So, the dog on your table is an uber drooler.

So, the dog on your table is a drooler. When he shakes his head, you are drenched in spit. Should you be concerned, or just grossed out?

Just grossed out. Some dogs are natural droolers. There are always exceptions to every breed, depending on the lines in the dog.

Breeds that drool

Some breeds drool and slobber more than others. Most notable are bloodhounds, Newfoundlands, mastiffs, and Saint Bernards. These are breeds with loose upper lips or “flews,” causing them to drool more than others. We’ve also been slimed by Boxers, Basset Hounds, Coonhounds, Bloodhounds, Cane Corsos, Bulldogs, Dogues de Bordeaux, English Setters, Great Danes, Great Pyrenees’, Irish Water Spaniels, Kuvasz’, Plott Hounds, Saint Bernards, and Shar-Peis.

Keep a towel around. You may need it.

Historical benefits to getting licked

Are there any benefits to getting licked?

Historically, people relied on folk remedies, finding value in whatever was plentiful, such as dog drool. It was there. There must be a reason for it, value in it, and a use for it!

It has been long observed that the licking of their wounds by dogs might be beneficial. Dog saliva has been said by many cultures to have curative powers in people. “Langue de chien, langue de médecin” is a French saying meaning “A dog’s tongue is a doctor’s tongue“, and a Latin quote that “Lingua canis dum lingit vulnus curat” or “A dog’s tongue, licking a wound, heals it” appears in a thirteenth-century manuscript.

In Ancient Greece, dogs at the shrine of Aesculapius were trained to lick patients, and snake saliva was also applied to wounds. Saint Roch in the Middle Ages was said to have been cured of a plague of sores by licking from his dog. The Assyrian Queen Semiramis is supposed to have attempted to resurrect the slain Armenian king Ara the Beautiful by having the dog god Aralez lick his wounds. In the Scottish Highlands in the nineteenth century, dog lick was believed to be effective for treating wounds and sores. In the Gospel of Luke (16:19-31), Lazarus the Beggar’s sores are licked by dogs, although no curative effects are reported by the Evangelist.

Recent research

There are contemporary reports of the healing properties of dog saliva. Fijian fishermen are reported to allow dogs to lick their wounds to promote healing, and a case of dog saliva promoting wound healing was reported in the Lancet medical journal. But, this could be a continuation of folk medicine; not that that is bad, or wrong; it would also be helpful if modern science shared its views.

In the Modern era, there is continuing investigation into the pros and cons of dog saliva. Recent research has indeed identified products in saliva that aid in healing.

Researchers in the Netherlands identified a chemical in pet saliva called histatins. Histatins speed wound healing by promoting the spread and migration of new skin cells. Dr. Nigel Benjamin of the London School of medicine has shown that when saliva contacts skin it creates nitric oxide. Nitric oxide inhibits bacterial growth and protects wounds from infection. Researchers at the University of Florida isolated a protein in saliva called Nerve Growth Factor that halves the time for wound healing.

Indeed, a dog’s saliva is bactericidal against the bacteria Escherichia coli and Streptococcus canis, although not against coagulase positive Staphylococcus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (Hart BL, Powell KL (September 1990). “Antibacterial properties of saliva: role in maternal periparturient grooming and in licking wounds”. Physiol. Behav. 48 (3): 383–6).

Wound licking

Wound licking is an instinctive response in humans and many other animals to lick an injury. Dogs, cats, small rodents and primates all lick wounds. Saliva contains tissue factor which promotes the blood clotting mechanism. The enzyme lysozyme is found in many tissues and is known to attack the cell walls of many gram-positive bacteria, aiding in defense against infection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound_licking

There is the medical condition: Excessive drooling

Ptyalism in Dogs

Ptyalism is a condition characterized by the excessive flow of saliva, also referred to as hypersalivation. Pseudoptyalism (i.e., false ptyalism), on the other hand, is the release of excess saliva that has accumulated in the oral cavity. Saliva is constantly produced and secreted into the oral cavity from the salivary glands. Production of saliva increases because of excitation of the salivary nuclei in the brain stem. The stimuli that lead to this are taste and touch sensations involving the mouth and tongue. Higher centers in the central nervous system can also excite or inhibit the salivary nuclei. Lesions involving either the central nervous system or the oral cavity can cause excessive salivation as well.

Diseases that affect the pharynx, esophagus, and stomach can also stimulate excessive production of saliva. Conversely, normal saliva production may appear excessive in animals with an anatomic abnormality that allows saliva to dribble out of the mouth, or are affected with a condition that affects swallowing. Ingestion of a toxin, a caustic agent, or a foreign body can also lead to ptyalism. (http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/mouth/c_multi_ptyalism)

Poop eaters.

Dogs are our companions that give unqualified love. However, on occasion, they can share their germs and parasites. Diseases passed from animals to man are called zoonoses or zoonotic illnesses. Because of good hygiene and veterinary care, animal-transmitted diseases are rarer in the United States than they once were. Still, there is an extensive list of canine cooties that you can peruse at your displeasure at http://www.2ndchance.info/zoonoses.htm

So, bacterial diseases and infections can be transmitted, especially by poop eaters. -The Benefits of Pet Saliva (Dr Ken Tudor, http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/ktudor/2014/jan/are-dog-licks-unhealthy-for-people-31207 )

But, your clients, especially prior to receiving their PetMassages, would be unlikely to be able to stoop so low.