This could be a stretch but may save some water.
When we finish eating we let the dog lick the plates before they go in the dishwasher. She is also perfect for unwanted left overs. Food seldom goes in the garbage.
We had a guest for dinner and she freaked over this method.
Your opinion, not that it matters?
No worries as far as I am concerned. Modern dishwashers do an excellent job of cleaning dishes. Our mouths are probably dirtier, in terms of germs we could get, than a dogs. One could always use the sanitize mode that many dishwashers now have, to be extra sure, I suppose.
Bravo. A super-high percentage of food gets wasted in the U.S. That drives me nuts. Don’t people know how to make soup? 
They’re your dishes. Next time wait until your guest leaves.
And we compost all vegetable waste. The soldier fly larva do a great job.
The pre-wash cycle. At almost 100lbs now he isn’t allowed to do this anymore. But he can reach in just fine.
I would approve, however pets licking what we humans eat off freaks out some people. Suggest you hand rinse the plates when you have guests over.
I knew someone who’s family had offered a “needy” family to come over for a Sunday meal. Then it got turned into an unwanted, uninvited, weekly tradition where they would just kinda show up around dinner time. Being the age of obsessive politeness the inviting family never said "no, just go away. Then one day after this had happened for more than a few weeks my friend’s mom put the dishes down for the dogs while everyone was having their after dinner coffee. When the dogs were done she picked up the dishes and put them back in the cupboard . . . the people never come back for another uninvited dinner.
None of my dogs have ever had people food. Cardinal no no in our house.
All of our friends know the rule as well
All dogs were/are trained to go to their bed when we sit down for dinner.
No begging, no counter surfing, no problems.
my dog Giacomo licks over easy eggs off the plate so good I just put them back in the cabinet when he’s done. Very tiring for him.
only thing that goes in the dishwasher are steak knives. I can’t let him lick 
them.
You’d better wash the dog saliva thoroughly with very hot water and detergent, because dog saliva clings tenaciously to whatever was licked.
Not as tough to eliminate the residue as slug slime is, but it’s still pretty bad. And if not really cleaned off, it has an odor. Not an appealing one.
Ours also were not allowed to have people food, unless we deliberately offered a bit as a special treat. Which was not a rare occurrence, but no way did we tolerate begging or table/counter surfing.
We knew people who’d been inattentive or lenient with dogs binging on rich human foods. Pancreatitis resulted. Yes, it CAN happen after just one big pigout on fatty foods. One of these dogs died from it after one bout.
I doubt licking a dish clean would do it, though. The bigger problem would be behavioral.
none of my three ever had dog food. She cooks meals for them daily. Ground turkey, sweet potato , chicken cutlets, beef sometimes, grilled chicken and other combinations with vegetables .Vet is totally amazed by them. Two are 18+ one is 12 pounds 5 people to hold her to clip her hair on her face. She doesn’t want groomed anymore. Stands on her hind legs when food is coming like a circus dog. Vet can’t believe her muscle tone. Other one is 9 lb bouncing after the 4 year old when he runs by.
Personally I think dog food is loaded with crap. Last big dog was to have 6 months left cancer in his nose. She packed him full of calories home food he went two years more till 15 I think.
We’ve only had one who didn’t make 14. They have all been fed Purina. Honey’s food is Pro Plan Essentials.
All of our dogs have had plenty of exercise and none have been overweight and all have looked forward to dish washing.
I’ve had some 15,16,17, one month shy of 20 and one two months shy of 20.
Saturday mornings, my wife cooks herself a bowl of egg and grits and the dog watches her eat drooling the whole time. She knows she gets to lick the bowl when my wife is done. That’s her weekly special treat, and she loves it.
Add
Some bacon bits and I’d be sitting there drooling.
I am on a septic system, therefore nothing goes down the drain. I let my girls (dogs) lick the plates all the time as long as there was NO HINT of onions in any fashion in the meal. Onions are very bad for our dogs, even if it’s just the juice of an onion in a meal. After the girls are done licking the plates, the plates go immediately into the sink with hot water and detergent for a short soak.
Our Aussies have always licked the plates because the Bosch dishwater sterilizes them just like it does baby bottles. I do not do it in front of houseguests
Although we never allow dogs on furniture (why make work for myself?) I do rationalize giving table scraps because this is how dogs evolved following humans around. He knows he is supposed to lay down until we finish though.
I only did that in front of one unexpected guest who was not a dog person.
We draw the line at dogs on furniture or the bed except Honey sleeps in my chair when I’m not home. I have 2 friends that sleep with their dogs,both labs.
