What a Bloodhound owner needs to understand about dental care is that this breed's challenges hang around the teeth rather than in them: pendulous flews and heavy drool create a warm, damp environment where food debris and bacteria linger against the gums, and those same jowls hide the early signs of trouble from view. The teeth themselves are large and well-spaced — it's the real estate surrounding them that demands an owner's attention.
At Ark Naturals, 25-plus years of making dental chews in the USA has taught us that every skull type writes its own care manual. The Bloodhound's manual is short but specific. Here it is.
What those famous jowls mean for oral health
Everything about a Bloodhound's head serves the nose. The loose, hanging upper lips — flews — and the folds of skin help trap and funnel scent, which is why this breed remains the gold standard of trailing dogs. The same architecture has side effects at the mouth:
- Debris retention. Food particles, pond water, and whatever the hound vacuumed off the trail can sit in the pocket between lip and gum long after mealtime, giving plaque bacteria extended working hours.
- Constant moisture. Drool keeps the lip folds perpetually damp. Moisture plus trapped organic matter is the recipe for lip-fold dermatitis — skin inflammation at the fold — which smells remarkably like dental disease and often gets blamed on the teeth.
- Concealment. You cannot casually see a Bloodhound's gumline. Those flews must be deliberately lifted, which means problems progress unseen in households that never look.
Behind the curtain of jowl, the dental hardware is actually favorable: a long muzzle, a full scissor bite, and 42 teeth with the generous spacing typical of large scent hounds. There's no well-documented breed-specific dental disease in Bloodhounds — the risk profile is that of a big, powerful-jawed dog wrapped in unusually high-maintenance lips.
The dental and oral risks to plan for
Periodontal disease with a head start. Every dog fights plaque; the American Veterinary Dental College reports most show periodontal changes by age three. The Bloodhound's moist, debris-holding lip environment gives that ordinary process friendlier conditions than most breeds offer.
Lip-fold dermatitis masquerading as dental odor. A sour smell from the folds sends many hound owners hunting a tooth problem that's actually a skin problem — or lets a genuine tooth problem hide behind an assumed skin one. When odor appears, both need checking.
Fractured teeth from heavyweight chewing. An adult Bloodhound runs 80 to 110 pounds with jaw strength to match. Antlers, hooves, and marrow bones can crack the upper fourth premolars — the classic slab fracture veterinary dentists see in big chewers.
Stoicism-delayed discovery. Bloodhounds are famously single-minded and uncomplaining. A hound following its nose will ignore a painful tooth for months, so owners can't rely on behavior change as an early alarm.
A workable routine for a big, patient, slobbery dog
Lift the flews daily — that's the breed-specific step. Once a day, hoist each jowl and give the teeth and gumline three seconds of actual looking, plus a wipe of the lip folds with a soft damp cloth (dry them after). This single habit addresses the concealment problem, the debris problem, and the dermatitis problem at once.
Brush with the jowl held up. Bloodhounds are generally tolerant, easygoing patients — use that. One hand tents the flew out of the way, the other works a soft brush with dog-specific toothpaste along the outer gumline. The upper back teeth, buried deepest under the lip, deserve the most strokes. The AVMA's dental care guidance covers fundamentals if you're building the habit from scratch.
Choose chews scaled to a giant-adjacent dog. A hound this size needs the large end of the size range — an undersized chew is gone in two bites with little scrubbing accomplished. The big-dog sizes of our Brushless Toothpaste line, plus our gentler Soft Brushless option, are collected in the shop-all-dogs collection; every formula is made without artificial flavors or colors and works for dogs from 12 weeks of age. For seniors, heavy tartar producers, or hounds whose vet has flagged the gums, Soft Shield Protection+ delivers our advanced formula — including Asta-Shield, our astaxanthin antioxidant — in a soft chew that aging mouths handle comfortably. Our DENTA-METER package guide maps each product to a stage of dental need, and the complete lineup lives here.
Keep the water bowl busy and the toy bin honest. Fresh water helps rinse a drooly mouth; firm rubber replaces the antlers and bones that break big teeth. If a chew object wouldn't flex under your thumbnail, it doesn't belong to a Bloodhound.
When the veterinarian needs to see that mouth
Because this breed hides problems both anatomically and temperamentally, err on the side of the exam. Go in for:
- Odor that persists after the lip folds have been cleaned and dried
- Red, raw, or crusted skin inside the folds — dermatitis needs its own treatment
- Any cracked, worn, or discolored tooth found during your daily flew-lift
- Blood traces in drool, on toys, or in water
- Slower eating, dropped food, or a hound that turns away from dinner
- Swelling anywhere along the muzzle or below the eyes
Professional cleanings under anesthesia, with dental X-rays, matter even more in breeds whose gumlines evade casual inspection — they're the scheduled moments when nothing can hide. Your veterinarian can set the right interval for your hound and will also factor in large-breed anesthesia considerations, which modern protocols handle routinely. Since Bloodhounds age into their senior years around seven or eight, expect dental attention to become a bigger share of veterinary visits as the gray sets in; keeping the mouth comfortable is a real quality-of-life lever for an old hound still working scent trails in the backyard.
Bloodhound dental FAQ
Why does my Bloodhound smell bad even after a bath?
Check three places: the lip folds, the ears, and the teeth — in that order of likelihood. Fold dermatitis and trapped debris are the most common culprits and respond to cleaning and drying; if odor continues from the mouth itself, book a dental exam because hidden periodontal disease is the next suspect.
Does all that drool protect the teeth or hurt them?
Both, mildly. Saliva does buffer acids and rinse surfaces, but a Bloodhound's drool also keeps lip folds wet and carries debris into them. Net effect: the drool isn't the problem or the solution — your brush and your fold-wiping routine are.
How do I brush teeth I can barely find under those lips?
Two-handed technique: one hand lifts and tents the flew toward the eye, the other brushes. Work one quadrant per session if that's what the dog's patience allows — four short sessions covering the whole mouth beats one wrestling match. Most Bloodhounds settle into it within a few weeks of treats and repetition.
Are Bloodhound teeth more fragile than other dogs'?
No — they're big, sound teeth. The breed's fracture risk comes from the force its jaws apply to inappropriate objects, not from weak enamel. Manage the chew menu and those teeth will typically outlast the toy bin.
What dental changes should I expect as my hound becomes a senior?
Watch for accumulating tartar, gum recession exposing root surfaces, and increased sensitivity while chewing. Softer-format dental chews keep home care going when older mouths get tender, and your veterinarian may recommend more frequent exams or cleanings — follow that lead, since senior comfort is where all these years of routine pay off.
A Bloodhound gives you a nose that never quits and a heart to match. Lift those jowls once a day, keep the folds clean and the chews sized right, and the mouth underneath will stay as sound as the dog is devoted.