Dog Spit

Do you think dog saliva is gross? Many people do.

But here’s a story that might change your mind.

Many years ago, back in the 1970s, my husband had a horrible infection in his arm. The antibiotic the doctor had prescribed wasn’t helping and my poor husband was so miserable he couldn’t get out of bed.

Our dalmation kept trying to lick the sore and, finally, my poor husband felt too weak to push her away and let her lick it.

To our surprise, the wound began to improve, so he let the dog keep licking it. In a few hours the wound had completely healed.

When we told a doctor friend about that he explained dogs have an enzyme in their saliva that kills the bacteria that cause infections.

So, if a dog licks or slobbers on you or your kids, please don’t worry about it being unsanitary. It’s quite the opposite.

Dog Spit

Some parents worry about their kids getting licked or slobbered on by dogs. They might be surprised to know that canine saliva contains an enzyme that kills many germs.

That's because wolves, coyotes, and other wild dogs that are the ancestors of our domesticated pets often eat carrion. That means bodies of dead animals they find - sort of the natural variety of road kill.

Once my husband had a horrible infection in his hand and none of the antibiotics the doctor tried were doing any good. One day, after weeks of pain, he let our pet dog lick the wound and it improved in less than a half hour. He let her lick it again and again and the infection was completely gone by the next morning.

A doctor friend told us about that enzyme in the canine saliva, but said it would never be used for medical purposes because nobody wanted pet dogs to be used in experiments or to have their saliva extracted.

But if you ever get dog spit slobbered on you or your kids please remember that it's nothing to worry about.