Do you wash your hands after touching your dog?

I've been wondering about it for awhile now. Should we always wash our hands after touching our dogs? Like you all probably know, my Homer isn't the cleanest dog in the whole world, because he hates water. I'm obsessed with hygiene, germs terrify me, so I always wash my hands right after petting him or carrying him.
I'm not sure if it's necessary though.
I'd love to hear your opinions!

 

Honestly no.
I do not think our dog is dirty as I got used touching dogs and not washing hands after. I just do not forgot washing hands before eating.

 

I noticed that my parents don't wash their hands after petting Homer either. He always sits on their laps, so I guess it would be impossible to do this, they would have to spend most time in a bathroom. So maybe I worry without any reason. On the other hand, dogs are animals, we don't bathe them daily and they carry germs

 

Unless he has rolled in something spectacularly vile I don't feel the need. I will wash my hands after petting him if I am going to cook or eat - that would just be courtesy and common sense.

 

Us here too just wash our hands when we know Dodge is dirty or been from nasty outdoor activity.

 

The problem is that my Homer is dirty most of the time. I bathe him maybe three or four times a year. I know that whenever he's outside, he rolls in everything, in grass, in dirt, in sand He loves doing it. This is why I wash my hands so obsessively. But maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

Yeah, I always do it right before doing something that requires my hands to be very clean. I dislike it when my bf's sister bring their stinky dog that has a skin condition - that dog has a really bad odour. I get some sort of hive every time the dogs comes here.

My boyfriend rarely washes his hands. We are so different in that sense.

 

My boyfriend suffers from an OCD just like me, so we both wash hands right after petting Homer. If we ever live together, we'll have to pay horrible water bills
I'm ashamed to confess it, but my tiny Yorkie has a really bad odour His skin is healthy though.

 

Lucky you Lol, I wish my boyfriend would wash his hands often! At least wash them after touching his cat or before touching me I often think about that and I'm like... Ew! I don't think we will have dogs or cats if we get to live together. No way.

 

It can be really annoying, I know. When we were dating, my ex didn't wash his hands as often as he should either. I remember that once, he started preparing our food right after playing with his dog. The dog had licked him
We were often arguing about it.

 

Yikes! I feel really annoyed with the fact they (my in laws) let their cat go outside whenever he pleae s and then he comes and gets on the furniture; even the bed. They touch it, but NEVER wash their hands after that. So I understand your frustration. Glad my OCD is better, otherwise I'd be going nuts over this!

 

In situations like this, I always say to myself that it's not really dangerous to touch our dogs (or cats) without washing hands afterwards. After all, we know that they're perfectly healthy. It just isn't hygenic.
But it doesn't change the fact that in my opinion life would be better if everybody suffered from a mild OCD

 

Yeah, if everyone suffered of a mild OCD life would be much better for people like us. My in laws and boyfriend make look as if I was an higienw freak, lol. When I am not that much into higienie, it's just they don't wash their hands often enough.

 

It's especially annoying when dog owners don't wash their hands as often as they should. Some time ago, I saw a lady who took her dog to a restaurant. It wasn't a very fancy place and the dog was tiny and sat in her purse, so it didn't bother anyone. But she shared her food with him and she patted his head often and I'm sure that he was licking her and her fork. It was kind of disgusting

 

Ewwwwwwwww! Lol, what you just described made me feel kinda sick, claudine. But sadly there are so many people out there who love doing this exact same thing with their pets. They just love sharing their food, even let them take the food from the plate and so on. How do you feel about people who sleep with their dogs?

 

To be honest, I don't understand people who want to sleep with their four legged friends. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs with all my heart, I love petting them and playing with them. But I think that most of them don't smell too nice and aren't too clean. In my opinion it's just not hygienic to let your dog touch your pillow.

 

Yeah, my mom thinks the same exact thing. I also share that opinion, because as you said dogs aren't clean at all and they basically like rolling on the most unclean things! Dogs aren't the most clean creatures, I know because I have two. I love them, but I don't like the idea of sleeping with them, plus I think it can be dangerous for them to share the bed with us, specially when they are small dogs.

 

I think that maybe it depends on a dog. Some dogs are cleaner than others My Homer hates bathing and loves being dirty, so I really can't imagine sharing my bed with him. I don't want to smell like him

I agree with you completely, it's dangerous to sleep with a very small dog.

 

Clau, dogs aren't very careful when it comes to being clean, what annoys me the most is the fact most of them will step over anything they come across with Then get on your bed or the furniture, my standard schnauzer loves doing that I don't mind it that much when she does it on the couch, but the bed?! Yikes... you can imagine because you also suffer from OCD.

 

Yes, of course. Even if Homer was the cleanest dog in the whole world, I still wouldn't want to share my pillow with him. But I think that I feel this way because I suffer from an OCD and it doesn't really surprise me that some people like sleeping with their dogs.
Homer loves getting on my furniture too He often sleeps on a couch in our living room or sits on one of our chairs.