Do you let your dogs lay a big wet one on you? On the mouth?
I’m no germaphobe, but I’ve honestly never understood how people can do this – and enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, I love on my dog like nobody’s business, but this kissing on the mouth stuff is just my line in the concrete.
A few dog behaviours to back me up as ‘research’:
1. Dogs scavenge for half-eaten, half-digested food. So that partially eaten sub on the sidewalk that’s been baking in the sun in all its mayonnaise and cold cut meaty goodness for 3 days? (I’ll pass.)
2. The dog that checked the kitty litter, trash can, and toilet bowl today? (No thanks.)
3. The dog that found animal feces (coyote? deer?) on a romp through the park earlier? (Not for this girl.)
4. Dogs lick themselves. (Do I ne-)
While humans and dogs have different bacteria in their mouths, and while most viruses tend to be species-specific, as in we have ours and dogs have theirs, the mouth of a dog is still a pretty dirty place.
I suppose if you are going to kiss your dog, it’s best to just keep their foraging and rummaging to a minimum and stay up to date on vaccinations and preventative medications for fleas, ticks, worms etc. Hook and roundworm can actually get passed from dogs to humans.
They say a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s. Well, I guess I’ll never know!
Where do you weigh in on the issue? Do you pucker up or give your dogs the cheek?
I vote nay on this one. I’ve seen Boomer and Dottie get into things and lick themselves. So if they manage to sneak in a smooch I run to wash my face!
I will admit though that I give them kisses on their sweet little foreheads to show them some love.
Glad we’re not the only ones! Absolutely, lots of other ways to show them the love 🙂
Definitely a ‘nay’ for me – Charlie has a penchant for sneaking in a quick kiss when I’m least expecting it, and I rush to the bathroom to wash my lips with soap. I also have a sort of allergy to their saliva, so my lips swell up and go red. I think that’s the universe telling me that doggie kisses are a definite no-no!
Oh boy, that doesn’t sound good at all! Guess you had to find out the hard way, too? Ugh.