Germs: Your pillow = Your toilet seat

I just read this piece in The Smithsonian. Naturally, I'll never sleep in my bed again, but it made me think of people who don't like dogs or cats on their beds. "They're filthy animals!" Well, read this article and even sleeping without animals on your bed will lead you to leaning in a corner vs. lying in your bed for your next nap.

Toes, exposed.

I, like many of my animal-loving friends, let my dogs sleep on my bed. Not only do they sleep on my bed, they're often under the cover. Or on the pillow. And, it's not unusual for there to be no room for me... They take up all the space: I'm sure it's scientifically proven that dogs will expand to the area given. Like water freezing in a bottle.

Her favorite spot!

When I was a kid, the dogs weren't allowed on beds or any other furniture. Actually, I was lucky to have a dog! My mother was a clean freak who never had pets in her life and you could eat off of her floor. This is a true statement.

Maaaaaa, I don't wanna go to school...

Thankfully, she was tempered by my father who was a huge animal lover and grew up with all sorts of pets, from dogs to goats to horses. As a matter of fact, my parents had horses when they first got married, and my father even competed in shows. (I'm so sorry I wasn't around then - I love horses. They're just big dogs to me, and yeah, they probably would sleep on my bed if I could pull it off!)

But I digress.

As a kid, I would yearn to have my Heidi on the bed with me! Such a wonderful girl, so loving, so loyal, so undeserving of the floor...

ZZzzzzzzzzzz....

But that was how it had to be. Dogs weren't to be on the bed, sofa, chairs, anywhere but On. The. Floor. Which is a good thing, actually; if you have a dominant dog, they should never be perched on anything. However, Heidi was not dominant! She was my pal! My sweet, loving rescue I got at the age of nine! The floor?! Really, mom??

So the question to all of you is: Do your dogs, cats, ferrets, pot bellied pigs, whatever sleep on your bed? Or on that cold, hard floor...?

There's a dog hidden in here somewhere!