind of sound can you hear when you think about dogs? Barking right? So, it’s a unique sound only for dogs and can get extremely important or annoying for people.
Because of that, people tend to use bark collars instead of training their dogs not to bark. To be honest, it’s a kind of animal cruelty.
So, If you put your dog in the crate and put on a bark collar as well, obviously he/she will get frustrated and more likely to drool throughout the crate.
Reasons
- Using the bark collars
Solutions
Training your dog not to bark. To be honest, if you are a dog lover, you must feel that training not to bark is better than using bark collars. Read this “How to stop a Doberman from barking? (5 easy steps)” full guide to solve that problem. (These methods can be applied to any dog. So read it out)
Dogs tend to drool during hot days.
This is quite a natural situation, and you do not need to worry too much. Because dogs are more likely to excessively drool during hot days.
But if you noticed that your dog drools inside the crate, it would be a sign of uncomfortableness. You will often see this in the summer. As I mentioned above, you have no need to worry. But there are necessary actions you must take.
Reasons
- High warmth
Solutions
Well, if your dog feels extremely hot, you can do several things. try to,
- Think about where you are going to put the crate and make sure it has good airflow.
- Cool your home with AC
Suggested Reading: Why doesn’t your dog eat in the crate?
Some breeds have natural intinction to drool excessively, even inside the crate
We can identify huge droolers from the canine world. That means these dogs have a natural instinct to drool excessively. It doesn’t matter where they are.
If your dog is also on the list below, you do not need to worry too much.
- Bernese mountain dog
- Black and tan coonhound
- Bloodhound
- Bull terrier
- Bulldog
- Neapolitan mastiff
- Newfoundland
- Saint Bernard
- Schnoodle
- Sussex spaniel
- Dogue de Bordeaux
- Bull mastiff
- Boxer
- Basset hound
- English bulldog
- Great Pyrenee
- Clumber spaniel
- Shar pei
Poisonous plants or animals can cause your dog to drool inside the crate
When you see a nice plant or flower, don’t just take it and place it inside your house. Because it might be poisonous for your dog. So, if your house also has such a poisonous plant, your dog will start to drool even inside the crate.
Those poisonous plants are,
- Sago palm
- Tulips
- Lily of the valley
- Oleander
- Philodendrons
- Azaleas
- Dumb cane
- Japanese Yews
- Cyclamen
- Autumn Crocus
- Tomato plant
- Aloe vera
- Lvy
- Amaryllis
- Gladiola
- American holly
- daffodil
- Baby’s breath
- Milkweed
- Castor bean
- Chrysanthemum
- Begonia
By the way, here is why does your dog drool and lick paws.
Dogs tend to drool due to stomachaches
If your dog starts to drool even inside the crate, your he/she is most likely to have a stomachache. Besides that, check if you can identify the following symptoms.
- Eating less
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
So, Consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.
Because of upper respiratory infections
Dogs tend to drool everywhere, even inside the crate due to upper respiratory infections. So, It’s recommended to consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.
Things to be aware of
The crate size: Make sure the crate is large enough for your dog.
Consulting a veterinarian: Make sure that the veterinarian you gonna meet is a licensed veterinarian.
Avoid home remedies: As we discussed throughout this article, avoid home remedies, and consult a veterinarian.
Conclusion
So, have you ever wondered why does your dog drool inside the crate? Well, This complete guide explains the possible causes of the problem and the possible solutions.