I feel like I heard this a lot when I was a kid. It’s just one of those weird facts you hear around the schoolyard that you pass onto your cousin one day and they pass it around their school and suddenly it just becomes one of those things you believe but never really look into…
Until now!
So is there really any harm in a doggy kiss?
The general answer to whether a dog’s tongue is cleaner a human’s is…
Nope, not really!
A dog’s mouth is not technically clean, and is really not actually any cleaner than a human’s mouth. Dogs’ mouths are home to an entirely different grouping of bacteria than to that found in a human, making it difficult to compare the level of mouth cleanliness between dog and human.
Dogs tend to have a greater amount of bacteria in their mouths. After all, they do lick and eat some pretty rancid things! (Duck poo on the sidewalk, rubbish out of the bin, ‘special treats’ fresh out of the kitty litter tray… Just to name a few).
But don’t let this deter you from receiving those love-filled sloppy kisses too much!
The fact that your dog’s mouth bacteria is almost completely different from yours means their saliva is mostly harmless to you. In fact, a kiss from your dog is probably safer than a kiss from another human who shares similar bacteria with you!
Okay, BRB. Gonna go get 1,000 kisses from my dog now 😂