When you’re feeling under the weather, there’s no doubt a snuggle from your four-legged friend will likely make you feel better but have you ever worried that your pooch may be the one getting you sick? Or that maybe your dog will get your cold? Well, now you can breathe a little easier, at least if your flu symptoms will allow it, because experts say it’s perfectly safe to cuddle your pet when you’re sick.

“The pet is a comfort, not a hazard,” Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said in a university news release. “And you can’t get a cold or the flu from your dog or cat. It’s also unlikely that anyone who pets the dog or cat after you will catch your cold or flu virus.”

In fact you’re probably more at risk if you hug your mom because the only way to transfer flu germs is person-to-person through close personal contact, or from germs picked up from services like doorknobs or keyboards.

Source: CBS News