Allowing a dog to lick a person in the face

Question
Dogs licking a person in the face and primarily on the lips.

My children see no problem at all with allowing our family dog to lick them in the face and will not stop our dog from doing that. My argument to that is that you shouldn't even let a human lick you in the face much less a dog. Thier argument and my question is, isn't it a urban rumor that a dogs mouth is cleaner than a humans? I can not see how this could be possible as dogs will eat some pretty nasty things as cat poop seems to be a delicacy to them among other nasty things. And then they ge straight from eating things like that or licking their own private areas to licking my kids in the face. I've never heard of any tranmittable disease from a dog to a human but I would think things like diarrhea could be caused from allowing a dog to do this.
Please let me know if my concerns are correct in allowing a dog to freely lick them in the face. Also to solve whether it is a urban rumor or not please let me know if a dogs mouth is in fact cleaner than a humans.
Thank you for your time to review and answer my question.
Brian

Answer
Hi Brian;
Not an urban legend.
Dogs' mouths are infinitely cleaner than A human's, however, it is not a sterile vessel.
There are some variables. Is the dog healthy, and bot what a dog will eat, but what the dog DOES eat. does the doh have access to a litterbox/
Are commode lids left up, and the commode left unflushed?
Dog feces is not nearly as germ and disease ladden as human feces.
I will give you a 'for instance".
when my first child was born, I taught my German shepherd not to lick the baby's hands or face. she loved to baby, and she was allowed to lick her on her legs, and tummy (after the naval cord was completely healed). But after the baby started walking, she would hold the dog, Lady's, chin in her hands, smack her on the mouth and say "Yaddy. I hue" Translation "Lady, I love you"
I was flabbergasted!
I told my Pediatrician and he said "It is a lot cleaner for the dog to kiss her on the mouth than for you to"
A Human bite is the most dangerous, germ ladden bite there is, (other of course, than a poisonous snake).
I love my dogs, would step in front of a bullet for them, but i DO NOT like to be kissed on the lips by them. Licking my face is fine. My food nor anything else I put in my mouth touches my face. I prefer they get no closer to my mouth then my7 cheeks.
If your dog is healthy, the worst that is going to happen from it licking your children in the mouth, is you are going to stay grossed out.
Dogs will eat disgusting things, but think about it, so do humans. Bird's nest soup, for instance. No way could that go in my mouth. The bird;s nest is not washed. the baby bird spit and --it is what gives it the flavor.Now aht is more disgusting than that?
snails, chittlins (deep fried hog innards) Mountain oysters (Bull's testes) snakes, fried or chocolate covered worms. you name it, people somewhere (supposed to be civilized) will eat it.
It is better to teach the dog not to lick in the face. most people, even avid dog lovers do not appreciate this, and if your children allow it, they are teaching their dog something that other people will not like the dog for. They are not being good parents to their dig.
When my children(and now my grandchildren and great-grandchildren) do something I don't approve of, I tell them why it must be stopped. If they don't stop, then I put my foot down. children are supposed to obey their parents.
Simple, "If you are going to teach the dog to lick you in the mouth, you will not be allowed to play with the dog."
If it is their dog, they are the parent figures and it is their responsibility to teach the dog, just as it is any parent's duty to teach their children.
The dog understands this arrangement. they are pack animals, just as humans are. Yhey have an Alpha and a Beta in the pack, A first in command and a second in command. They obey this social structure for the good of the pack.
They see their human family as their pack. They recognize an alpha and a Beta figure.
Mom and Dad are the alpha and Betas. Children are to be taught to respect this structure. If they don't, they will not be successful in business or any part of their adult life. It is the parent's job to set the rules, and see that they are obeyed.
You don't have to be a Gestapo to do this.
I taught my children, if you feel we are not being fair to you, we can discuss it, but your development is untimately our responsibility, so the final decision has to be ours.
When it came to a bone of contention that I just couldn't deal with (such  as the face licking is for you ) I told them "when you are grownup, and have your own home, if you want to do that, that is your choice, but as long as you live at home, it is our rules."
Mine didn't see why they had to keep their rooms tidy.
You CAN just tell them "I don't like it, I feel it is wrong, and that is the way it is going to be. You WILL NOT do that as long as you live at home"
That isn't being dictatorial, that is simply teaching them to respect authority, and to go by the rules. That melps them be successful in their business life and in their sdult relationships.
In busines, in government, in every walk of life, when there is disagreement, there is someone that has to responsibility to make the final decision.
People cannot go through life doing things their way. They HAVE to learn to obey the rules of society or there would be chaos.
You are the chairman of the board. enforce your corporate rules!
How old are the kid?
Petsmart and Petco stores, the humane society, lots of places have obedience classes, where a trained trainer teaches a group of dog owners to handle their own dogs and train them.
This is one of the best possible things you could get your kids into with their dog. they will learn to train a dog to be a good citizen in the family, and obey the commands of the handler.
It is fun, good for the dog, and a really good learning experience for children.
My dad was a Veterinarian, and he taught me from the age of three years to take care of my pets. I was responsible for their feeding, grooming and teaching. I fed my pets before I ate. I saw to their needs. I taught my children from the time they started walking to do the same.
You would be surprised how responsible children can be, even at such a young age.
It helped when they started to school too. They started school knowing it was their responsibility to do the work and learn. It helped a lot to avoid problems with homework etc.
Gear the amount of responsibility to the age and capabilities of the child, not to what is popular belief to be the capability of children at that age.
Children are smarter than a lot adults think, and capable of much more reason.
This is not going to cause any diseases, not diarrhea or anything else, as long as the dog is healthy, however, the dog can ctch measles, mumps, and a lot of comunicable diseases from humans.\Don't worry about the germs etc, but if you have a problem with this, and it gives you much discomfort, put a stop to it.
Explain to them why it bothers you, and how much it bothers you, and tell them is has to stop or else.
If the kids resist, take away a priveledge whey they allow the dog to lick them in the mouth.Bring up the big gune. they will conform.
My child learned it when she was 1&1/2 years old, so did all my other kids. I love my dogs like they are my own children, but I DON'T want a kiss on the mouth. For that matter, I taught my children to kiss and be kissed on the cheek, simply because I am a germ freak where children are concerned. You get flu, and a lot of other undesirable diseases from kissing on the mouth. I didn't kiss my children on the mouth, because I didn't want to risk putting a germ in their little mouth that would make then sick. I sure didn't want then to get an illness from someone else.
My husband and I risk each other's germs, but we don't pass them on to our kids.LOL
Be in charge dad !