Protecting your dog from germs they might pick up on therapy visits.

[Susan, Zeke. Lily & Jasper]

After our TDI exam we had a small lecture covering a lot of subjects conserning therapy visits but the subject that I had never considered is that our dogs could be at risk of becoming sick as a result of our visits. A lot of care is taken in most facilities to prevent the spread of germs from patient to patient or from animal to patient but it is our responsibility to protect our dogs from germs that can be spread to them. Our examiner told us what she does with her dogs and even her husband who travels out of the country often does to protect himself. She uses a solution of 1 part Listerine to 4 parts water in a spray bottle for the dogs paws as soon as she leaves the facility. This can also be sprayed on their coat if there has been a lot of handling, and sprayed on a clean tissue to wipe the dogs head and face between patients. This would be of benefit to both. Her husband uses this solution to rinse when brushing his teeth to avoid questionable water, to spray his bed and any other upholstered furniture while traveling. As a coinsidense, my mom sent me an e-mail this week about using Listerine in a spray bottle as a mosquito repellent, on your clothes, body, around a deck, picnic table, or anywhere these little buggars are bothering you. I have not done any research on this subject but wanted to pass it on as a possible way to protect our dogs and ourselves.

[39x8w26r5r8w5]

Thanks so much for this most valuable message about spreading of germs. My counselor just tol me that I needed to wipe Tuba's paws and and coat before getting into the car with a puppy wife, but the Listerine sounds the best, since I live in AZ. Appreciate you sharing

[Adina P]

I don't like doing hospital visits for this reason, but when we did do them I'd have the patient clean their hands with hand sanitizer before and after petting Rosco...and I too would use the sanitizer on my own hands. I also would not visit any patient that had an obvious potentially communicable disease. Since I work at the only hospital I've ever taken Rosco, I could review the patient list (which I would do daily anyway for my job) and pick out patients to visit that seemed "safest."

Recently on another doodle forum there was discussion that a therapy group (TDI or Delta? I forget!) in Honolulu now requires dogs to wear shoes in hospitals to prevent the dog from tracking germs on their paws.

But I'm such a germ freak that I just prefer to keep our visits to public places like libraries or Juvenile Detention Center---granted anyone can carry germs, but it's less of a threat--although when those little kids with runny noses start rubbing their noses and essentially wiping their hands on Rosco...I do have a little bit of a hard time!

[Lorraine Bromley]

I used the foaming hand sanitizer at the door on myself and on Neely's paws