could dogs be transferring the virus?

I can honestly say I have no worries at all about my dog being a transmission source. If it’s safe for young children to go back to school it’s safer to take your dog a walk. Once you’re vaccinated it’s not an issue anyway.

A friend's puppy jumped up and licked my face this morning. (He was told off!) Am I bothered? No, I can't go round living on a volcano worrying about every little thing.

I shall go on stroking any friendly mutts - I wash my hands when I get home anyway. Meeting a friendly mutt really livens up the daily walk - it can get a bit boring.

Rather more likely IMO to catch Covid from the joggers around here, of whom approx 49 out of 50 make not the slightest effort to distance themselves - in their all-consuming self obsession they carry on in a dead straight line and expect everyone else to get out of their way. Often they’ve come up behind me before I’ve heard, let alone seen them, puffing and panting a whisker from my face.

As we are to be returning to a more normal life in the next few weeks as things open up again it does sound concerning that people even worry when out on a walk in the fresh air
I want to return to all the normal things like hotels eating out and shopping for pleasure (which will be better when we get rid of the masks)
Are people going to be stuck at home terrified We have been vaccinated

I’m not doing anymore than I already do and have done right from the start, I certainly won’t be washing my dog or my cats for that matter, or throwing my coat straight into the washing machine when come in, I’m not living my life in constant fear, wear my mask, wash my hands countless times, keep my distance from people end off

Those women sound like me when I’m out walking I’m afraid. I still don’t like having people walk past me or, even worse run or cycle past me. And give people lots of distance when walking the dog because it’s always me that gets out of the way.

I’m pretty sure the risk of catching Covid from my dogs fur is unlikely, even though I’ve seen people pet her over the garden gate.
I’ve had the first vaccination in January, so I feel reasonably secure now, although I still feel nervous in shops or supermarkets, so very rarely go in them.
Talking about thinking Covid is catching from unlikely sources. I walk around a small wood behind my house every day and I sometimes see two women walking along the path, wearing masks. ? they scuttle past looking terrified, as though Covid is going to jump out from behind a tree or something and I just think it’s ridiculous.

Really Nanna58 maybe we should euthanize all the people who won't wear masks or refuse the vaccine while we are at it.

I think people need to get a sense of proportion, otherwise they’ll never ever adapt to life ‘outside’ And I think Sago was just pointing out how far things could go if these fears aren’t kept in check.

Sago

I’ll have the dog euthanised just to make sure.

We have recently had two much loved dogs put to sleep Sago very thoughtless comment

My distance, not Y !

We don’t have a dog and I keep. Y distance from dog walkers and their animals.

You need a certain amount of " nasties " in your system to enable your immunity to kick into action or you'll suffer all sorts of things that you won't be able to shake off.
It's the two-legged species you have to be wary of not those with 4 legs.

Sago

I’ll have the dog euthanised just to make sure.

Very thoughtless remark.

Here's the article I referred to earlier:

Only a handful of studies have looked for viable virus outside the lab. Tal Brosh-Nissimov, who heads the infectious-diseases unit at the Assuta Ashdod University Hospital in Israel, and his colleagues swabbed personal items and furniture in hospital isolation units and rooms at a quarantine hotel. Half of the samples from two hospitals and more than one-third of samples from the quarantine hotel were positive for viral RNA. But none of the viral material was actually able to infect cells, the researchers reported7

Indeed, researchers have struggled to isolate viable virus from any environmental samples, not just fomites. In the only study8 that has succeeded, researchers grew virus particles from hospital air samples collected at least 2 metres from a person with COVID-19.

With a note of caution:

Nevertheless, scientists warn against drawing absolute conclusions. “Just because viability can’t be shown, it doesn’t mean that there wasn’t contagious virus there at some point,” says epidemiologist Ben Cowling at the University of Hong Kong.

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_deeplink_PID100053419&utm_content=deeplink

Take what you want from it...

Exactly Hetty! Good idea to still meet outdoors even when allowed to meet indoors. The few cases I know of personally all caught the virus from family visits.

We are at more risk of catching it indoors - only because other people may be exhaling the virus.

I really wouldn't worry about dogs, instead I'd worry about having any indoor visitors - even when we're 'allowed' to. This summer, we'll meet outdoors or in our gardens, to be on the safe side.

Last spring I read an article about this which basically said that dogs can pick up the virus on their coats. It advised not to interact with other people's dogs and not to let other people interact with yours.
Simple.

I’ll have the dog euthanised just to make sure.

The other dogs would have to be in contact with Covid too and with infections dropping I would say it is extremely unlikely that your dogs would be carrying the virus. Your argument that their temperature is higher relates to body temperature not their fur. You should always wash your hands after handling a dog anyway especially before eating. When I took the dog to the vets in January they came out, fetched her at a distance with gloves on but warned me they couldn’t guarantee no touch so if anyone was vulnerable not to touch the dog for an hour. That was at the height of lockdown and they were playing safe.

MaisieD is right the major risk is airborne. However I do wash my hands after handling post and packaging and when I get in and take my coat off, just in case. It’s easy to become paranoid. The Exeter Professor told us a year ago to be careful of handling newspapers.

What about cats then, they won’t take kindly to be washed!

Quite agree MaizieD sensible precautions without going over the top.
It would be a great shame if people were put off stroking and handling their pets which is such a comfort to many of us.

Calendargirl

^Do I clean my coat every time I come in not likely^

You’d be surprised how many GN’ers are probably still doing this, stripping off the minute they come in, putting all their clothes in the wash, then showering and washing their hair.

Really not enough time for all that faffing lol

The virus is rarely spread by touching infected surfaces. It is airborne and is predominately spread through breathing in infected droplets or aerosols. All the handwashing and sanitising is laudable and undoubtably hygenic, but the obsessive sanitising of every surface in sight is a step too far. It's most unlikely that enough of the virus could exist on a surface to cause infection.
I have a link to an article about this somewhere on my laptop. I'll post it later.

Just keep wearing a mask and don't walk behind anyone (i.e in the path of their aerosols) especially if they're coughing.

Do I clean my coat every time I come in not likely

You’d be surprised how many GN’ers are probably still doing this, stripping off the minute they come in, putting all their clothes in the wash, then showering and washing their hair.