Slobber City

I'm sure I've mentioned this before. I know that I've at least recently talked about Roscoe's stinky breath problem which, by the way, is getting much better. But, have I told you about how slobbery he is? He's like Slimer from Ghost Busters. You'd think he was a Mastiff the way the drool comes stringing out of his mouth when tasty nombs are about.
He smells popcorn, he drools.
Mr. K makes steak, he drools.
I add kale to my tuna sandwich, he drools.
I pour kibble into bowls for breakfast or supper, he drools. He's really quite a slobbery guy.
Most recently, I have become even more acquainted with the drool factory because I've started training him in some of the Rally Obedience cues. Our house is quite small and the backyard is buried under about six feet of snow. So, we mostly do stationary cues, but that doesn't lessen the amount of drool that he produces.
I mostly use kibble for rewards since we're inside and there aren't a lot of distractions; high value treats aren't really needed. However, Mr. K and I have recently made an eating habit change in the attempts to help him be healthier and we purchased soy cheese. He's cut out dairy, except yogurt. because we think he's slightly sensitive to it. We both love cheese and so we thought that we'd at least try the soy cheese. Since it has turned into dog training treats, you can only imagine how we felt about the stuff.
It is disgusting.
We didn't want to waste it, so today I gave a small piece to Hermione and Roscoe to see if they like it. They loved it. Otis thinks it's tasty too. Rewarding Hermione with the cheese wasn't so bad. The cheese itself left a small residue behind, but she's not really a drooler. When I switched over to Roscoe though, all bets were off. I could hardly grip the clicker or the leash because my hands were so slippery from him slobbering all over them when I rewarded him. I think his level of drool production is directly linked to how much he likes something.
When I gave him kibble there was mild slobbering, but when he got soy cheese pieces there was a very high drool factor. I'd say almost extreme slobber.
So, what have I learned from this experience other than that I needed to wash my hands thoroughly upon completing today's training session?
My dogs like soy cheese and it is a high value treat. (Who would have thought dogs liked soy)? Hence, it will serve very well in the future as recall treats and other training treats. I've also decided that I may stick with kibble with Roscoe for now and only bust out the soy cheese when he's learning something new. Otherwise, I am going to have to launder his leash every morning.