Insights from the Editor
Danger from Dog Kisses?
When it comes to dog owners' interactions with their pets, there are two distinct camps: those who allow -- and even encourage -- their pooches to lick them on the face, and those who react to the practice like Lucy from Peanuts. When Snoopy plants a big, wet kiss on her
Turns out those who side with Lucy may have a little less to fear. Research by Dr. Kate Stenske at Kansas State University has found that people who let Fido kiss or sleep with them are no more likely than other dog owners to share the same strains of E. coli bacteria with their pets. What's more, the dogs in the study tended to have fewer drug-resistant strains of E. coli than their owners.
While these findings don't provide direct proof about germ transmission, they do suggest that people may be more likely to spread drug-resistant E. coli to their dogs than the other way around. So maybe Snoopy is the one who should be demanding disinfectant.
Still, that doesn't mean humans can't get germs from their four-legged friends. Dr. Stenske found that people who failed to wash their hands after petting their dogs had higher levels of antibiotic-resistant E. coli. (Just another reason to keep your paws clean.) And given dogs' affinity for feasting on decaying garbage, dead rodents, and other such delicacies, it's possible that their mouths harbor other germs that can be passed to humans though canine kisses.
As for sharing a bed with your dog, perhaps a bigger worry is its effect on sleep. Studies show that sleeping with pets can keep you awake and leave you feeling, uh, dog tired. In this case, though, the risk isn't reciprocal: Dogs sleeping in their owners' beds seem to have no complaints.
About the Author
Robert J. Davis, PhD is President and Editor-in-Chief of Everwell.
An award-winning health journalist whose work has appeared on CNN, PBS, WebMD and in The Wall Street Journal, he is the author of The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting Through the Hype About Your Health. He also teaches at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.
Davis holds a PhD in health policy from Brandeis University, where he was a Pew Fellow, a master's degree in public health from Emory, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University.
