What's dirtier, your dog or your home?

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It’s a dirty job, but someone wanted to do it.

A recent study that compared the filthiness of a pet dog to an actual home might surprise you.

Dogs are cuddly and adorable but they are also creatures that sniff other dogs’ butts, roll around in dirt, and some even like to eat other pooches’ – or their own – poop which might make humans think twice on just how cute they are.

Under a microscope, however, things are even less cute since they are covered in bacteria from head to tail.

To see just how effective professional grooming is at eliminating the dirt and grime and unfriendly organisms in a furry friend’s coat, mouth and paws, luxury mobile dog grooming service Barkbusstudied the bacteria and fungi levels on dogs before and after a clean-up.

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People, it’s not pretty.

Testing showed a dog’s paw has five times the bacteria of a bathroom faucet handle, and a dog’s mouth has four times the bacteria of a smartphone.

So you may want to think twice about letting your dog lick your face.

To make matters even more gross, a dog’s fur is filthier than its mouth and paws combined, containing 34.7 million colony-forming units (CFUs) — a measure of how many living germs were present — before a visit to the groomer.

However, a grooming almost does the trick, eliminating all the bacteria but 10 CFUs from a dog’s fur, while 6.1 million CFUs were reduced to 140 in their mouths, on average.

On the other paw, er, hand, getting all the bits out of dogs’ paws is more challenging.

Canines average about 6,500 CFUs in their paws prior to a groom and post-cleanup, that number didn’t even drop by half, with 3,200 CFUs still remaining.

It’s understandable, given they can’t fly and have constant contact with the ground, so owners just need to keep in mind that those adorably disgusting paws require a little extra attention between grooming sessions.

It should be noted the types of bacteria found on dogs aren’t harmful to humans.

Meanwhile, items around the house were also studied. And people can find solace in knowing that homes are always cleaner.

Humans came out on top with dogs’ germ levels being 14 to 18 times nastier than their best friends’ headsets and kitchen countertops.

So, those items you put on your head and around your face, not to mention where you cook and eat your meals, they may also need a good, regular disinfecting.