# Dog saliva questions, one biochemical, the other thermodynamical... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492 "2011-08-21T02:08:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/1 "2011-08-21T02:08:25Z")
Question one: My dog loves to lick blood spreading from a slight cut on my leg or hand (medically known as boo-boos), I’m guessing because of the salty liquid. After that, for small cuts, the bleeding seems to have dried up quicker than it would have otherwise. So, does a dog’s saliva contain coagulants? Question two. Dogs salivate as their primary heat loss system. Some do it more, some less; in the park on a hot day you practically have to wear a raincoat in the presence of running dogs. I’ve also seen a couple of dogs who foam at the mouth. They are perfectly lovely and healthy animals, even though it is disconcerting in the extreme to look at them. So, is heat dissipation better through a foam of watery stuff or a slick film of it? I would think foam–more surface area for heat to be dissipated–but apparently Mother Nature is of a different opinion. ---
**Author:** ![zhaoyipeng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cab0a1/32.png) [@zhaoyipeng](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhaoyipeng)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/2 "2011-08-22T05:18:34Z")
Manhattan Escort Asian is [NY escort](http://www.manhattanescortasian.com) looking for good-looking, sexy, charming, young girls to join our team. If you are living in NY, [NY asian escorts](http://www.manhattanescortasian.com) willing to work in NY, Manhattan area, please feel free to give us a call. You will enjoy [NY asiane scort](http://www.manhattanescortasian.com) being the most popular NY Asian Escort.Call us now! Let our female entertainers [NY escorts](http://www.manhattanescortasian.com) show you how much fun you can get just being with our sexy escorts in NY. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/3 "2011-08-22T05:59:37Z")
Post #2 reported. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/4 "2011-08-22T06:24:07Z")
I’m no expert, but I did happen to find an interesting article in Wikipedia on [wound licking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound_licking). At least according to it there’s no coagulants, but there’s some antibiotic substances and the licking action removes some contaminants from the wound. On the other hand it can also _cause_ infections. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/5 "2011-08-22T06:36:52Z")
Dogs love to lick everything, particularly everything that tastes of tasty meat. The dogs at the park who are frothy have likely been moving their jaws more or have more jowls to catch ropy saliva on. No every difference between individuals needs to be some biological survival edge. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/6 "2011-08-22T16:58:39Z")
I knew one St. Bernard once who had long-range precision laser-guided drool-- His owners had to clean saliva off the walls all the way up to the ceiling. I’m sure there’s some way for that to evolve into a hunting technique. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/7 "2011-08-22T17:37:51Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > So, does a dog’s saliva contain coagulants? Probably not, but it does contain foreign proteins that your own immune system will react to, possibly causing a faster action of your own coagulation process. ---
**Author:** ![Khristy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@Khristy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khristy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-saliva-questions-one-biochemical-the-other-thermodynamical/593492/8 "2011-08-24T16:29:41Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Question one: My dog loves to lick blood spreading from a slight cut on my leg or hand (medically known as boo-boos), I’m guessing because of the **salty liquid**. And all this time I’ve been wasting money on peanut butter! :smack: J/K 😃