One for the dog lovers
Are dogs’ mouths really cleaner than humans’?
All dogs lick themselves. Some eat their own feces. Humans (most of ‘em, anyway) do not. So how in the world can the mouth of a canine be cleaner than that of a person? Simple — it can’t. According to ABC News, this is basically an urban legend. However, unlike the one about the psycho killer with the hook, this story has a grain of truth. Although the mouth of a typical dog is full of bacteria, it’s “species specific.” So, if a dog were to lick a person, most of the germs wouldn’t transfer. “Bottom line — you’re more likely to get a serious illness from kissing a person than kissing a dog.”
The myth may have stemmed from the way pups lick their wounds. A dog’s tongue gets rid of dead tissue so wounds heal faster. Perhaps folks concluded that dog saliva is “healthy.” Hardly the case, but you shouldn’t be afraid of licks. They might be gross, but they’re not dangerous.
And here are a whole lot more things about dogs that you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.
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Oz Political Quiz
I like the one about why dogs love to stick their heads out windows.
“For a dog, sticking its head out a moving car must be an all-around sense-sensation the magnitude of which we olfactory-challenged humans can only imagine!”
It may also be the reason why dogs seem to have tongues that are long out of all proprotion to the rest of them. Can you imagine a human with a tongue like that?
Oh, wait, I forgot the Kiss dudes…