Kemba’s a handsome dog. And it’s not just me saying this. He gets compliments on his looks from strangers all the time — often
several times in one day.
There’s one circumstance, however, that’s make him look a little less dapper. And that’s when he drools.
Fortunately, Kemba doesn’t drool all the time. Quite seldom, in fact. The one place he turns into The Drooler is . . . the dog park. I wondered about this, so I asked a bunch of dog owners if their dogs tended to slobber more in the dog park. The answer, by and large, was yes.
The website Waggle suggests several reasons. The one that most seems to fit Kemba’s nature is “anticipation of play”:
Dogs are inherently social creatures. When they see other dogs, especially if they’re the playful type, they may anticipate a fun play session. This anticipation can stimulate salivation, just as humans might salivate in anticipation of a tasty meal.
No matter what the cause of the drooling, it still grosses me out. Kemba and I are super close, but that doesn’t mean I want any part of his slobber. I find myself hoping, as we continue our laps around the park, that the ever-lengthening strands of saliva will fall by the wayside somewhere — either via gravity, or Kemba sniffing a tree trunk, or investigating another dog’s rear end. If, however, the now-almost-floor-length goop is still hanging on when we get back to the car, I’ll swipe it off with a towel. Gingerly. From a safe distance.
I shouldn’t be making fun of poor Kemba, though. Before long, I’ll be drooling most of the time, too.
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Ha ha ha!
A Beagle drools at the sight and smell of food. Didn’t Ricky do that?
For sure!
Better a drooling handsome dog than a drooling old man! I speak from experience, although not quite at drool stage myself.
You sure??