Spoilsports
Maybe you shouldn’t kiss your dog.
Let me just add that, although I had a dog I loved very much, I never kissed him. However, he kissed me once or twice. My dog, a cockerpoo of about 25 pounds, was friendly and fluffy, although no pushover. He loved dogs and he loved people. We discovered early on that if someone he loved got close to him and made the error of opening his or her mouth at all widely, our dog was a blatant opportunist who would stick his tongue right in it—as quick as a lizard, darting in and out with lightning speed.
That may sound awful. But he was really a lovely dog, as long as you remembered that one rule: don’t open mouth wide when close to his face.
[NOTE: If you’re not a WSJ subscriber, you can get to the article by Googling it.]
I am amazed that many people allow dogs to lick their faces considering all the places dogs lick. I love dogs, but restrict licks to my hands, and then promptly wash up.
From what I’ve read kissing your dog is not a big problem for most people who have a normal immune system.
I have to say, that WSJ article was totally devoid of factual content. Now if they wanted to scare readers about an actual problem, they should have written an article on cats and Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women.