Natural History

Posted in Absolute Piffle | 7 Comments

7 Responses

1. on August 26, 2010 at 1:29 am Jess

   We get some strange search hits on the regular blog. Today we got ‘awesome demon sex.’

   
   
2. on August 27, 2010 at 12:21 am Jeremy

   I wonder if there are “dry mouthed” St. Bernards among the European lines? The ones that look less exaggerated and are possibly less inbred.

   
   
3. on August 29, 2010 at 8:58 pm kittenz

   I seriously doubt that truly dry-mouthed Saints exist. I think that the “dryness” (or, conversely, the “wetness”) of their mouths is a matter of degree.

   I don’t know any individual of any breed with heavy flews that has a really “dry” mouth.

   
   
4. on August 30, 2010 at 2:49 pm Jeremy

   “I don’t know any individual of any breed with heavy flews that has a really “dry” mouth.”

   That’s what I’m talking about; I’ve observed that some European lines dont have the excessive flews commonly seen in the giant North American specimens. Also I had a St. Bernard X Pit bull that didn’t drool at all. Possibly someone out there is making a dry mouthed St. Bernard through outcrossing to another breed?

   
   
5. on August 30, 2010 at 10:33 pm Heather Smith

   You can spot which dogs will drool by looking at their flews (lips).

   In dogs with normal flews, the lower lip stands up like a proud rooster’s comb. In dogs with loose lips, the lower flew hangs down like a wilted noodle.

   Just like in your own lips, the lower lip stands up to meet your upper lip, if it didn’t then your lower teeth would show even when your mouth was closed and your teeth clenched.

   Many breeds that now drool, did not use to drool. It went from a not-rare fault, to a common fault, to Don’t they all drool?, to They are suppose to drool!

   There is no reason to breed for the drooling trait, it serves no function, probably it just slipped in with some popular sire or popular kennel.

   Any breed can become a drooly breed, not just huge breeds, bloodhounds, and springers. Yes, Golden Retrievers could become a big drooly breed. There is a photo of a beautiful Goldie with a great coat – but the lower lip droops at the corner of the mouth.

   At one time, the corner of the mouth was about the only place drool formed on loose lipped dogs, then one breed started being shown with drool running down from the fang area!

   At one time, a few breeds were shown wearing bibs to catch the dog slobbers.

   They the bibs were gone, there were no slobbers, but the dogs still had loose lower lips. Dope. Drug. I forgot the name of the drug, but it works long enough to show the dog.

   For slobbery pets, you can have the lower lip fixed. Like a nip and tuck for aging human necks, a bit of surgery is said to fix the lower lip, and they the dog looks normal and doesn’t drool.

   If the standard doesn’t forbid loose lips, then the judge can’t fault loose lips, so your breed could become the next Slobber King.

   It could be related to breeding for excessive coat. There are many different genes that help make a coat look outstanding.

   Many mutations can make a show dogs coat more winning.

   Breeding for loose skin could increase total surface area of the skin (like: it would be a bigger pelt, but on the same sized body as before). More surface area means more hairs, which means a fuller coat.

   But mutations seldom only change one thing. Looser skin can mean loose lips, which can lead to real loose skin, and drooling because the lower lip hangs down.

   That’s my take on it. Anyone else heard any ringside chatter about drool?

   
   
6. on September 2, 2010 at 9:53 pm Christopher@BorderWars

   It’s because of Liz’s comment on this post:

   https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/the-st-bernard-in-1903/

   
   
   • on September 3, 2010 at 8:05 am retrieverman

     I’ll be damned.

     
     

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