Have you ever thought about the germs your dog can catch by walking into stores, especially pet stores?
Think about, Not all dogs are Germ Free. Not all fur-rents take care of their babies possibly as well as you or I.
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Ma! Git Away!
You walk in with your dog and walk a similar path as the previous dog. Now your dog has walked through the same remnants left on the floor. Will your dog now catch Girardia? This I don’t know. However, there is a risk there, right?
Another scenario, people walking through stores with dirty shoes. Shoes that have been worn in a chicken house or in an auto shop and have debris, possible hazardous traces on them.
You dog walks over the same path that these people have. What are the chances of your dog stepping in something, licking his paws, and getting very sick?
What about at your vet’s office? There are plenty of sick animals that come and go out of there. I know for a fact, mine doesn’t clean the floors as soon as an animal comes or goes. What is the risk of infection there?
Last month we went to a pet store and to my surprise, there was regular rock salt right on the doorway! It had snowed and there was a bit of ice down. Thankfully, I don’t take Titan shopping anymore with me or I would really have flipped out.
I’ve heard horror stories of what rock salt/deicer can do to an animals pads. Mind you, this is a pet store that should have easy access to some SafePaws deicer or another “Safe for Pets” deicer.
I was so angry, I sent them an email when I got home!
Am I being a lil paranoid or overprotective? Or are my concerns justified?
What are your thoughts?
About Bren
Hi Brenda,
Woooow… Really love that photo of both of you
He’s back in action. Seems like Titan took it 
BTW nice woofies on your sidebar under affiliates too.
Mmm… It might be overprotective, but isn’t it how mothers react?
Anyway it’s always our responsibility to be careful and watchful as we don’t know whether others do care at least, no?
Cheers…
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Hi Mayura! It’s an older pic but I like it. Was sooo cute when he paw’d me! Germs are something I’m very conscious about especially when it can endanger my boy. Hope you’re ready for the weekend!
That photo is super cute he looks like he is saying exactly that like get out of my picture. I worry about germs with my kids but I know that they will never be free from germs so I do the best I can but know that I can degerm them later.
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Imagine taking your children grocery shipping barefooted. Ewwww… This is my thought… Gross, germs!
I don’t think you’re being paranoid. I wash my dogs feet all the time and give them full baths monthly or whenever they get dirty. I once had a puppy die of complications from giardia.
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Lucky you that they don’t mind you doing it. Titan has this “thing” about his paws. The nail incident has pushed him overboard with it. I’ll just keep him out of stores and pray he doesn’t get anything anywhere else. When Titan came home from the rescue, we battled with Giardia on two separate accounts. What a pain in the butt washing everything everyday! Ugh, I’m so glad we finally got through it. Thanks for sharing Camille!
Hi Bren; First of all, I just LOVE that photo!
You have some legitimate concerns, but, the the risks are probably not that high. Did you know there’s a vaccine available for Giardia? Might be an option for you, if it’s weighing on your mind. Good practice to wash a dog’s paws, especially in winter. Hopefully, Titan will come around. Guess he wouldn’t go for booties either then? I can’t believe a pet shop would use rock salt! SHAME ON THEM!! 
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Thank you! Oh I’m not worried about Girardia now. Was using it as an example. We bought booties and have tried them, tried them again, and again. He’s just not having it. I guess some are like that. And yes, regular rock salt! We stock up on SafePaws in my house. I’m always spreading it out my back door, onto the deck, and down the steps so silly boy doesn’t slip and hurt himself.
Hello Brenda nice post very helpful info.
There is some many things we have to watch out for in order to keep our pups safe allowing then to walk every is certainly big concern.
When I first got our house we had grass in the yard but every time it would rain I had to whip off my pups feet, Well I got tired of doing that so I decided to remove all the grass and build a deck which took up the whole yard, not to mention Max had very bad allegies to grass.
Thanks so much for a very interesting post.
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Wow! That’s awesome what you did for Max, Rob. I true furdaddy! I think it’s one of those things…. Would you let your child walk barefooted into a grocery store? Probably not, so why let your beloved furbaby walk into a store without booties on?
Thanks for sharing!
That’s true Brenda my pups are so spoiled they look forward each and every night for me to tuck them in specially Max he’s a big baby.
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haha I’m the same way Rob, just in case you haven’t picked up on that via my blog.
My furbaby is my son and loves me unconditionally. He deserves to be treated and cared for like a pampered little prince imo. 
So true sometimes I can swear I hear Max saying I love you daddy
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I’m a pretty big germ-o-phobe myself, so I don’t think you’re overreacting at all! You’re just being a good dog mama! I just read a stat that said something like 60% of the pathogens in our homes are brought in by our dogs. It’s a legitimate concern, but using booties or wiping off their feet when they come in probably goes a long way.
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Hey Maggie and thank you! I can definitely see this happening with tracking of germs. You know, even us humans can carry cooties on our shoes, bring it inside and possible endanger our furbabies. I’d almost love to put one of those foot trays in front of my door so he walks through the water every time
I don’t think you’re being paranoid. Giardia is a big problem here in my area. Mostly, dogs get it from contaminated water puddles that you might find at an apartment complex or somewhere else along those lines. I love parasitology for some weird reason. If your dog has a healthy immune system, I think the chances from some of the things you mention are relatively low. Puppies, of course are different. Definitely something to think about though!
At the vet clinic, they try to minimize spread of disease as much as possible. Infectious dogs, or ones that might be, aren’t allowed to touch the floor when possible. If a dog with kennel cough went into “room 4″ that morning, no dogs were allowed to be seen in “room 4″ for the rest of the day or however long the designated time period was. We weren’t allowed to see birds in one particular room for over a year because of an infectious disease that possibly contaminated that room.
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My TItan came home from the rescue with his girardia. Good thing I had a vet exam arranged within the first couple weeks. I had no clue about it but we battled it once, then didn’t quite get rid of it until the second batch of med. Shew!
Thanks for explaining how your clinic works. I’ve seen a few sickly dogs on the floors in the waiting room at my vet. Kinda creeps me out cause I don’t want my boy catching their cooties. It’s good to know that most vets do take precautions thought.
Thanks so much Ann! I always appreciate your comments
Well, yes, germs are everywhere. Outside AND INSIDE! Did you know that a human body is only 10% actual human cells? The rest are germs.
Here is what I think. If you’re a healthy (not immunocompromised dog), germs in small doses are good for you! Train the immune system to deal with them. Keep up the immunity.
Remember the clean hygiene hypothesis?
Mild exposure from the environment (again, unless you’re an immunocompromised dog) works just as a vaccine would.
For example: for Jasmine, we titer for dap to avoid necessary vaccinations. Our vet was quite skeptical at first. But now, the titers again show she has immunity. He said, “well, either the vaccines really last longer, or she keeps getting exposed from the environment.” The result, however, is the same. Immunity.
So I am not overly concerned with germs in small doses. They might keep the immune system busy and from turning in on its own body.
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Hey Jana@ Right! Ewww… I hate cooties!
I’ve always heard those that live in a spotless home get sick more than those in a “comfortably” lived in home because those in the “lived in” home build up immunities to bacteria and such. I guess the same works for dogs?
I had a cat that had FIV and ever since then, diseases really give me the heebies. Thank you for sharing though, puts my mind a little at ease, but not enough to allow my boy in stores.
PS; that was supposed to be unnecessary vaccinations. oops
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