# Is there \_any\_medical benefit to having a dog lick a minor cut? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165 "2013-05-12T17:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/1 "2013-05-12T17:46:19Z")
See subject. My bandaid fell off in the street near home, and a small knife cut opened up enough to for the cut to leak blood, staining my clothes and making passers by give me funny looks. It crossed my mind to give Buddy a lick, which at least would’ve temporarily given the blood a better place to leak and a nice salty moment. I didn’t, but I thought in retrospect perhaps it might’ve helped clot it, however minutely. I believe the anti-bacterial idea is simply wrong. ETA: Happy Mother’s Day, to all the Moms. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/2 "2013-05-12T17:55:03Z")
I don’t recommend it, lest the dog develop a taste for human blood. You don’t want to be responsible for the development of a race of genetically-superior dogpires, do you?? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/3 "2013-05-12T19:10:00Z")
It’ll help prevent iron and salt deficiency. For your dog, at least. It probably won’t help you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/4 "2013-05-12T19:12:16Z")
Right. You do know your dog wipes his ass by licking it, right? True, it’s usually more or less harmless, but it’s not useful. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/5 "2013-05-12T19:30:07Z")
Let’s see, how should put this delicately… Exactly where was this bleeding wound on your body? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/6 "2013-05-12T21:53:23Z")
I’ve read that dog saliva does have coagulants in it, which might help stop the bleeding. Or not, you know, because you’re not a dog. However, I think that the risk of infection outweighs the possible benefits. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/7 "2013-05-12T23:40:12Z")
If you want to lick your wounds, lick them yourself. 😉 I don’t think there will be any benefit, and particularly with a dog (or cat), I’d be wary of someone with an immunosuppressed system getting a wound licked by them. Bacteria that is not such a big deal if you have a strong immune system can be fatal if you don’t, and some of those are common in those critters’ mouths. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/8 "2013-05-13T02:10:23Z")
" It crossed my mind to give Buddy a lick…" Please don’t lick your dog, at least in public. I elementary school, my daughter’s project was “Who has more germs in their mouth- a kid or a dog?” The Petri dishes only sat on the stereo for 2 days instead of 3 because they stank so badly. Both dishes grew fabulous amounts of germs, but the dog Petri dish was a definite winner- it was covered with nasty, stinky, multi-colored gross stuff. I don’t know if a dog as any anticoagulants in its saliva (I doubt it) but by not letting Buddy lick your wound, I think you saved yourself from an ugly e.coli infection. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/9 "2013-05-13T02:34:34Z")
As we always say in our household when a pet starts getting licky: “Remember, he’s a self-cleanser!” Also, dogs eat out of litter boxes whenever they can. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/10 "2013-05-13T02:42:37Z")
[Cecil speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/598/is-it-healthy-literally-to-lick-your-wounds) I can see a benefit to cleaning a wound to remove baddies that might be there and could cause infections later, so a light abrasion might perform that task. But using something like running water or a washcloth would be far better if available. Adding saliva of any kind to a wound doesn’t sound like a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-_any_medical-benefit-to-having-a-dog-lick-a-minor-cut/658165/11 "2013-05-13T04:06:23Z")
And those of us who have had positive results are all crazy… Must have been a clean dog, unlike most hospitals where you get the highest incident of MRSA or Staph in this country IIRC. YMMV