AMARILLO, TEXAS -- There are people who love their dogs, then there are people who really love their dogs, to the point of letting them slobber all over their owner's face. Many times they say, hey, a dogs mouth is cleaner than a humans, but is it true? We asked that question to Dr. Rob Ballinger, a veterinarian at Palo Duro Animal Hospital, "The short answer depends on how you define clean. There is not a lot in a dogs mouth that is contagious to people."
In fact, he continued, "Kissing a person is more contagious than kissing your dog. You have a greater change of contracting the herpes virus kissing a person." So if you give your pooch a kiss, it may be safer than kissing another human because the mouth of a dog are species specific, it won't harm its owner. But where does this myth stem from? One possible answer, it could come from the fact that when dogs lick their wounds, the wounds tend to heal faster. What the tongue does is actually get rid of the dead tissue.
Dogs have an enzyme in their saliva that targets bacteria, which helps keep their mouth self-clean, but people also have enzymes in their saliva too. The difference is human bacteria likes to live in a human mouth, and dog bacteria likes to live in a dog's mouth. So if Shelly Sites' three pound puppy, Monty, was going to bite you and then I was going to bite you, there would be a lot more trouble from my bite. (At least when it comes to the bacteria part. We're not talking about damage here.)
Speaking of biting and teeth, February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Dr. Ballinger said it's important to take care of your pets mouth like you do your own. "Brushing is ideal, but usually in the real world it isn't going to happen," said Dr. Ballinger. So to help you take care of your pet's teeth, Dr. Ballinger said there are a number of options a pet owner can take. You can give your dog a dental treat,dry food because it's designed to help scrape the plaque away, or see a veterinarian. Veterinarians can clean your pets teeth and then put a sealant over them to help keep the plaque out."
And if you want to keep the puppy kisses in, just remember, their mouth isn't really cleaner than yours, but it won't hurt you. Remember, they do tend to use their tongues as toilet paper.
