Reasons to not let a dog lick your face.
There are many reasons why you should not let a dog lick your skin especially on your face and around your lips.
You often see dog owners allowing their dog to lick their face especially around their mouth and they seem okay with this as if they don’t realise how many nasty germs are being transmitted.
That germ transmission is not from human to dog but from dog to human that is most concerning.
Some dog owners relate to this face licking as a form of bonding and affection whilst others see it as disgusting and are well aware of where that dogs tongue has been.
All dogs carry vast amounts of harmful germs commonly called parasites, bacteria, viruses to name a few including the risk of disease transference to the human colon in the form of ‘tape’ or ‘pin’ worm eggs!
There are tapeworm and pin worm eggs on the tongue of a dog which can be transferred to humans quite easily especially vulnerable children.
Humans can contract sickness disease and illness very easily through any dog’s saliva including E. coli, campylobacter, Salmonella Pasteurella, Leptospira, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, ringworms and hookworms which we all know can make us severely ill.
We do not have much immunity to this cross contamination!
Dogs explore the world through their nose and tongue. On average a one-hour dog walk in the street or over the local park will result in the dog’s nose making contact with hundreds of contact points which include trees and branches, grass and soil where other dogs urine and faeces have come into contact.
Most dogs will smell dog faeces and often their nose will briefly touch it and then the dog’s tongue licks their own nose and any organisms which were in that faeces will be taken into the dog’s mouth to live.
Additionally all dogs when greeting other dogs will make nose to nose contact or nose to anus and genital contact. This is just what dogs do and they will do it multiple times especially when meeting other dogs in social settings.
They will smell and lick other dog’s noses and mouths and back passages including making nose and mouth contact with grass with wet urine on it.
This smelling and then subsequent licking of their nose is a way of assessing and establishing the other dog for various reasons.
It has been said that dogs will smell the back passage of another dog to determine its rank and status by detecting high quality meat.
For example an alpha male or female wolf in the Wolf pack will have the best pickings of their kill such as the deer they take down in the wild and it is believed that the smell from its back passage can detect the quality of that kill or feed.
The most powerful and high ranked alphas in the Wolf pack will get first pickings of the animals organs after they have pulled it down to feast on it. Additionally the lower ranked weaker or omega wolves will have the scraps and therefore the lower quality food. This smelling determines their rank and power!
This behaviour by the domesticated canine may have been carried down from the Wolf pack and therefore a dog is assessing the rank of that dog by smelling its rear end.
There is much sense and logic to this however there is no definitive proof and that this information has come from canine psychologists and canine researchers who have observed these animal behaviours.
You make up your own mind! The point being that all dogs come into contact with anal bacteria’s on a daily basis by engaging in their instinctual and exploratory needs.
A dog explores the world with its nose and its tongue and sticks them in everything and anything it can which is often unclean.
That tongue licks its own body, paws and fur and especially its own genitals both male and female which also carries bacteria’s.
It has been scientifically proven that our human skin is porous and allows substances to enter our bloodstream.
There are many creams which are absorbed through the skin for the purpose of relieving aches and pains.
Children are also advised not to allow pen ink onto their skin as it is toxic and will enter the bloodstream the same as some people don’t like using deodorants because they allow chemicals and free radicals into the bloodstream.
Allowing dog’s saliva to enter into the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and eyes could be considered dangerous bearing in mind the above germs that live on a dogs tongue.
It is a good reason to warn children not to allow a dogs tongue near their face or mouth especially when children will actually enjoy it and see it as a form of attention and affection from their dog when in fact it is certainly dangerous for children as they have a weaker immune system and likewise the elderly.
Puppies are notorious for eating their own and other dogs poop! Puppy Saliva runs a much higher risk of carrying parasitic eggs which can get into the intestinal tract of children leading to serious infection and disease!
Dog’s faeces have been known for decades to run the risk of causing blindness in children due to roundworm.
Another common disease amongst the canine world is parvovirus and can result in death of the animal if not inoculated.
Both the dog’s nose, tongue, anus and dog poop are very intimate and will mix on a daily basis especially when dogs congregate in groups and socialise.
These are just some of the reasons why you shouldn’t let a dog lick your face or skin and if they do you should wash thoroughly afterwards.
It’s a doggy thing!
Copyright Open College UK Ltd – 2018
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