Dogs Licking Plates

[Goldengirl123]

We were in a pub and there was a large group of people near us. One of the men didn’t finish his meal so he got the plate and gave it to his dog to finish. One of his mates said that was terrible but he couldn’t see why as the plate would be going in the dishwasher. I was disgusted

You are multiple orders of magnitude more likely to pick up pathogens from other humans than you are from a dog.

Human saliva from strangers goes all over restaurant crockery and plates.

It was poor manners and I wouldn't do it, but in no way is it unhygienic - not when compared to the level of human mouths all over cutlery and so forth!

You think a dog’s slobber on a plate which a server has to touch is comparable to a napkin?

Restaurants provide and expect to dispose of napkins themselves.

I take it your dog is a licker?

My dog licks the plates once they're loaded into the dishwasher.

She's the pre-wash function.

Yuk. I have a dog and some people think I am weird because I have a separate washing up brush and tea towels for the dog bowls. I also have separate towels.
I’m with you all the way.

I don't have a dog but I have worked in pubs and cafes and been on the receiving end of napkins smeared with mouth wipings and snot.

Dog has once or twice got to the dishwasher and gotten lucky but other than that, no I wouldn’t let the dog lick anything!

And that is also repulsive, no?

Dog slobber is no worse than human snot!

Human mouths carry a significantly higher level of bacteria than dog mouths - if you get bitten by a human, you're significantly more likely to develop an infection than you would from a dog bite.

You are actually safer handling dog-slobber plates than human-slobber cutlery.

Yes, if a customer dangled snot on a plate that would be disgusting. As it stands, I’ve never known a server to unfold and touch the inside of a napkin.

Not sure why anyone is defending dogs slobbering on plates tbh. If it’s this widespread, maybe folks just won’t go to these places anymore.

Letting dogs lick plates is a serious health hazard due to the transmission of bacteria like Salmonella and Capnocytophaga, which can survive on dishes after washing even after a thorough dishwasher cycle.

Capnocytophaga can even be fatal if it enters a person's bloodstream or open wound.

No this is not normal. We have a very hungry Labrador and given the chance he would never stop eating.
We don’t let him eating from our plates, dishwasher or table and it not only produces bad manners form him and makes his belly poorly but it’s disgusting.

So many perfectly normal human foods are bad for dogs. Even tomato and onions! I would not be impressed if I saw this in a pub.

Gross. Makes me feel sick thinking about it.

If you read the context of my original post you would know that is exactly what I was saying.

No, servers don't unfold a napkin, but neither are diners diligent about keeping all their germs in the folded up bit of the napkin.

You do know that not all dogs slobber don't you?

I adore my wee fur son, but if there's any leftovers that are safe for him to eat, they get scraped into his bowl.

You are joking right? Cases of humans infected with capnocytophaga are so rare as to be insignificant.

You may as well argue that there's a serious health risk of contracting ebola from people licking spoons.

Mine has been so well-trained (rescue) that she won’t lick a plate. We know this because a visiting family member offered her something from his plate and she wouldn’t take it until he picked it up and offered it to her from his hand.

However, I wouldn’t be precious about washing E.g. her rinsed-out food or water bowls in the dishwasher, for the reasons given: the dishwasher does sterilise the content.

This happens regularly in my local pub. Owner gets half a pint of water for the dog and dog sits on (upholstered) bench seating with them. I know I could go to a different pub but this is my proper local, we love it and they regularly have live music.

That's not water, it's a G&T.

My parents had friends who used to let their dogs do this. Except the plates were deemed clean and put back in the cupboard.

It always sticks in my head that people who allow this might do that in private/give them a rinse or forget the plates hadn't been washed yet and put them away.

It's gross and not really good for the dogs if something has been eaten that wasn't good for them.

"My parents had friends who used to let their dogs do this. Except the plates were deemed clean and put back in the cupboard."

Were they cave dwellers?

I think you and a few others are the (decent) minority here. The era of the ‘good’ dog owner is over I fear, with negative consequences for dogs and others, in all areas. Not just this hideous practice of licking crockery.

My dog 'cleans' my plates. Would not do it in a pub/restaurant - terrible behaviour.

Is your dog a Labrador or a retriever? Probably genetic 😂!

Gross! And seeing the number of people who allow their dogs to lick their plates at home has now put me off eating at the house of a dog owner. Yes it will get washed again in the dishwasher so it’s not wholly rational to find it off putting, but it just makes me feel disgusted.

Completely agree with others who say it is bad dog training too.