You have a dog. And a plate full of leftovers. The simple solution of course is to put the plate down on the floor and let your dog clean it off for you? Most dogs will lick a dish so clean that it looks like it came straight from the dishwasher, right? Plus, isn’t the old saying true that dogs have cleaner mouths than humans? Some people are dish lick allowing dog owners, while others are adamantly against it. There are even some folks in this world who allow their dogs to stick their heads in the dishwasher and clean the scrap food remnants from inside thinking that the hot water/sanitize cycle will most certainly get off any germs left behind, right?
So is this ‘letting the dog lick the dishes’ trend simply barbaric and disgusting, nothing more than a personal choice – or is there actually any danger in it? Chances are you have seen plenty of people letting a dog lick their hands or face, or even sharing an ice cream with their dog – so is there any big deal about a dog licking a dish that will be eventually washed?
According to animal experts, there is some danger in this behavior, and the dangers are actually to your pet not you. Despite your canines love of your cuisine, human food is quite simply not an appropriate consumption option for dogs. Our foods contain grease and fat and sugars in such high quantities that they can be harmful to your dog’s digestive system, and cause long-term health problems for your pet. Also, those leftover rib and chicken bones can split and splinter and become choking hazards for your pet in an instant. Human food given to dogs is the number one cause of pancreatitis in dogs, and can cause a malady of other health issues as well. None of which are desirable. Truth is, your dog doesn’t know what is good for them and leave this responsibility up to you. Sure, the leftover steak and ground beef will give you a friend for life, but there is some liability in making a friend under such coercion.
Another issue of course, is that you will be encouraging some rude dog behavior that will the cause your dog to beg at the table, jump on the countertops, and expect to receive a dish every time someone is eating. Certainly, it’s up to you whether having your dog sit by your dinner table is appropriate or not, and this is a matter of your personal decision. However feeding your dog from the table regularly, will certainly send your dog the message that it is okay to eat from your dishes. Which can make leaving that freshly grilled steak on the counter or table unattended for even a split second, a dangerous act in canine trust.
Many people of course worry about the germs that they will be getting from their dogs. While a dog’s mouth may be clean, it still carries germs. If your dog is outside and eats feces or dead animals, or even bugs – or picks up things from the ground such as balls or sticks, then you can bet that his or her mouth is not germ free. This makes no mention of the fact that your dog literally uses his or her tongue as a washcloth to cleanse areas of his or her body that are particularly gross. Will that same tongue cleaning your dishes leave a filthy bacterial residue that you cannot get off? Probably not. If you wash the dishes in hot water or in the dishwasher on a sanitary cycle, then you can expect the germs to be washed away as well. Even if you hand wash the dishes with antibacterial soap and hot water, the dishes should be sufficiently clean for even someone with a compromised immune system to eat off of. That being said, the thought that your dogs tongue, which also touched your dogs anus – touched your plates and forks – can be enough to curtail even the strongest appetite.
At the end of the day, millions of dogs will happily lick of ceramic dishes and clean pots for their owners. Hopefully, these owners will not take the cliché that a dog’s mouth is clean too far and stray from actually washing the dog germs off the dishes once the food residue is gone. And, other dog owners will stick to their guns that they do not want their dogs tongues anywhere near the plates and cutlery that they will eat off. Different strokes for different folks. But remember, that feeding your dog human.
