I wasn’t concerned about what he’d ingested. It was all perfectly good, nongreasy, nonspicy food. I was just a little taken aback by his enthusiastic washing of the dishes — especially when our company also saw what he’d done. But our friends assured me that their dog licks all their dishes (a family of five, no less) after every meal that doesn’t involve things like chipotle peppers.
At the time, few people questioned the popular notion that dogs’ mouths were cleaner than ours. In fact, the word in some dog-park circles was that if you had a wound, a dog’s saliva could actually help heal it. So what harm could there be in letting Joe do the prewash?
So Joe got fired from the gig. And for 15 years, I didn’t let our dogs have a go at our plates. Then over this past Memorial Day weekend, I accidentally left the dishwasher open with the bottom rack pulled out. We’d had company, and I’d thrown in the plates coated with all kind of goodies, hoping the dishwasher could tackle the mess.
In my younger days, I let my Airedale, Joe, lick the dishes after I ate. Afterward, I’d give them a thorough handwash, trying to remove all that icky slimy stuff dogs can leave on dishes. (What is that slime all about? Last time I checked, dogs were not related to snails or slugs.) I survived those years just fine, with nary a scary disease I could directly attribute to this practice. When I got a week-long stomach bug, I never looked askance at Joe. After all, his mouth sparkled with germ-free virtuosity compared with the mouths of his human counterparts — or so I thought.
Jake is hoping that everyone says, “Of course I let my dog lick my plates! What kind of jerk doesn’t?” and that I’ll be influenced to include him in the aftermeal proceedings from now on. I don’t think that will be the case, but I’m looking to forward to learning what you do in your household. So is Jake.
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?
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.
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?
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.
Keeping Your Kitchen Safe — For Pets and PeopleHere are some simple tips to preventcross-contamination and help keep everyone healthy. Hand washing is key to kitchen safety. Wash your hands for 20 seconds withsoap and warm water after handling pets,
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Is it gross to let your dog lick your plate?
Confession time: occasionally, we let Lucy lick the dinner plates clean. I’m pausing for judgement…you done? Need more time? I’ll wait.
I know that feeding from the table is bad, but what about AFTER dinner is all done, you’ve cleared the dishes and you just set them all on the floor for a sweet faced little dog to lick them clean? Is that just as bad? I’m sure it was totally acceptable to feed the animals kitchen scraps prior to dog food–probably not on the dinner plates, but still, I’m justifying here. Lucy the Puggle Dog has ALL of us wrapped around her paw, what can I say?
Do any of you “spoil” your dogs by letting them lick the plate? Or does the sheer thought send you into dry heaves?