Tiffany’s post of her encounter with the rottweiler made me wonder.
How persnickety are we about our pets and hygiene?
How persnickety should we be?
As a cat owner it is fairly easy - I am responsible for keeping their food bowls and litter tray in good order - they take care of everything else themselves. They don’t rush to greet people, they don’t need bathing and they don’t lick anyone. They both sleep on my bed on their own furry throw.
A friend who has two dogs allows them to lick her dinner plates at the end of a meal. They jump all over visitors and try to lick faces. They both sleep on - occasionally in - her bed
Yet another friend who has a dog would faint with shock at that thought. :-D:-D She washes his feed bowls and cutlery separately from her own - and never allows him on her bed without putting an old sheet on it first. If he attempts to lick anyone he is sent out of the room!
I keep the dog off my bed, and wash everything of hers separately. I don’t mind her licking my hand but not my face. She has her own bed, but I allow her on the sofa…NO dinner plate licking, UGH! I wouldn’t send her away if she did lick my face though - I would just wash. Dogs need to be with you (unlike cats who don’t, heh!) Licking is connecting with you, so its no big deal…but I’d rather keep her off my face thanks!
‘‘As a cat owner it is fairly easy - I am responsible for keeping their food bowls and litter tray in good order - they take care of everything else themselves. They don’t rush to greet people, they don’t need bathing and they don’t lick anyone. They both sleep on my bed on their own furry throw.’’
Ditto
She does try to sniff and lick my plate with food on it and when its empty,but usually a good stare sends her on her way.
Plus she has her own blankets etc which get washed weekly.
Neither of my cats are remotely interested in ‘people food’ - so the plate problem doesn’t arise. Nemo will steal the odd mushroom from the punnet if I am silly enough to leave it within reach - but that is all.
My boys (dogs) prefer the outdoors in summer and indoors in winter - tonight it’s -1 so they’re in the lounge asleep. They don’t like sleeping in my bed which works fine for me. I clean up after them and wash and clean their bowls every other day. They have a bath once a week because I’m wait for it… allergic to dogs and cats to a lesser degree… how was I supposed to know:-(
They don’t beg or eat off the plate ever. They know they’ll get a nibble
Tirzah and Olivia have the run of the house except for our bedroom. I wouldn’t mind them there but experinec has taught us that Tirzah is likley to mark her territory and Olivia will attack my feet every time I move them.
Murtagh has never been up the stairs which suits us, so he gets the run of the down stairs only and the garden. He normally sleeps on one of the sofas on a throw but in this weather he sleeps on the hall tiles.
I am happy for all of them to lick my hand although I always wash my hands after playing with them but not my face.
We have a friend whose dog gets his Sunday roast on his china plate. No way we would do that. Max has his own own metal bowls, one for food and one for water. We do give him a treat but that’s in the garden. Usually a rice bone. But otherwise, he gets just the correct food.
First off, I will have to admit to spoiling our pets excessively, especially our dogs however, they are not allowed to beg for food, jump up on people, bark whenever they want of do whatever they please. They are well trained behaved dogs.
They aren’t perfect though. Like us they make mistakes.
I also however let them sleep on the bed but in their own beds. They are little well behaved hooligans whom I adore.
A while before we moved here we had some friends whom we had invited over for dinner one night. They had two huge dogs. One was a Newfoundland / Burmese mountain dog. The other dog came later. Anyway the dog ate my brand new sandals while we ate our dinner and after dinner they both let their dog eat their food right off their plates. This dogs head was well above the dinner table. After that ( I can’t believe there even was an after that ) when they invited us over to eat, they reached over the table, right in front of where I was eating and fed their dog right at the table. I couldn’t believe it.
This same dog also lifted its leg and urinated on a plant which was on the floor like it was an everyday thing. :shock:
See how tolerant I am. :-p
That’s just shocking Bratti - I usually invite people over not their pets but I did have the experience the one time where someone pitched with an unruly dog - it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I’m a little house proud so I almost had a heart attack when the dog jumped onto my couch - er… no !
Are you saying the owners allowed this - in your house? Good grief - they would never have been invited to mine again unless they left the dogs at home!
Well this was actually a first for us also.
It’s not that we don’t allow other pets in our house, we just didn’t think people brought their pets when invited for dinner. That itself is over stepping boundaries right from the ‘get go.’
To then go ahead and feed your dog like it’s your own home is beyond over stepping boundaries. That’s just plain rude.
I have to admit that our dogs have jumped on someone else’s couch when we were visiting however they were immediately reprimanded and didn’t do it again. Having pets takes responsibility for sure and not all people are pet lovers. It’s hard to imagine but they have a right to feel that way.
It seems from these posts there are some odd folk with animals, or maybe I am just too lenient with mine.
I have shared my home with different animals my entire life, I’ve never had an house without them, yet I have never, ever, contracted anything unsavoury from them in all my life.
We are more likely to catch something nasty from other humans!
If people are going to treat their dogs as some kind of dirty outcasts, why bring them home in the first place? And as for the person who sends their poor dog out of the room if it even attemps to lick anyone - perhaps they shouldn’t even have a dog!
I try to observe good hygiene for my dog’s sake as much as my own,
…I wash and sterilize water bowls and food bowls daily,
…dog bedding and sofa throws are washed at least weekly.
…I groom Chloe daily when returning from the long walk.
My previous dogs have slept on my bed on their own blanket, Chloe choose not to and the bed is quite high to jump on anyway .
Chloe is a funny little dog and clearly like a clean blanket and her water changed frequently, she ‘has a look’ when her bed is changed, sniffs it tail wagging and just stands by the bowl looking sad if the water is stale waiting for a fresh bowl.
Blow pet hygiene one of the little twin grandsons is not averse to a bit of bed sharing with Nova the puppy when he wanta quiet spot from his 4 sisters and brothers
My cats hate it when I wash their bedding - they have to roll all over it and/or knead it for a while before they will sit on it again. Presumably washing things means they no longer smell right!
Very true, Mups. When my previous cat died - I said that’s it - no more cats. That lasted all of a week. It was horrible coming in from work to an empty house. Willow arrived, courtesy of Cats Protection, and was joined the following year by Nemo. They drive me crazy at times - but I wouldn’t part with them!
Pretty laid back with our cats. The older one just wants to be offered something from our plates or shown the plate, to have a sense of inclusiveness. For him it’s the fact that we offer it that’s important.
The younger one has calmed down, but used to be a bugger for leaping up and taking stuff off our plates when our backs were turned. My wife nipped to the kitchen once to get a drink of orange juice, and came back to catch him eating her bacon sandwich. He even had a go at a fresh chicken which we had left on the counter to come to room temperature before we butchered it. He has no shame whatsoever in ripping off tin foil from cooked food to help himself. We’re not that bothered though.
