# Why doesn't my dog get sick when I do?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 25, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613 "2001-09-25T02:03:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/1 "2001-09-25T02:03:19Z")
I have a cold now. Sheila doesn’t seem affected by it. This has happened before. How come?
---
### Author:  [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/2 "2001-09-25T02:12:44Z")
Basically answered here:
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=84173](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=84173)
The short answer is that the human rhinovirus that causes colds can’t infect dogs because the proteins on the host cells the virus needs to bond to is too disimilar between humans and dogs. Most viral diseases tend to be fairly host specific for this reason (rabies being a notable exception).
Your dog can’t catch a human cold any more than you can contract a parvovirus infection.
---
### Author:  [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/3 "2001-09-25T20:14:04Z")
Good answer, but what about parasites like heartworm? You can get fleas and ticks from your Dog, but can you get the dreaded heartworm? If not, why not?
---
### Author:  [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/4 "2001-09-25T20:17:40Z")
i bet you could if you ate some dog shit. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/5 "2001-09-25T21:41:56Z")
Thanks, **Gaspode.** Thanks, everyone in that other thread. Please don’t eat dog poop.
---
### Author:  [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-dog-get-sick-when-i-do/83613/6 "2001-09-26T04:14:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by JCHeckler \*
> You can get fleas and ticks from your Dog, but can you get the dreaded heartworm? If not, why not?
Unfortunately yes, you can. Fortunately such infections are very, very rare. Heartworm young rely on mimicking the cell surface proteins of canines to escape the hosts defenses and this doesn’t work in humans, so for all intents and purposes a heartworm in a human is rendered sterile. Basically a human is only likely to have one heartworm, and there’s a good chance that will be destroyed before it can settle in the heart.