I found this over on the Itchmo blog and there are many facts that I didn’t know. How about you?
- It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is akin to our vision at dusk.
- Dogs DO have better low-light vision than humans because of a special light-reflecting layer behind their retinas
- A German Shepherd guide dog led her blind companion the entire 2100 mile Applachian Trail
- If never spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their puppies could product over 66,000 dogs in 6 years!
- Dogs’ only sweat glands are between their paw pads
- Like human babies, Chihuahuas are born with a soft spot in their skull which closes with age
- The breed Lundehune has 6 toes and can close its ears
- Teddy Roosevelt’s dog, Pete, ripped a French ambassador’s pants off at the White House
- President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles named Him and Her
- Franklin Roosevelt spent $15,000 for a destroyer to pick up his Scottie in the Aleutian Islands
- In Roman times, mastiffs donned light armor and were sent after mounted knights
- The Russians trained dogs during WWII to run suicide missions with mines strapped to their backs
- A dog’s mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of pressure per square inch
- … with some dogs exerting up to 450 pounds per squre inch.
- A one year old dog is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human
- The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world
- France has the 2nd highest
- The average city dog lives 3 years longer than a country dog
- 87% of dog owners say their dog curls up beside them or at their feet while they watch T.V.
- Dogs can be trained to detect epileptic seizures
- 15 people die in the U.S. every year from dog bites
- In 2002 alone, more people in the U.S. were killed by dogs than by sharks in the past 100 years
- Gidget is the name of the Taco Bell dog
- Newfoundlands are great swimmers because of their webbed feet
- Basset Hounds cannot swim
- Greyhounds are the fastest dogs on earth, with speeds of up to 45 miles per hour
- Bingo is the name of the dog on the side of the Cracker Jack box
- The bible mentions dogs 14 times
- Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic – a Newfoundland, a Pomeranian, and a Pekingese
- The Labrador Retriever is the #1 favorite breed in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
- Obesity is the #1 health problem among dogs
- An estimated 1,000,000 dogs in the U.S. have been named as the primary beneficiaries in their owner’s will
- An American Animal Hospital Assoc. poll found that 33% of dog owners admit to talking to their dogs on the phone and leaving answering machine messages for them while away
- Dog’s nose prints are as unique as a human’s finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them
- At the end of the Beatles’ song “A Day in the Life”, a high-pitched dog whistle was recorded by Paul McCartney for his sheepdog
- 70% of people sign their pet’s name on greeting and holiday cards
- 58% put pets in family and holiday portraits
- There are only 350 Cisky Terriers in the world – perhaps the rarest breed
- The phrase “raining cats and dogs” originated in 17th century England when it is believed that many cats and dogs drowned during heavy periods of rain.
- Dogs have no sense of “time”
- Humans have kept dogs as pets for over 12,000 years
- The largest breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound
- The world’s smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua
- The St. Bernard is the heaviest
- Only dogs and humans have prostates
- But dogs do not have an appendix
- Every dog on earth likely descended from a species knows as the Tomarctus – a creature that roamed the earth over 15 million years ago
- The oldest known breed is likely the Saluki – originally trained by Egyptians to help them track game.
- In 1957, Laika became the first living being in space via an earth satellite
- … while JFK’s terrir, Charlie, father 4 puppies with Laika’s daughter
- An African wolf dog known as the basenji is the only dog in the world that cannot bark
- There are 703 breeds of purebred dogs
- Dachshunds were originally bred for fighting badgers
- The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be (1) the border collie, (2) the poodle, and (3) the golden retriever
- … while the dumbest dog is believed to be the Afghan hound
- A dog’s smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than that of a human’s
- … which they need because their eyesight is not as keen as a human’s.
- Dogs judge objects first by their movement, then by their brightness, and lastly by their shape
- Chocolate contains a substance known as theobromine (similar to caffeine) which can kill dogs or at the very least make them violently ill
- George Washington had thirty six dogs – all foxhounds – with one named Sweetlips
- All dogs are identical in anatomy – 321 bones and 42 permanent teeth
- Smaller breeds mature faster than larger breeds
- Female dogs are only ready to mate – “in heat” – twice a year for a total of roughly 20 days
- Puppies sleep ninety percent of the day for their first few weeks
- Rin Tin Tin was the first Hollywood dog star
- … and he really signed his movie contracts – all 22 of them – with a pawprint
- The Wizard of Oz’s Toto was played by a female Cairn Terrier named Terry
- Up until the late 1800’s, Collies were known as Scottish Sheepdogs
- Dogs have two times as many muscles to move their ears as people
- The longer a dog’s nose, the more effective it’s internal cooling system
- An elderly woman was saved by her 12 pound Yorkshire Terrier who fought off an 80 pound Akita and survived with only 9 stitches
- U.S. Customs dogs “Rocky” and “Barco” were so good at patrolling the border that Mexican drug lords put a $300,000 bounty on their heads
- Dogs are all direct descendants of wolves
- Wolves and dogs can mate to produce fertal offspring
- Female wolves have been known to travel great distances to regurgitate full meals for their hungry pups
- Cerberus was the tri-headed dog that guarded the underworld in Greek mythology
- Female dogs bear their young for 60 days before they’re born
- Dogs’ sense of hearing is more than ten times more acute than a human’s
- Humans can detect sounds at 20,000 times per second, while dogs can sense frequencies of 30,000 times per second.
- The earliest dog fossil dates back to nearly 10,000 B.C.
- Bloodhounds are prized their ability to single out and identify a number of scents simultaneously
- Dalmatian puppies are born completely white.
- The Ancient Chinese carried Pekingese puppies in the sleeves of their robes
- Boxers are so named because of their manner of playing with their front paws
- All breeds of dog have been found to attack livestock – from 3 month old puppies, all the way up to thirteen year old poodles
- A dog’s heart beats up to 120 times per minute, or 50% faster than the average human heartbeat of 80 times per minute
- The oldest dog on record – a Queensland “Heeler” named Bluey – was 29 years, 5 months old
- Davy Crockett had a dog named Sport
- Dogs were first domesticated by cavemen
- Dogs live 15 years on average
- Many foot disorders inn dogs are simply an issue of long toenails
- More than 5,000,000 puppies are born in the U.S. every year
- More than 1 in 3 American families own a dog
- Average body temperature for a dog is 101.2 degrees
- The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts both offer merit badges in dog care
- Dogs are natural pack animals
- They are naturally submissive to any creature with higher pack status – human or canine
- Dogs instinctively require the pack leader’s approval
- Dogs with little human contact in the first three months typically don’t make good pets
- The Chihuahua was named after the state in Mexico where they were discovered
- After birth, puppies’ eyes do not fully open until they’re about 12 days old
- Their vision is not fully developed until after the 1st month