❓ A real question for which I don’t know the answer. Why is it ok (nothing bad happens) for my dog, or any animal for that matter, to eat food/junk/dung off the floor, the street, the ground, but humans should wash their hands, not eat what fell on the floor etc?
@jacob I think in most cases nothing bad would happen for us humans as well if we would do this. We just get it trained not to do it when we are little.
@jacob I actually asked this question several years ago to the Quirks and Quarks podcast from cbc.ca/quirks . [Spent too long looking for the file with no luck…] The scientist who answered said something like dogs are much more tolerant of germs etc than we are because they live with a greater load and variety.
@Miraz oh, thank you. I also got another reply that because dogs are scavengers, their stomach acid are stronger and kill more bacteria. Not sure if it’s true or the only reason.
@jacob Later on I'll continue to see if I can find either the sound file or the link. It was a few years ago now…
@jacob Wow, I thought to look in my sent emails. I asked the question in January 2006! I think they answered it not long after. Gives me a place to start my search though.