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Quick answer
Dog jowls are the loose, hanging skin around a dog's lips and cheeks. Bloodhounds, Mastiffs and Newfoundlands carry some of the heaviest, and damp folds can turn sore. Wipe and dry them regularly, and see your vet if a jowl swells up suddenly.
Two different searches sit behind the words dog jowls. One comes from someone who owns a bulldog and wants to know how to look after those folds. The other comes from someone looking at their dog’s neck late at night, at something that was not there this morning.
This article answers the first. For the second there is one honest answer, at the end.
What Are Dog Jowls?
Jowls are the loose skin and lips along the sides of a dog’s muzzle. In breeds with deep, hanging upper lips, those lips are called flews. A dog can have jowls without drooling much, and a dog can drool without obvious jowls, so the two are related but not the same thing.
Why Some Dogs Drool More Than Others
Longer, looser lips hold saliva instead of keeping it in the mouth, so it tends to spill out when a dog drinks, eats or gets excited. Heat and the smell of food add to it. Sudden drooling in a dog that rarely drools is a different matter. Call your vet, especially if your dog paws at its mouth, has bad breath or has a swollen face.
Breeds With Loose Skin on the Head and Neck, According to the AKC
The descriptions below come from the American Kennel Club breed pages. They are the ones that explicitly mention loose skin, folds or hanging chops.
Basset Hound
The AKC describes a large, domed head with extremely long, velvety ears and a wrinkled brow, which give the breed the look of a sad clown.
Bloodhound
The AKC lists a long, wrinkled face with loose skin and huge, drooping ears among its most famous features, and adds that Bloodhounds are droolers.
Bulldog
Neapolitan Mastiff
The AKC points to profuse hanging wrinkles, folds and pendulous lips. It also notes that, despite all that loose skin, most of these dogs do not have skin problems.
Shar-Pei
The AKC describes abundant folds of loose skin about the head, neck and shoulders.
French Bulldog
The breed page mentions heavy wrinkles rolled above the extremely short nose and says the facial folds should be kept clean and dry.
The Risk: Damp Folds
The Merck Veterinary Manual lists fold pyoderma (intertrigo) among the surface pyodermas, which are bacterial skin infections. It says warm, moist areas such as lip folds, facial folds and neck folds often have higher bacterial counts than other areas of skin and are at an increased risk of infection.
How to Care for the Folds, According to the AKC Breed Pages
- Bloodhound: check the skin wrinkles daily for odor or irritation and, if needed, wipe with a warm, wet cloth, then dry thoroughly.
- Dogue de Bordeaux: the AKC says the breed drools heavily and that the facial wrinkles need attention at least weekly, sometimes daily, to keep them clean and dry.
- Bulldog: check the facial wrinkles regularly, because food or moisture can get trapped and cause irritation or infection. The AKC mentions cleaning with a cotton ball dipped in peroxide and applying cornstarch afterward to aid drying, neither near the eyes.
- French Bulldog: keep the facial folds clean and dry.
- Basset Hound: check the ears often, because poor air circulation can lead to infection. Head shaking or scratching at the ears may mean a vet visit.
Before using peroxide, cornstarch or any other product on your dog’s skin, ask your vet.
If the Swelling Is New
Everything above is about skin the dog has had all its life. A lump or swelling that appears suddenly on the neck is not jowls, and the person who diagnoses it is a vet, not an article.
Another breed trait: dog breeds born without a tail. For the care of irritated skin, see our guide to dog shampoos for yeast infections.
Sources
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Pyoderma in Dogs and Cats
- American Kennel Club breed pages: Bloodhound, Basset Hound, Bulldog, Neapolitan Mastiff, Chinese Shar-Pei, French Bulldog, Dogue de Bordeaux
Frequently asked questions
What are dog jowls?
The loose skin around a dog's mouth, cheeks and throat. Every dog has some, but the word usually brings to mind the long, floppy version you see on a Bloodhound or a Mastiff.
Why do dogs have jowls?
They do real work. Jowls trap and funnel scent up toward the nose, which is why scent hounds carry the longest ones; they help keep water out while the dog swims; and they protect the throat on breeds built to face down something bigger than themselves.
Which breeds have the droopiest jowls?
Ten stand out: the Basset Hound, Bloodhound, Boxer, Bulldogs, Chow Chow, Great Dane, Mastiffs and Newfoundland among them. All of them need the folds wiped and dried regularly, or the damp skin turns sore.
What should I do if my dog's jowl swells?
A new swelling is worth a call to your vet instead of waiting it out.
How do you clean a dog's jowls?
Wipe the folds and dry them, since damp skin can turn sore. The AKC breed pages cover the care for each jowly breed.
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