doberman behavior – Mercury Pets

So the question I'm going to look at here is whether or not a Doberman is guilty of drooling? This is clearly something that is kind of important when it comes to buying a particular breed of dog. After all, you want to know if you will be mopping up saliva everywhere you go. Of course, the level of drool that comes from a dog is going to vary from breed to breed. Some are known to be pretty heavy droolers, while others seem to hardly do it at all. Dobermans are certainly droolers, but they don't drool as much as many other breeds. Many will drool more than normal when undertaking certain behaviors, such as exercise or while sleeping. But there’s a whole lot more to drooling than you think. There can be a multitude of reasons as to why your dog is producing so much drool. Let’s examine everything to do with Dobermans and drool in detail. Fact 1 - They Do Drool, But Not Much So let’s begin by clearing up this question, before we go into explaining it a bit more, and the Doberman does drool, but not as much as you may expect. We aren’t talking about them throwing saliva around the room on a constant basis here, but there are times and moments where your Doberman is going to end up drooling a bit more than usual. However, they are certainly not that type of breed where they just sit there drooling for absolutely no reason at all. They are certainly not like that. Instead, they will have moments where the drool factor will increase, but not like most breeds. Actually, they are viewed by dog experts as having one of the lowest levels of drool out there. Now, this isn’t something that is set in stone. It may possibly be the case that your dog drools more than the average, but considering we are typically talking about not too much drool, then this should really not be a problem with your Doberman. Fact 2 - They Come From a Family of Droolers The fact that they don’t drool too much is a bit of a surprise when you look at the breeds that it’s believed the Doberman came from. It’s typically believed that they came from crossing Rottweilers, Great Danes, and several other breeds. [Source] Of course, what you have here are a couple of breeds that are viewed as being heavy droolers, so you would have expected a Doberman to be guilty of the same, but they aren’t. It seems that nature has kind of helped them along a bit by making sure that different heavy droolers have effectively been canceled out. Fact 3 - It’s Down to Their Lips So why don’t they drool as much as we would expect? Well, it seems that it’s all down to their lips, as they are tighter than most breeds. That alone is going to keep that drool from flying out of their mouth at any given opportunity. Also, their mouth is pretty tight all the way along their jaw. With some breeds, there’s a gap that allows the drool to come out, but with a Doberman, you are looking at things being pretty well sealed. Fact 4 - Some May Be the Exception to the Rule However, while the Doberman is not generally a heavy drooler, you can have the exception to the rule. This can be caused by a number of things, but it will often be linked to their lips not being as tight as others. But that’s not the possible only reason. It may be an indicator of several other potential issues, and that’s something we will look at shortly. While the average Doberman is going to want to keep themselves clean, as this is very important to the breed, it’s not always the case. You will have some that have less care or desire to look after themselves in this way, but that’s fine. Also, when we go through different times when they are likely to drool more, it will vary from dog to dog. However, the one thing we can say with a degree of certainty is that your Doberman is going to generally not drool too much, at least compared to other breeds of dog. Fact 5 - They Will Drool Around Meals It’s going to be pretty common for your Doberman to produce a bit more drool around their meals. Of course, we can all relate to the concept of drooling when we are about to have something tasty to eat, and your Doberman is not going to be any different. There are times when this becomes a bigger problem for them. For example, if you go ahead and put their food near them and don’t allow them to touch it for a short time, then they will often start to drool. Of course, this is hardly the fault of the dog. They just get carried away a bit, but even then we aren’t talking about copious amounts of drool coming from them either. Add in the fact that some will be messier when it comes to eating, which can lead to a bit more drool being thrown around the room. However, you should know that this is not always the case when it comes to food. At times, the only sign that they are, in effect, drooling, is a small piece of moisture that appears on their lips. To some, it will hardly be something that you will notice, and that’s how little the average Doberman is going to drool at this time. Fact 6 - Water is an Issue Another time when drooling is going to be an issue is after they have had a drink of water. At this point, they will tend to become rather messy and will throw water all over the place. Actually, this is the moment when their drooling is going to be the heaviest. The Doberman is not the best of dogs when it comes to keeping water in their mouth. As a result, you can pretty much guarantee that there will be a puddle of water after they have had a drink. The problem with your Doberman and drinking water is that they don’t want to spend a lot of time doing it. This means they try to gulp down as much as possible, and that leads to a whole lot of mess. Also, not only will they drink fast, but they will stop suddenly. All of that water from the last drink is going to tend to spill over the floor, and that’s where so much of the drool is coming from. But there’s a problem even after they have stopped drinking. Your Doberman is going to want to play right away. They will often grab a drink and then run around again. That means you have water and saliva mixed in together, and all of that liquid has to go somewhere. Fact 7 - They Will Drool More with Exercise So here’s another fun fact about your Doberman and drooling. They will increase the amount they drool when they are exercising. This again shouldn’t be much of a surprise. This is generally related to the way in which they will pant as they are exerting energy. Their mouth will tend to fall open somewhat, and that’s when the drool is going to start flying out of their mouth. You need to remember how dogs work at cooling down when exercising. Their mouth hangs open, and their idea of licking their lips and keeping their mouth closed to keep that drool in will go straight out the window. To counteract this, you need to provide them with some water to help them cool down. Of course, you then have to deal with them being quite messy when they drink, but at least you understand why their drool production has increased by quite so much. Fact 8 - Some Will Produce No Noticeable Drool If we are looking at something of a sliding scale of dogs and their ability to drool, then it will tend to be the case that the Doberman is on the lowest end of that scale. In fact, some owners have reported that their Doberman actually doesn’t appear to produce any drool of note. They have hardly seen it, and if they have noticed some, then it’s not anything to write home about. Of course, this is not something you can anticipate when you get your Doberman. However, do keep in mind that even those classed as being a heavy drooler, for a Doberman at least, will still be significantly less than the overwhelming majority of other breeds of dog out there. Fact 9 - They May Drool Around Friends or Sleeping Anyway, back to times when your Doberman may very well start to drool, and you may notice that it occurs when they are around friends. Do note that when I say friends, I mean both dog and human friends. When they are around friends, they will become excited, and at that point, they may temporarily forget their usual habit of keeping their drool in check. They are merely guilty of being happy to see someone they like, and they are so focused on that part that they forget about everything else. Regarding sleeping, then the Doberman will have a tendency to sleep with their mouth wide open. That in itself is capable of increasing the amount of drool that can fall out of their mouth, as they are hardly keeping things in check while they are sleeping. But even with sleeping, you will tend to only see that they have been drooling when they move. That’s because we are still not talking about a whole lot of moisture here. Instead, it will be under their mouth, and the only sign that something has been going on is the smallest amount of moisture. Fact 10 - They Stop it By Licking Their Mouth So if a Doberman doesn’t produce a lot of drool, then why is that? Well, this is a breed that does love to be clean, and that plays a role in this entire thing. Also, your Doberman works hard at keeping its drool in check, and it does this by licking its mouth on a regular basis. Basically, they mop up their own drool before it’s capable of getting out of hand and spraying all over the place. This is something they will do on a regular basis, and it really is an effective way of making sure that their level of drool does not get out of control. It all fits in with their desire to stay as clean as possible, and that’s also why you don’t see them drooling at times when it would often be a problem for other dog breeds. Fact 11 - They Display Affection in a Different Way The final fact is that your Doberman will have a tendency to display their affection in a different way to most dogs. While most will show you that they are excited and wish to show affection by drooling, the Doberman is not going to do that. [Source] Instead, they will much prefer to lay their head down on your lap and gaze up at you with those big eyes. They aren’t interested in sharing their saliva with you, since that means they too are going to end up getting into a mess, and they hate doing that. Summary So while your Doberman may not be the biggest drooler out there, don’t think for a second that it means that they won’t do it at all. That’s not the case. However, if you are looking for a large dog that won’t drown you at a moment's notice, then the Doberman may very well be the perfect solution. Not only do they not drool a lot, but they are protective and very affectionate towards their owners. At least with this breed, you don’t have to worry about mopping up around them, or stressing that they will soak a visitor that comes to your home, leaving them to wipe drool off their shoes. A Doberman works hard at keeping all of this in check, and it’s something that it is exceptionally good at doing. At the end of the day, every dog is capable of producing some drool from time to time. Just be glad that your Doberman is not one that makes a huge mess.