Your Dog’s Gross Kisses Might Be Good for You

I’m a curmudgeon when it comes to pets. “Who needs ’em,” I say.
Oddly, I also talk to the dogs that stay with us in a baby voice when family and friends slough their creatures off on us for trips out of town.
I get it, pets are fuzzy and adorable, and dogs especially are obsessed with you. They freak out when you come home and follow you everywhere, which is really affirming.
They are almost too loving. After a few hours of our dog-sitting duties, I start talking to them and marveling a bit at how wonderful these little creatures are. At one time, all these incredible dog breeds had real work to do, tasks they were specialized in, whereas cats just kill stuff and rub on your leg, from what I’ve seen.
But I also suspect that my mom’s dog was her dearest companion in the last years of her life and that a certain in-law would find it easier to escape his funk if some fluffy little puppy licked him awake every morning.
There’s plenty of research that suggests pets have a therapeutic effect. And as disgusting as I find their slobbery, stinky breath to be, the germs they carry around might even be good for us according to reporter Amy Denney. Then again, Denney has a dog and six chickens with names, so her objectivity is a bit suspect. (She does eat all the eggs though, so maybe she’s okay).
“Microbial homeostasis indicates that the balance of microorganisms living in one’s gut is favorable for preventing an overgrowth of disease-causing bugs,” reports Denney.
Having a dog is also linked to a lower risk of Crohn’s disease and pathogen-driven illnesses.
Of course, we can also get unwelcome bugs from pets, not to mention some truly stinky “kisses.”
But apparently, the benefits outweigh the risks for most people, at least according to the study authors.
While these researchers claimed they did not have any conflicts of interest, none indicated their actual pet ownership, nor whether they have ever threatened to leave everything to the dog. I suspect many of them are unabashed belly rubbers.