Dog kissed and hugged by stranger not wearing mask

[crazyforlatin]

Bunch of guys were in the park, unmasked, not social distancing, but we were relatively far from them until one left his group and approached us. Anyway our dog ran over to him he hugged and kissed her; our dog licked him. 

We just gave her a bath this morning. And she hates them.

 What should I do? Wipe her down with Lysol wipes? We’ve never tried washing her face in the tub.

[Terabith]

Do you have anyone in your family who is super high risk? I think, in general, this is the pretty low risk.  I'd encourage her to spend time in the sun, but I probably wouldn't worry about it.  

[crazyforlatin]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

Do you have anyone in your family who is super high risk? I think, in general, this is the pretty low risk.  I'd encourage her to spend time in the sun, but I probably wouldn't worry about it.  

My parents are in their 70s and with us. Also it’s about 9 pm in California so no sun. This happened about an hour ago.

[happi duck]

I would not do lysol.  I'd do a soapy cloth follow by a not soapy cloth just for peace of mind.

Edited July 5, 2020 by happi duck

[JustEm]

I personally wouldn't worry about it.  It seems pretty low risk.  At best I'd leave the dog outside in the sun for a bit and maybe wash her face with soapy water.  But the face washing is likely only going to happen if no one needs anything from me the second we get home.  After that first minute of being home if it didn't get started it would be forgotten

[Pen]

If she can sun that’s good.  If where you are is dark, Surface wipe her - not Lysol...  something safer.

Plain unscented water with a bit of soap should be enough to disrupt the virus’s surface if any cv  on her. 

or some H2O2 on a paper towel 

don’t get H202 or soap near her eyes  !!!

she should be fine

and not much risk to you , though I’d keep her out of human beds tonight

 

 

[JustEm]

Well with no sun.  Just soap up the dogs face, neck, and paws for good measure.  Then rinse.  Using the tub seems like too much work.  Just used some wash clothes or towels

[crazyforlatin]

Ok I didn’t think of using a soapy cloth. I can try it now. I left her in the garage to figure out what to do. I can’t carry her into the tub without DH and he’s not home. 

[Terabith]

Yeah, if sun isn't an option, I'd do a spot clean.  But even if you didn't, I think it's pretty darn low risk.  There's not a huge fomite transmission for covid that we've been able to tell.

[Selkie]

Was it someone that you know? Or a random stranger who hugged and kissed your dog??

[crazyforlatin]

Just now, Selkie said:

Was it someone that you know? Or a random stranger who hugged and kissed your dog??

Random stranger. I’m so mad at myself for not stopping it. 

[JustEm]

Just now, crazyforlatin said:

Random stranger. I’m so mad at myself for not stopping it. 

 

what is wrong with people?  My 3 year old knows to ask before approaching a dog. And he even knows that right now we aren't petting any dogs except our dogs

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

what is wrong with people?  My 3 year old knows to ask before approaching a dog. And he even knows that right now we aren't petting any dogs except our dogs

 

Normally I'd agree, but it reads to me like the human only came partly towards them and then the dog ran the rest of the way over to say hi. I often have unleashed dogs run up to be friendly with me and my dogs when I'm out on a walk, and sometimes it is hard to manage. I'm not sure what happened here, but I'd suggest to the OP that their dog should stay on a leash when they're around other dogs or humans, no matter how far away they seem to be, if OP's dog is likely to try to be friendly.

With that said, even with high risk family members in your household this doesn't seem to be a very likely vector for disease. You washed your dog, that's probably more than enough.

[JustEm]

6 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

 

Normally I'd agree, but it reads to me like the human only came partly towards them and then the dog ran the rest of the way over to say hi. I often have unleashed dogs run up to be friendly with me and my dogs when I'm out on a walk, and sometimes it is hard to manage. I'm not sure what happened here, but I'd suggest to the OP that their dog should stay on a leash when they're around other dogs or humans, no matter how far away they seem to be, if OP's dog is likely to try to be friendly.

With that said, even with high risk family members in your household this doesn't seem to be a very likely vector for disease. You washed your dog, that's probably more than enough.

 

You may be right. I didn't consider the dog being unleashed since we never have our dog unleashed unless in our yard.  I was picturing a leashed dog lying in the grass who sprung up to greet the person approaching but could only get as far as their leash would allow.  i pictured this because I have had it happen on SO many occasions with my dogs.  But she did say ran too, so that implies the dog had the ability to run free I suppose.  

[ktgrok]

if it helps, I've heard from a doctor...might have been Fauci but can't swear to it, that the virus is "sticky" and when it hits a porous surface it tends to stick and stay there. So on dog fur it sticks and is very unlikely to then contaminate anything else, and will dry out and die pretty quickly. 

Can you have everyone at home just wash hands after petting the dog for the next 24 hours?

[catz]

I really don’t think dogs should be off leash in public spaces during COVID times.  I’ve had multiple dogs run up to me since March when I’ve been out walking.  I like dogs but I don’t want to be touching a stranger’s animal right now and that should go both ways.   
 

I would just wash hands after handing dog and have dog go spend as much outside time as possible for 24 hours.  

[crazyforlatin]

She’s always on leash because she doesn’t have much recall and will probably go home with any friendly face. The leash I used this time was particularly long, so we won’t be using that anymore.

 The man purposely opened up his arms to get her to run to him. When I do that she rarely runs to me.

Now that Dh is home I’m going to have him carry her to the tub to take another bath. I read somewhere not to wash a dog’s face? Or not to get water in the ears? Can anyone speak to this?

 

[Pen]

1 minute ago, crazyforlatin said:

She’s always on leash because she doesn’t have much recall and will probably go home with any friendly face. The leash I used this time was particularly long, so we won’t be using that anymore.

 The man purposely opened up his arms to get her to run to him. When I do that she rarely runs to me.

Now that Dh is home I’m going to have him carry her to the tub to take another bath. I read somewhere not to wash a dog’s face? Or not to get water in the ears? Can anyone speak to this?

 

 

You absolutely don’t want to get soap in dogs eyes.  My son used to shower together with our dog and got soap in dogs eye.  The dog ended up with a terribly painful corneal abrasion.  

I have very carefully washed dog’s face, not in bath, after skunk sprayed dog in face and did okay with that.

You don’t want water (or any non approved substance) in ear canal due to ear infection risks.

 

[Liz CA]

I would not give it a second thought.

However, if it makes you feel better to wash her, I would be careful not to get water in ears or eyes. Not Lysol, but warm water. I always heard that hydrogen peroxide is highly irritating to dogs' intestinal tract. 

[Pen]

Just now, Pen said:

 

You absolutely don’t want to get soap in dogs eyes.  My son used to shower together with our dog and got soap in dogs eye.  The dog ended up with a terribly painful corneal abrasion.  

I have very carefully washed dog’s face, not in bath, after skunk sprayed dog in face and did okay with that.

Not with soap though!  It was a H2O2 based get rid of skunk smell formula and I kept a hand over dog eyes to protect them when I got close. 

 

Just now, Pen said:

You don’t want water (or any non approved substance) in ear canal due to ear infection risks.

 

 

If you have reason to think virus could have gotten in dog ears (maybe they are stand up ears and right where stranger kissed dog) you could possibly use a little canine ear cleaner liquid  (or possibly apple cider vinegar - look up Safety for dog ear cleaning ) and dog will shake it out and it should dry okay 

[crazyforlatin]

The internet says diluted ACV can be used to clean a dog’s ears. I mean even if this didn’t happen I should have been cleaning her ears. 
 

 

[Pen]

Adding: when my son was sick with what probably was not CV19, but had to be dealt with as if it might have been, our dog was an issue due to proximity with son and then going back and forth as a walking fomite. 

I asked about that at time, and while it was thought that having dog not go back and forth (not really feasible at time) would be best, that it was still low risk.

Vet said she was much more concerned about getting sick directly from a sick human, and didn’t think virus on dog fur was a significant likely to lead to contagion problem.

(I was still concerned because dog is very snuggly, so more than short chance encounter.  He was probably being coughed on and certainly breathed on for hours. I did ask for hand cleaning and mask wearing to protect dog, but doubt compliance was excellent. 

 

If I were you, with my dog in described situation, I would probably go out and have dog in sun today — maybe with a toy or chew to keep dog interested for back side sunning, and then maybe a tummy rub for belly side to sun.  And spot wipe/wash areas of concern.  

However, type of fur might matter.  Our dog has very short fur so a surface wipe would probably do much more than for a dog with long curly fur. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Pen

[Pen]

4 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

The internet says diluted ACV can be used to clean a dog’s ears. I mean even if this didn’t happen I should have been cleaning her ears. 
 

 

 

Yeah.  That’s what I thought but not a vet so don’t want to give accidentally wrong info.

Most of our dogs in my life have had naturally clean ears, and Ive left their ears alone. Two have had ear troubles and need fairly frequent cleaning. 

If the ears are fine I don’t want to disturb the fine or change the ph. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Pen

[crazyforlatin]

1 minute ago, Pen said:

Adding: when my son was sick with what probably was not CV19, but had to be dealt with as if it might have been, our dog was an issue due to proximity with son and then going back and forth as a walking fomite. 

I asked about that at time, and while it was thought that having dog not go back and forth (not really feasible at time) would be best, that it was still low risk.

Vet said she was much more concerned about getting sick directly from a sick human, and didn’t think virus on dog fur was a significant likely problem.

 

If I were you, with my dog in described situation, I would probably go out and have dog in sun today — maybe with a toy or chew to keep dog interested for back side sunning, and then maybe a tummy rub for belly side to sun.  And spot wipe/wash areas of concern.  

However, type of fur might matter.  Our dog has very short fur so a surface wipe would probably do much more than for a dog with long curly fur. 

Half husky half lab, and I don’t think her fur is considered short. 

[Pen]

She’s lovely!

where was she kissed?

and what position was hug?

 

[Pawz4me]

35 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

She’s always on leash because she doesn’t have much recall and will probably go home with any friendly face. The leash I used this time was particularly long, so we won’t be using that anymore.

 The man purposely opened up his arms to get her to run to him. When I do that she rarely runs to me.

Now that Dh is home I’m going to have him carry her to the tub to take another bath. I read somewhere not to wash a dog’s face? Or not to get water in the ears? Can anyone speak to this?

 

Washing a dog's face is fine! That's often the dirtiest part. I use baby shampoo, but there are tear free dog shampoos available. Because (obviously) you don't want to irritate their eyes.

For the ears you just need to avoid spraying water into the canals. You can put a cotton ball(s) in the ears to soak up any water that does get in there, if the dog will tolerate it.

[crazyforlatin]

2 minutes ago, Pen said:

She’s lovely!

where was she kissed?

and what position was hug?

 

Around the face probably all over the face, for sure he kissed her on the mouth area, and he was bent down so the hug was on her level mostly.

[alisoncooks]

I mean, eww. 

I'll admit to letting my dog kiss me but I've never intentionally (I have been caught off guard by enthusiastic pups) let or encouraged a strange dog lick my face. Eww. 

[Pen]

If she wasn’t kissed or breathed on right in ears area, I would probably do a surface wipe with diluted Hydrogen Peroxide on paper towels, staying a distance from eyes.  

If feeling like nose and closer to eyes were needed, I’d probably use some ideally sterile saline (saltwater) like for contact lens cleaning use when getting close to eyes and on nose, and then wipe off with plain water after a few minutes.

Her fur looks dense and smooth so surface probably got most of any breathing. 

If she was wearing the harness, I would wash and sun dry it. 

[Pen]

13 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

Around the face probably all over the face, for sure he kissed her on the mouth area, and he was bent down so the hug was on her level mostly.

 

Strange.

then I’d personally use Hydrogen peroxide at lowest dilution that is supposed to inactivate SARS2 .

) 

as a wipe with paper towels (or cloth okay)  around her face, very carefully avoiding the eyes. But otherwise all over face, exposed part of ears etc.  

Adding

then I’d sun and fresh air her  (also sun will decompose the Hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen

Edited July 5, 2020 by Pen

[ktgrok]

dog hair is porous, and it has been almost 24 hours. I really wouldn't worry. But, a wash cloth with baby shampoo can be used. 

That said, yeah...huskies hate baths. Sorry you are in this position!

[Pen]

Btw no dog I’ve had with natural erect ears has ever had ear troubles,  that has seemed to happen with pendant floppy ears that probably don’t air and drain well. Though current dog it seems an allergy problem .