# Dont let your dog lick your wounds



## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

I read this today, another good reason to keep your pets clean: 
" In another case, a 44-year-old man died of infection after his German shepherd puppy licked open abrasions on his hands."

FYI: 
Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie in Your Bed Can Kill You


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Some of that seems common sense.. I don't understand allowing your pet to lick an open wound!!! There is a case in one of my medical books, of an elderly woman who developed a severe infection after allowing her dog to lick the surgical incision from a knee replacement. 

And not letting your pets get flea infested... 

But not sleeping with them? Washing your skin EVERY time a pet licks you? I think that could actually put you in the opposite direction. There are increasing health problems caused by people being TOO clean. You need some exposure for your immune system to develop properly. Thats why kids get sick so often, their immune systems are still developing. Now if someone has a compromised immune system* its completely different. But for the average joe I think you just need some common sense. 

I'm currently laying in bed with my laptop, Tessa is laying next to me, and my foster kitten is curled up on my chest 

*my stepsister has a compromised immune system, "bubble boy syndrome" so to speak. No one can visit if they have been sick recently or around anyone sick, and I don't bring my service dog to her house.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

I agree common sense!! Alot of people don't have it. I kiss my dogs every day! will continue to do so but if I get a scrape on my leg I wont let them lick it.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

It's common knowledge that the mouth (humans included) harbors some very nasty bacteria, so it's not surprising that licking a wound, even if you did it yourself, might cause an infection. As far as the article goes, I think it's over the top......

BTW Lin, I must have seen your avatar a zillion times, but it never ceases to make me chuckle. That's one bold bird....
________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Anja1Blue said:


> BTW Lin, I must have seen your avatar a zillion times, but it never ceases to make me chuckle. That's one bold bird....


Sometimes I just stare at it hehe  I love how once he crosses the doorway, he slows down... sneak sneak sneak... grab, RUN!!!


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

Hahaha gulls are a piece of work...

Anyway, pfft... if this was as true as they say, people would be dropping dead everywhere from dog related stuff, not cancer and heart disease. Silliness.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

I should be dead by now. Growing up, my dog licked my skinned knees and all my other boo boos. Now days - the dog licks us, the horse licks us. Heck, even the rabbit licks us. We should be immune to everything.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Come to think of it - I can't recall any of the pets EVER making me sick. Now the "kids" on the other hand.....filthy little buggers. That does it - The kids are sleeping outside.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

The only time one of us got sick from an animal (and I have several reptiles, parrots, dogs, cats, rodents, etc.) was when my mom got salmonella from her red eared sliders years ago. I too have had dogs lick my wounds since I was a child, and yet, no sickness from it!


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## ahazra (Aug 20, 2010)

What Heidi stated. Mostly common sense.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

I guess I'm pretty safe, I'd never let my dog lick my wounds. I don't even let him lick my unwounded skin(although sometimes he gets in a free one when I'm not paying attention). I also don't let him sleep in the same room as me let alone in the same bed. I got tired of waking up with fur in my hair, mouth, and eyeballs so he's banned from the bedroom. It's my little fur-free getaway.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Stevenzachsmom said:


> Come to think of it - I can't recall any of the pets EVER making me sick. Now the "kids" on the other hand.....filthy little buggers. That does it - The kids are sleeping outside.


:rofl:

One of my fosters did give me the Flu. I also know people that have gotten Giardia and Campylobacter (this one required hospitalization twice) from their dogs. It happens but to the article was a little overboard.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

my dog licked me right IN the mouth the other day. I was face to face petting him and soemoen said soemthing to me and I responded and I swear that dog had perfect timing and got a lick in right inside my mouth with his tongue. I **** near gagged...yuck.

But I love him anyways.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

stevenzachsmom said:


> come to think of it - i can't recall any of the pets ever making me sick. Now the "kids" on the other hand.....filthy little buggers. That does it - the kids are sleeping outside.


 
lol!!!!!


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Rosa has a knack for getting her tongue inside my mouth if I are not careful. But I'd not let her lick an open wound, that's just gross. But oddly her french kisses don't bother me. 

I think a little bit of dirt and germs are good for us. What's that saying? "You eat a pound of dirt before you die" or something like that. I think America's tendency to use products that are antibacterial is going to ultimately prove to be a bad choice. 

Unless you have kids. Then you should really just hose them down with Lysol a few times a day!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

We were watching my sister's Shihzu once and during the night he crawled up on hubby's tummy and stuck his tongue far enough down hubby's throat that he woke up choking. I suppose hubby was snoring and after the dog watched him a while decided he'd have a poke around. Hubby now calls him 'Frenchie'. 

I never let the dog's lick my wounds because it would just make me barf. I am curious however, regarding our dog's attention to old scars. I have a scar on my knee from ACL replacement and the dogs seem to zone in on it all the time. Hubby has a large scar on his arm from cancer surgery and they do the same to it. Just can't figure out why.


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## Shadow's mum (Mar 13, 2010)

A little off topic, but just thought I'd throw it in there, can't even recall how it came up.
I was chatting on the phone the other day with my cousin, we were talking about dogs and she told me one of her friends fathers used to have his dogs pee on his tinea (athletes foot) he would swear by it. Ewwwww, I had never heard of this before, I had heard about peeing on your own feet to get rid of tinea. No thanks to either suggestion, I will stick with cream from the pharmacy. Have any of you heard of either of these home remedies? How do people come up with this stuff!!!


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## KJandBravo (Mar 5, 2007)

Scaremongering. It must have been a slow news day. 

My parents' cat cured my dad's persistent psoriasis when no medications would. She was always trying to lick it and he wouldn't let her. He caved, and it was gone within DAYS.

I also fondly remember a post on another forum from a lady whose toddler had a horrible eye infection and had tried 3 or 4 antibiotics with no success. She found the dog licking the little guy's eyes and was horrified... but again, the infection was gone within days. 

Could be coincidence, and of course you should use common sense, keeping your pets free of fleas and not letting them lick you after they've just feasted on cat turds, but the real risk here is being grossly overblown.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

KJandBravo said:


> My parents' cat cured my dad's persistent psoriasis when no medications would. She was always trying to lick it and he wouldn't let her. He caved, and it was gone within DAYS.


I had something like that happen when I was a kid. I had this cut(like a gouge) on my leg that kept scabbing over and then the scab would come off but it wasn't healed. One day I was letting my hamster crawl around and he started licking the cut, and it healed right away after that.




Lilie said:


> I never let the dog's lick my wounds because it would just make me barf. I am curious however, regarding our dog's attention to old scars. I have a scar on my knee from ACL replacement and the dogs seem to zone in on it all the time. Hubby has a large scar on his arm from cancer surgery and they do the same to it. Just can't figure out why.


It's probably because it is something different from the surrounding area, so they may be trying to clean it off as if it was something stuck to you.

My cat Church likes to lick my hands/wrists and when he gets to where the wrist bones stick out as bumps he starts chewing! :crazy:


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

To me, the problem seems to be that people aren't caring for their pets. If they never came in contact with those things, or were vaccinated properly, this wouldn't be an issue. Sorry, but Im not gunna kick my dogs out of bed because they can get me sick--- anyone can get you sick. Take care of them, and you will be fine. Obviously you also have the risk that their food may be contaminated, but yours may be also.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

Everything in life is a risk assessment.

Yes, there are some diseases you can get from your pets. There are some things that make you _more likely _to get them - for example, if your dog eats his poop and then licks you, that's much more likely to pass something on to you than if your dog does not eat his poop. Keeping pets UTD on shots, keeping them clean (grooming), keeping their food stored properly, etc. helps mitigate some of the risks you face as a pet owner. Keeping yourself healthy and clean, and keeping your home, yard, etc. maintained and clean helps as well. 

You can get salmonella is your very own kitchen. Again - keep things clean, use common sense, prepare foods properly. That's how you mitigate those risks. Things will never be risk free but there are common sense, smart things you can to do mitigate risks.

My critters are welcome to sleep on the bed and give kisses and that's not going to change because of some fear-mongering article on a slow news day.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

If a person dies from being scratched by a regular housecat or licked by a dog, they shouldn't be bred anyway. (The person, not the cat.)


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## kidkhmer (Jul 14, 2010)

i rather agree this is twaddle.

ON the other hand .....

Do you know how toxic a human bite can be ?


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks you guys really bring it to reality with all your knowledge and wisdom!! My DH email me the article all worried but just now he went to bed and brought our terrier, LOL!


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## CassandGunnar (Jan 3, 2011)

kidkhmer said:


> i rather agree this is twaddle.
> 
> ON the other hand .....
> 
> Do you know how toxic a human bite can be ?


I've been bitten by dogs and people. The ER docs are way more concerned with human bites.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Jax's Mom said:


> If a person dies from being scratched by a regular housecat or licked by a dog, they shouldn't be bred anyway. (The person, not the cat.)


:rofl: Darwin Awards!


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I've never liked dogs licking me, I just don't like it. But that doesn't mean they haven't. 

Not more than 30 minutes ago I bent over and Slider slipped me the tongue. Normally I'd just say yucky poo and forget about it but since I had a lot of dental work done yesterday (a root canal, a tooth that couldn't be saved was extracted, and one was ground down for a bridge) I rinsed my mouth out. I'm taking antibiotics so am not really worried but it bothered me more than usual.


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## KAKZooKpr (Jul 6, 2002)

Lin said:


> _Sorry dude. I can't live up to your expectations all of the time. Sometimes I'm going drink six miniature bottles of rum and then draw horses. That's just the way the world works. _- Allie Brosh


OT- Lin, I love your signature line! Her blog is hilarious, have you read the newest one yet? 

Kristina


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## Dejavu (Nov 11, 2010)

My dogs lick me and give me kisses all the time, and once or twice I have gotten the tongue in my mouth, lol. But I never think too much of it and just wash with water and regular soap.
I'm one of those who doesn't use antibacterial soap and I've never gotten sick, neither anyone in my family.

My grandpa used to tell us a story from his childhood where he got his shin kicked by a pig and got a deep wound, it was more a hole than anything.
The doctors could never get it to heal and ointments and medicine never worked, til this doggie he found came and began licking and licking it everyday. He said it didn't even take a week and the wound healed perfectly.

EDIT: Forgot to say that yes, I've gotten sick from little kids! When my nephews were younger I had to wash my hands after playing with them to avoid that, ahaha! I feel awful, but it's true. Kids are like the mothership of germs.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

That is disgusting--who would let their dogs lick an open wound?! It's pretty common knowledge how much bacteria is in mouths. Especially that of animals who occasionally like to eat poop and dead animals! YUCK!

As far as your dog sleeping with you? I really don't see how, if your dog is reasonably care for, this is an issue. I think the kid sleeping with the disgusting flea infested cat would have been an issue whether or not it was in bed with the kid!~


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## lisgje (Sep 3, 2010)

As long as you take care of your pet with preventatives, pick up the yard, etc, should not be an issue. I had foot surgery and my other dog was always trying to "take care" of my foot. Did not let him lick it, so instead he would lay his head on my foot. Just a natural instinct to take care of what they think is an injury like they would with another dog. The article was nothing but scare tactics for people who don't know how to keep their pets healthy enough not to pass on problems to their owners. Slept with cats and dogs my whole life and I am still healthy and very much alive! LOL


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