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Is it bad when dogs lick your face? I’ve heard everything from how telling a dog no
hurts its feelings, to saying it will give you the plague.
Dogs show affection by licking, that much is true.
And I like my dog telling me she loves me.
The bad part is that the dog’s tongue has been everywhere.
Dogs’ mouths are cleaner than ours are.
Oh, no, they are not. Are you brushing your dog’s teeth as often as your own?
No, but dogs eat dog biscuits.
I wouldn’t consider a tongue covered in bacteria laden dog biscuit bits clean.
Dogs keep themselves clean.
Just like cats, but licking themselves. If you are annoyed when he rubs his boy parts
against your leg, you should be annoyed if his tongue that was just licking there is
now licking your face.
Valid point.
And then there is the dog sniffing and licking to explore the world. He may have been eating
his own poop or another animal’s poop.
No, he doesn’t eat poop. He’s more likely to actually catch the animal.
Lovely, so now he has rotting dead animal guts in his mouth. And he’s licking you
with that same mouth.
It should be safe.
Dogs can get diseases like strep throat from us. There have even been cases where a dog
and child kept passing the disease back and forth until both were on antibiotics at the
same time.
I get the point. He shouldn’t be allowed to lick me in the face.
And then there’s the possibility you get pink eye if his tongue hits your eyes. Or
your mouth -
OK, I give up! What should I do?
When your dog wants to show affection, hold out your hand so he can lick that.
And then I can pet him all I want.
And then you need to wash your hands before you touch anything else.