Lip Fold Pyoderma Prevention Tips

When the sides of a dog’s bottom lips fold up onto itself, it can trap food and moisture and certainly smell awful. In our house, we call it “stinky lips,” but the condition is called lip fold pyoderma or dermatitis.

Lip fold pyoderma is pretty common in dogs with loose skin, short noses or long hair around their mouth areas (including beards or mustaches). To prevent your dog from developing lip fold pyoderma, check out these dog grooming tips for weekly cleanings.

How to Check for Lip Fold Pyoderma

Usually, pet owners notice a sour or mildew smell around their dog’s mouth. They think the smell is coming from their dog’s teeth. To check your dog’s lips, have someone sit in front of your dog with yummy treats in her closed hand. Sit on the floor near the other person and face your dog. You’ll get a better view by looking at the side of your dog’s mouth.

Using your fingers, gently slide the front half of your dog’s lip forward. Basically, you’re opening up the pouch by sliding your dog’s bottom lip toward the front of his mouth. If your dog has lip fold pyoderma, you’ll probably see and smell it.

Lip fold pyoderma looks like hair coated with some type of mucous or film, and sometimes the skin is inflamed too. If you’re not sure, take a whiff and you’ll soon know for sure. Now, check the other side since lip fold pyoderma can occur on both sides of the mouth if the skin is loose.

If it smells, then the area needs to be cleaned weekly.

Preventing Lip Fold Pyoderma

There are a couple of ways to keep your dog’s mouth area clean, but it really depends on how often you bathe your dog. If you don’t bathe your dog weekly, you’ll need to spot clean the area every week.

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Spot Cleaning

Grab a bowl of warm water, a couple of clean paper towels (or a clean washcloth) and medicated dog shampoo. By far, my favorite medicated dog shampoo for lip fold pyodermas is Nolvasan medicated shampoo. Nolvasan contains a disinfectant called chlorhexidine and can be purchased on Amazon. Your veterinarian can also prescribe a medicated shampoo to clean the area if that’s what you prefer.

Ask your friend to sit in front of your dog with yummy treats and offer your dog a treat for allowing mouth handling and standing still. In between treats, pull your dog’s lip forward and clean the area with a wet paper towel and medicated dog shampoo. Afterwards, rinse the area with a clean paper towel, then pat the area dry. If your dog has long hair in the area, you may need to clip the hair shorter. Your groomer can do this for you too.

Check the lip fold pyoderma area daily to make sure it’s clean. These daily checkups are an excellent opportunity to reward your dog for mouth handling. If your dog walks away, pulls his head away from your hands or freaks out when you touch his mouth, check out this article on teaching your dog to say “ah.” It has tips on teaching your dog to enjoy mouth handling.

Weekly Baths

If your dog is bathed weekly, use that time to clean his lip fold pyoderma thoroughly and rinse with warm water. Follow the same directions for spot cleaning, making sure to open up the lip pouch, clean and rinse well. If your dog is bathed less often, you’ll need to spot clean the area weekly to remove trapped food and moisture.

When to See a Vet

If the infected area smells really bad, looks inflamed and/or contains pus, or your dog refuses to allow you to look in the area, I would set up an appointment with your veterinarian. Your vet can rule out dental issues and confirm it’s actually lip fold pyoderma.

Now, body handling is so important. If your dog refuses to have his mouth touched, continue teaching your dog body handling skills. It’s not fair to your dog to be pinned down at the vet clinic either. Body handling skills are a must for all dogs, so grab your treats and get busy.

Lip fold pyodermas happen. Since dogs are not candidates for facelifts, it’s up to pet owners to keep the area clean. 🙂