Letting your dog lick your plate or cup after you’ve finished...

[Aberforthsgoat]

Is this a normal thing?! I’m prepared to get flamed as I haven’t been a dog owner for a long time, but definitely didn’t do that.
I was on a video call with a family member and they were drinking coffee. There was a bit left in the cup and she held it down for the dog to lick up, then did the same with her breakfast plate.
I found it a bit gross 😳 but then wondered if it’s just a normal dog owner thing that I’m unaware of!
It just seems unhygienic? But then I guess if things are going in the dishwasher afterwards maybe not!
I’ve seen people give their pets scraps from dinner etc of course just never actually seen them licking the cup or plate!

I’m only asking because I think I AM being unreasonable in being a bit taken aback, and am curious as to how common it is!

@Pipandmum

My dogs lick the plates. They go in the dishwasher after so are cleaned properly. I wouldn't do it if other people are watching as I know some are repulsed.

I would puke if I saw this. Don't invite me for dinner.

@AnyOldPrion

DDog is very useful for when other people leave bits on the plates. Saves me having to scrape them into the bin. He will also climb into the dishwasher unless you stop him. It doesn’t bother me at all as I trust the dishwasher to leave the plates clean and germ free.

My mother won’t be happy when coronavirus is over and she comes to stay, but I’ll deal with that when it comes.

Oh god. Why? So hideous. Scrape into a dog bowl if you must.

@Inextremis

In 53 years of having dogs, they've always licked our plates and/or eaten leftovers off of them. Never once have I caught worms or anything else! Guess we just know how to wash stuff. Nothing disgusting about it.

Beasts.

@AlwaysLatte

I think it's bad to let them lick it. If nothing else then it encourages them and they might take a sneaky lick while you're still using the cup/plate and you don't realise. Our dog is always trying to lick things in the dishwasher which is maddening. More worrisome in your relative's case though is the coffee - it's highly toxic to dogs!

It's from. All sorts that they shouldn't eat, just slobbering away on your plate.

My toy poodle and I sometimes share an ice cream... one lick for me, one lick for him.... even my wife thinks it is a step too far, but I don't care one jot!

I don't do this, neither coffee nor milk are good for dogs and neither are lots of things I eat so not a habit I'd like to encourage. In fact you could leave a plate of steak lying on the sofa and dpup would know not to touch it which is another benefit of never allowing this. I couldn't get upset about it from a hygiene point of view though unless they are replacing washing it with the dog licking it clean instead.

No. Dogs have their own bowls for a reason.

@sophiasnail

My toy poodle and I sometimes share an ice cream... one lick for me, one lick for him.... even my wife thinks it is a step too far, but I don't care one jot!

Urgh. You'd be nowhere near me after that

Yuk! But then I also treat my dog like a dog and not a surrogate human.

A 15 pound dog - approx 7kg, would nedd to drink 10 cups of espresso to have severe reaction. A lick of a bit of coffee will do nothing

Most toxicity in dogs bares no relation to the size of dog or the amount of product. I've a friend with a very small, very determined (19 year old now) whippet who in her time has scarfed whole Easter eggs and entire bags of raisins without even a tummy ache where as a Great Dane or st Bernard could have a morsel and be very unwell. It all depends if the individual dog reacts to it. Often like allergies though it can develop suddenly after many times being fine. Where have you got that specific amount from vs dog size re the coffee? I'd be interested in seeing that data.

My toy poodle and I sometimes share an ice cream... one lick for me, one lick for him.... even my wife thinks it is a step too far, but I don't care one jot!

The plates fine from a hygiene pint of view (not from others that I've already spoken about) but THAT is disgusting and you'd not be near me with your mouth if I were your poor wife . You say 'even' your wife but it should be 'especially' your wife as she's the one that it affects more than the random disgusted on lookers.

No. Unnecessary and potentially harmful

Awful.

My hairdresser once gave her dog my teacup so it could drink the rest of my tea.

I never had a drink there again.

@Stepintochristmas my vets has a chart in the window that compared what human food is in the equivalent of frosted donuts in dogs. I.e a slice of bread for a dog would be like us eating 2 full donuts. It's quite eye opening when you see the lists of foods. Things like a slice of ham or a few chips are terrible

All my dogs have done it, and I have a diswasher. One of the dogs was actually nicknamed "Prewash".

One of them was a bugger for drinking your tea if you put your cup on the floor for any reason though. The other 2 would wait to be invited before helping themselves.

I personally think it is utterly disgusting...but many dog owners see their dogs as being no different to human beings....see threads on here about dogs being off leads etc..

What really turned my stomach was having a holiday away in between lockdowns in the Lake District. Some establishments are very dog friendly so sometimes when eating on an evening you find others have dogs sat with them. The family next to us put each one of their plates on the floor in turn for the dog to finished off their remains. I thought I had seen in all until that point.

I left a Tripadvisor review which they were upset about but couldn't disagree it was factual and in reality warns people to expect a lot of dogs as experienced.

Having said all of this..I always thought that were rules prohibiting dogs from areas where food is served unless it is a guide dog?

Oh ffs, if you can put dishes from raw meat in the dishwasher and trust they are clean then why not trust pet saliva will be cleaned off? Have you seen how vile humans are, some don’t even wash their hands after wiping their own arses then touch things other people have to touch. Some touch plates, cutlery and cups after not washing hands in restaurants etc and we trust the dishwasher there to clean that kind of germ off before we eat from the plates etc. Did you know that ice buckets in bars were tested and urine was detected in them from folk not washing their hands. Hence it’s very rare to see an ice bucket sitting out on a bar now. If you want to uncle ch you’ll realise humans are fucking vile too.

I think I'm far more likely to catch something from a plate in a restaurant which has been used by other humans than by a plate that has been licked by a different species to myself. As long as both are properly cleaned between uses then it's fine by me.

Absolutely disgusting.

My dog never gets food or scraps on my plates, as a PP said it's about boundaries, consequently my dog never begs when he sees people eating, he goes to his bed until we've finished because that's what's he's trained to do. If there is dog safe scraps I'm happy for him to have then they go in the dogs bowl but generally he only gets dog food because it's healthier for him. I make him an occasional cup of tea which he has from a designated bowl.

My cats do. I'm not fussed it's not like I'm not going to wash it before I reuse it anyway

@midnightstar66

A 15 pound dog - approx 7kg, would nedd to drink 10 cups of espresso to have severe reaction. A lick of a bit of coffee will do nothing

Most toxicity in dogs bares no relation to the size of dog or the amount of product. I've a friend with a very small, very determined (19 year old now) whippet who in her time has scarfed whole Easter eggs and entire bags of raisins without even a tummy ache where as a Great Dane or st Bernard could have a morsel and be very unwell. It all depends if the individual dog reacts to it. Often like allergies though it can develop suddenly after many times being fine. Where have you got that specific amount from vs dog size re the coffee? I'd be interested in seeing that data.

. There are obviously differences between reactiona, but they are not commonly that big. I have seen once before I came to UK, a friend taking dog to vet because it was dachshund and eat his weight in chocolate🤦 And refused to throw up. I can't decide whether it's a vet money making scheme or whatever it's the "give them an inch and.." situation when the information is presented as "they can never" because if people were told "well, they can a bit" they would stop being careful about their dogs food. We had to make mine throw up few times. But over 30+ years of having dogs I think that's a good score. Usually that waa when they eat something suspicious on walk (people are aick bastards). Anyway. vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/caffeine-toxicity-in-pets I am way too lazy looking for anything academic at this point.

I had on a previous thread study about onion, garlic and I think it had chocolate in too.

People can set boundaries and have no begging dogs even if they give them plates to finish off sometimes...

@LakieLady

All my dogs have done it, and I have a diswasher. One of the dogs was actually nicknamed "Prewash".

One of them was a bugger for drinking your tea if you put your cup on the floor for any reason though. The other 2 would wait to be invited before helping themselves.

Haha we have the same joke!

The stuff comes out sparkly and clean if the dog licks it first, especially things like shepherds pie dishes. I do have friends I can’t give my plate to the dogs in front of because they get grossed out. I can’t see it though. Many humans are utterly disgusting and unlike dogs carry viruses other humans can catch. But we don’t worry about this when we go to restaurants - we trust their dishwasher.

I do the same. My dishwasher washes hot, everything comes out sparkly clean, and therefore I can’t see the issue.