Roper
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Dog-lovers who like to kiss their dogs and otherwise allow their dogs to lick them have always defended themselves by saying a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s mouth. This is a long-standing myth that was propagated by a faulty study several decades ago. The study claimed that human bites have a higher rate of infection in other humans than do dog bites. In 1988, the faults in the study were pointed out by a series of counter-studies. The original study was lambasted for not using human bites at all. They used closed-fist injuries to the hand by tooth or jaw. In layman’s terms, they used people who had cuts on their hands from punching someone in the face. It was also found that most of the human “bite” injuries were not reported right away and had developed infections from other sources.
In the case of dog vs. human bites, common sense plays out. Dogs use their tongues as both a wash cloth and toilet paper. They purposefully take their body’s dirt into their mouths. Dogs are also known for eating a variety of disgusting things, including feces, be it their own or from another animal. Modern science concludes that a dog’s mouth is probably dirtier than a human’s mouth, but in the case of harmful bacteria, the argument is relative. Even if dogs have more bacteria in their mouths, those bacteria do not affect dogs and humans the same way. The majority of harmful bacteria are species specific. This means that most of the bacteria that infects a dog will only infect a dog and vice-versa, most harmful bacteria carried by humans is only harmful to humans. You have a much higher chance of getting sick by kissing another person than you do by kissing your dog simply because a lot of the bacteria in a dog’s mouth don’t affect us. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there; it just means they ignore us. In the case of bites, a dog can carry some extremely harmful bacteria and viruses that affect us both, such as those causing tetanus and rabies. Always clean dog bites right away and have them professionally treated.
 Posted 5403 day ago
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