Confession time: occasionally, we let Lucy lick the dinner plates clean. I’m pausing for judgement…you done? Need more time? I’ll wait.
I know that feeding from the table is bad, but what about AFTER dinner is all done, you’ve cleared the dishes and you just set them all on the floor for a sweet faced little dog to lick them clean? Is that just as bad? I’m sure it was totally acceptable to feed the animals kitchen scraps prior to dog food–probably not on the dinner plates, but still, I’m justifying here. Lucy the Puggle Dog has ALL of us wrapped around her paw, what can I say?
Do any of you “spoil” your dogs by letting them lick the plate? Or does the sheer thought send you into dry heaves?
~Mavis
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Clsire Bacon says
I let my pooch, a toy poodle called Buddy lick my plate after every meal and then some. If I did not have a dishwasher, I might not go so. My SIL cringed when I told her it was okay to let her dog lick the plate at my house, said, “It’s going in the DW.”
Crystal says
Yes!!! My dog gets to lick the plates! Unless there was something on the plate that is toxic to dogs. And it’s just me and my husband so, we eat on the couch. She’s right up on the couch with us with what we call the “Paw of Dominance” on one of our legs just waiting to get a little bite. Which she always eventually gets What can I say, she’s a spoiled dog, she runs the house for sure!
HillbillyOne says
Great post, Mavis. My husband and I were just reminiscing of the time my late, great father in law took a freshly dog-licked plate & put it in the cupboard saying “this is the way we do dishes around here.” And forgot about it! Double the laughs on that one. Good times. 🙂
Mavis says
Ha! I love “paws of dominance”–I’m totally going to start using that.
Sue says
That reminds me of the old joke: A pastor goes to visit one of his elderly parishioners. She invites him to stay for supper, and when she serves him the meal, he can’t help but notice that the dishes are not very clean. He’s concerned about her health and her ability to take care of herself, and gently inquires about the dirty dishes. She insists they are “as clean as soap and water can get them.” They finish eating, and the woman gathers the dishes from the table. She goes to the front door, opens it, puts the dishes down on the porch, and calls her dogs: “Here Soap, here Water!:
😉
Mandy Taylor says
Yep, both my dogs sometimes lick our plates. I am quite sure that there are far worse things going on in the world!
Denise says
Our dog was big enough to reach into the open dishwasher to help himself; we called it our “pre-rinse” cycle.
Donna says
Yes we do. I can do you one better. I don’t feed my dog ‘dog food.’ After that dog food scare about a decade ago, I did research on pet nutrition, bought a few books on homemade food for dogs and have never looked back. My little one basically eats what we do – though she is very picky. She always eats off plates as she is scared of bowls (dog bowls, ‘people’ bowls, doesn’t matter). My very large older dog usually eats homemade stew. He eats too much to feed him steak. LOL. Of course, I don’t feed them anything they shouldn’t have. I am extremely careful. My dogs are healthy. Adopted a senior dog that was dying from congestive heart failure. That was almost 3 years ago and he is still ticking.
Madam Chow says
My dogs are on a raw diet. Every time I go to the vet, she wants to know what I”m doing because they’re not fat, and they’re healthy. Yes, I let them lick the plate IF there is nothing on there that is bad for them. Something that people should be aware of is that too much fat can cause pancreatitis, which is a medical emergency, so my vet told me to make sure not to give chicken skin, etc. Donna, we just adopted a senior dog in November, and he’s in congestive heart failure, too. His coat and energy have improved dramatically since he’s been eating this way.
Cecily says
Good reminder about fat Madam Chow. Food prepared for people usually has too much sodium for dogs as well. Also, because of Lucy being half pug, she has a greater risk of becoming overweight. Dogs Lucy’s size typically need between 500 and 700 calories a day. Your veterinarian will be able to tell you her ideal weight. My dog doesn’t get to lick the plates (although she would like to). What she gets is homemade dog treats and she really loves them.
Madam Chow says
I get domestic dehydrated bison or duck for very special treats. Their treats the rest of the time . . . veggies! One of their favorite things (I have four dogs) is when I toss frozen green beans on the kitchen floor, or feed them one by one for good behavior. Almost NO calories and very happy dogs!
Mavis Butterfield says
I am now making about 90% of what Lucy eats and everyone always comments about how she’s not a chunky monkey too. 🙂
Madam Chow says
That’s terrific!
Donna Bryan says
That phrase ‘chunky monkey’ made me laugh… though I’m glad Lucy isn’t one.
Darlene says
Well I love that new saying “don’t judge!”. Who cares if your dog licks your plates, the dishwasher will take care of the dig spit 🙂 if people don’t like that you do it, they can bring their own damn plates to dinner! Carry on Ms. Lucy, carry on!
Joy says
Yes they lick the plates! I have an older dishwasher and I find that the plates (and whatever pot or pan I cooked dinner in too!) really need to be clean BEFORE I put them in. Enter Ruth and Henry, always happy to be helpers! It is so funny that you asked this because I always wondered if people would be mortified if they knew I did this!
Ashley says
I couldn’t care either way, and I wouldn’t care if my dogs were better behaved. However, if they even THINK they are getting a bite they start whining, staring, jumping, crowding, etc. All stuff that I can’t stand! Also our friend gives the plates to their (huge) dogs to clean and twice we’ve been eating and a plate has been claimed by a dog while the human is still eating! I eat leftovers and whatever food prep scraps we have go to the chickens!
Ruth Ward says
Sometimes. If there’s lots of meaty sauce, I usually will mix it with their dry dog food.
Chad says
Our dog can’t eat any scraps. Her stomach can’t handle it, and it isn’t pretty. How in the world would she ever survive in the wild?
Debbie says
Yup! The canine “dishwasher” makes the actual dishwasher that much more effective! No stuck on food to deal with. And it’s better for our septic system 🙂
Amy W says
I like to call it prewash
Melissa says
We have a joke about letting the dog like the plates…..the dogs name is coldwater………so the plates are as clean as coldwater will get them……..:)
KAte says
Our dog totally gets to lick plates. Ice cream bowls and the tin foil boat that I make to cook the salmon on the BBQ are her favorites!
Cat’s too! Although one of our cats is totally uninterested in people food, and the other’s favorite is the yogurt cup/bowl.
renay says
HA! Ours, too. She likes fruit, too. She is totally spoiled and we like it that way! Ours was a pound kitty picked up the day after Thanksgiving. Much to be thankful for!
Beth says
You guys are all awesome!!!! Good for you!!! They are part of our families after all….
HollyG says
Kenton loves to get plates, especially if there is leftover broccoli. He keeps the chunks from going down the disposal into the septic system.
Carrie says
Absolutely not! I will scrap food into the dog’s dish, but he is not allowed to eat off of our plates. That totally grosses me out. And I do have a dishwasher.
Mona says
I’m with you Carrie. This totally grosses me out. But to each their own. And if I had friends who had canine dishwashers I would totally be bringing my own plates and silverware.
lynne says
not only do they lick the plates & bowls clean, there is usually a “little” food left on them. made the hilarious mistake last night of giving one dog a “last” bite of ice cream off the spoon, got another “last” bite for the other dog, and licked the drips off myself before I realized what I was doing….oh well, dog germs can’t be THAT bad, right?? 🙂
Ellen in Clackamas says
While I am not opposed to dogs licking plates or bowls I don’t do it as my son’s dog has food issues so I don’t want him getting anxious and whiny and hovering over the plates while I am still eating.
Victoria says
I have always called my dogs my “pre wash” cycle! I also cook the food for my 5 rescue therapy dogs, and it is human quality.
Vicki says
The Chihuahua Brothers do not get to lick the plates – mostly because they spend their time in my little studio apartment at my daughter’s house, and the kitchen is upstairs in the main part of the house. If they came upstairs, they would be the appetizer course for her English mastiff! When I have something downstairs, though, they do get to clean off the remnants. The mastiff has a totally gross mouth and does NOT get to lick plates, even with a dishwasher. I’ve never seen a dog with so much spit in his mouth (or on the floor, the walls, my pants – wherever else he flings it … )!
Ernest says
If she cleans them good enough, put them in the cupboard.
Debbie says
No Mavis! Sorry, I do not let my dog lick my plate. But she has her own special plate that I scrapes goodys onto..
Nancy says
If it is something like gravy, absolutely! They love it.
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
I didn’t used to. For the first four or so years of her life, the only people food she ever got was the lid of the yogurt container. But now she’s 12. And she gets pretty much whatever she wants- ha. She totally still eats her dry food like normal. But yet, she licks plates and gets nibbles. Every dog in my family has been treated the same forever. She loves it and I LOVE to see her happy.
KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile
Cheryl says
I have 3 dogs. Two lick the yogurt lid and the third, gets the container and I rotate who gets the container everyday. The little morons seem to know when I have yogurt too as the licking of the chops starts before I even open the container. It’s funny, one likes boiled eggs, the other LOVES broccoli and the third one doesn’t like anything and yet tries it all…and they all fight over who licks the plate or bowl.
judy egan says
mavis, we have a huskey. on the rare nights we have dessert, the dog seems to know whats comming. he always gets his own dish of whipped cream. watching his reaction when i take the can out of the fridge is absolutely priceless.
Alice Birchfield says
I don’t as a habit, because I don’t want my dogs thinking that plate with food on it is their territory. I have one little dog that is a food stealer already.
Jillbert says
My husband lets the dog lick the plates when I’m not watching. I just can’t. I’m not normally squeamish about germs but, really, my dog licks her butt, I do not want her licking my plates — even if they are going to be sanitized in the dishwasher.
Cecily says
Haha I agree and the butt licking is probably the least disgusting thing mine does! Think “treats” picked out of the kitty litter box. Ewww!