drooling cocker

Question
We have a one year old male american cocker. He is in good health, very active and playful. From time to time he gets a serious case of drooling. I mean he really really drools. This is not a regular occurance, but every so often. What causes this, and how, if possible do we stop it?

Answer
I have what I think are good answers to many questions, but not this one.  You might examine his mouth carefully.  Most dogs are very uncooperative about that.  Holding his mouth shut on a toy may allow you to look at part of it.  I have heard of a dog that drooled because he had a needle imbedded in his gum.  He may have a reoccuring problem.  I sometimes have trouble drooling in my sleep when I have canker sores.  Beyond that, next time you are at the vet's, ask about it.  The vet may not have much of an answer either.  

We visited the dog guide school school recently. Thought I would share some of what I learned.  One of their veterinarians gave a talk on current hazards. Xylitol, a newer artificial sweetener finding wide use in sugar free gums, is very bad for dogs, see http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=75125 The word on grapes and raisins being toxic to dogs has been around for a while, but new findings show some dogs are very sensitive to them, only taking a few to kill them. Her last point was bottle caps. Their sharp edges can cut dogs internally is swallowed. And like many other things, they can block the digestive tract.  She had some nice X-rays of dogs that had swallowed all sorts of things.  They fish the bottle caps out with a magnet.  Other stuff, they have to operate.