To think it's fine to let the dog lick plates in the dishwasher?

[Randomtasks]

Dog is only a puppy so it's only just become an issue but he likes to lick the dirty plates etc that I've put in the dishwasher.

It doesn't bother me at all, they are getting washed after all but DH tells me it's rather gross. Is it?!

I'd normally ask my mum this kind of thing as she's shit hot on manners but her dogs have always done a dishwasher pre wash!

This thread is excellent. Top marks everyone!

They're going to be washed anyway.

I've let dogs do this for 20 years. All dogs healthy and happy and come to think of it, my dcs have never had a tummy upset.

Onions, Garlic, pepper, chocolate, grapes, raisins and there's a load more I can't think of at the moment, but they're all toxic to dogs.

Dogs drink muddy water and lick their own holes, they are not going to get felled by a raisin.

@DillonPanthersTexas

Onions, Garlic, pepper, chocolate, grapes, raisins and there's a load more I can't think of at the moment, but they're all toxic to dogs.

Dogs drink muddy water and lick their own holes, they are not going to get felled by a raisin.

Not true. Those foods can kill dogs.

Ha ha ha yes @MerchantOfVenom 😂😂😂

Our dishwasher has a pre wash function - it’s rather large, black, furry and starts the instant the plates go in. No shame.

I would like to know how you stop them! However if you have a bottom drawer cutlery box thing, make sure you put all the knives in point side down. Otherwise if the dog slipped they might really hurt themselves on a pointing up knife!

I am always careful not to let my dog have any if the forbidden foods (she doesn't lick the dishwasher anyway) but the dachshund we had, as a child in the 60s, once ate half a Christmas cake and used to scoff chocolates all the time. He lived to a good age.

Not true. Those foods can kill dogs.

Well my late border collie probably played Russian roulette and ate all those things at some point, along with my sofa, a pick ace handle, various rugby balls and an entire Christmas ham. She died peacefully at 16 in her sleep.

It's the same as sharing your plate with the dog... So if you'd be happy to eat your spag bol dinner from the dog bowl (it goes in a hot wash!) then go for it, be my guest.

My mum used to let our dog lick plates and lap up leftover tea from cups. I remember a schoolfriend looking horrified when I gave my cup to the dog to finish off. Of course we had no dishwasher in those days, and she wasn't the most diligent washer-up, neither were me or my sister! Thinking back, we did have quite a few stomach upsets!

It's absolutely fine; it's a pre-wash. Ignore these joyless, miserable gits who say it's disgusting. The dishwasher will kill any bacteria, and in any case, it doesn't do us any harm to be exposed to a bit of bacteria; it's how we develop our immune systems. People today are obsessed with germs and anti-bac sprays to an unhealthy degree.

You need to think of your dog as a perpetual 2 year old. They do know right from wrong ;with training), occasionally cause mischief but are’s quickly contrite and need firm, clear , consistent boundaries.

Your dog licking the plates firstly is gross
Secondly, not all human foods are safe for dogs. Chocolate, onions, garlic and others can actually kill your dog. With chocolate, it’s a cumulative problem as the harmful aspects build up in your dog. Check with your vet if you don’t believe this.

Thirdly, how will you dog know the difference between clean and dirty dishes unless he gives it a lick?

Fourthly, it’s very unsafe. In their excitement to get to the goodies on the plates in the dishwasher, how would you stop them from licking knives?

Fifth my, you’re encouraging them to lick/eat from people’s plates. How will you ensure they know the difference between plates in dishwasher from plates on the table? Very confusing to the dog as to what is fair game.

I am always bit eh about the "it can kill them". Grapes, nuts and onions are amongst the reported as toxic, yet my herd of stupid eat quite some amounts of them. We grew lots and our dogs always harvested some🤦 Eat grapes right off the plant, got to fallen walnuts before us and actually dug out the bloody onion. And carrots, they loooved biting into carrots and then leaving them🤦
Only 1 died before the age of 15. And considering all (except Bernese) were rescuses and had health issues from it, not bad age.

My dog always does the pre-wash! She once caught her collar in the basket, got spooked and dragged the whole basket of dishes halfway across the kitchen!

I don’t think the amount of food they manage to lick off a plate ready for the dishwasher is likely to cause any harm even if it wasn’t completely dog friendly.

I wouldn't put knives in pointing up anyway, especially not after what happened to Chantelle on eastenders That seems like common sense!

He has pretty good table manners already actually. He gets sent to his mat and stays there until the 'click' of the dishwasher

I jstop my dogs from licking things in the dishwasher, but they often perform the prewash before loading it.

Mind me that was just an anecdotal personal evidence so I had a look.
This study shows the numbers. It's actually quite larger amounts of the foods dog would have to eat to be affected, according to that.
For example:
Consumption of as little as 5 g/kg of onions in cats or 15 to 30 g/kg in dogs has resulted in clinically important hematologic changes
So if you have a 10kg dog, I think it could be concluded that licking a plate with few grams of onion in a sauce left over on a plate, won't kill them. However, it would be incredibly stupid to feed them pieces of onion daily.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2984110/

Shouldn’t humans and pets have their own bowls and plates?

I wonder how many 'a dog stole my picnic' threads will we get in the summer seeing as most people think it's OK for dogs to lick plates

@Fuckertyfuckmcfuck

I wonder how many 'a dog stole my picnic' threads will we get in the summer seeing as most people think it's OK for dogs to lick plates

Unless owner is useless in training it has not much connection. Again, you can have dog lick the plates when you give them to them, but the dog will not touch plates otherwise.

Fuckertyfuckmcfuck
There has to be dozens of those threads. It's a mumsnet rule.

I've been walking dogs for years and am yet to have seen a dog eat someone's picnic but on here it happens all the time. Then again in my experience inconsiderate owners are a minority and I might encounter a particularly irritating one once a month (usually someone with a smaller dog who is poorly trained and they don't do anything about it because the dog is small).
On here some posters swear blind that they are forever being charged at by feral dogs, jumped all over, covered in mud, etc. Or they apparently can't take their child to the park due to the abundance of dangerous and out of control dogs, but in a funny MN way they keep going anyway.It's like another world or some people like to speak in hyperbole.

Fifth my, you’re encouraging them to lick/eat from people’s plates. How will you ensure they know the difference between plates in dishwasher from plates on the table?

Erm..because one is in the dishwasher and one is on the table? Mine have never jumped up to take things off the table.

What's more amazing to me is the level of emotion aimed at people who allow this. Posters who appear to be kept awake worrying about some stranger's dog they will never meet, who may or not be licking a plate they will never see, in a dishwasher they will never use. Bonkers.