You surely know that all people are divided into two warring camps: those who love dogs, and those who love cats. Just kidding! But there is of course some truth in this statement.
We have already written about really interesting facts about cats, but now it’s time to turn to other pets. So, please read the most interesting facts about dogs:
- It seems incredible, but dogs are able to remember about 250 commands, expressed in words or gestures. Their intellectual development is somewhere at the level of a 2-year-old toddler.
- The ear of a pooch is capable of catching such high-frequency oscillations as ultrasound. There are even special whistles, which scare away dogs and other street animals that catch this sound. At the same time, people do not hear anything, and the dogs run away in horror, if you whistle strongly in this whistle. Meanwhile the dog’s hearing is about 10 times more powerful than the human one.
- In ancient China, a small Pekingese used to hide in an emperor’s sleeve. If the bodyguards were not there for some reason, the most faithful pet attacked a malefactor. In the meantime, the ancient Greeks put collars with spikes on the neck of dogs so that wolves could not strangle the pets.
- Everyone knows that dogs always have wet noses. It is interesting that this is not just a misunderstanding, but it is necessary to unmistakably guess the direction of the smell. Sense of smell is probably the most important sense of bowwows, capable of distinguishing more than half a million scents. I must say that some breeds have a fantastic sense of smell. They can distinguish up to billions scents. Moreover, they are able to discern the source of the smell, the distance to it, and also to catch it in a mixture with other flavors.
- Adult dogs have as many as 42 teeth, meanwhile puppies have only 28 teeth. An interesting fact about dogs is that these lovely animals have three eyelids: the upper, lower and lateral (the so-called blinking membrane).
- When pooches lap water, they make the tongue in the form of an inverted spoon. Although, it seems that it is more logical to expect the opposite. In addition, dogs regulate the temperature regime of the body with the help of the tongue. When it’s very hot, they just stick out their tongues, cooling themselves in such an original way.
- In 2013, 339 purebred breeds of dogs were officially recognized. All of them are divided into ten groups: Shepherds; Watch and guard dogs; Terriers; Dachshunds; Laiki, Spitz and other primitive breeds; Hounds and dogs working on the blood trail; Dogs working with a rack (Hunting dogs); Dogs picking up game, importing it and working on water (spaniels and retrievers); Indoor and decorative dogs, companion dogs; Greyhounds. By the way, a very interesting fact about the bloodhound: it is able to take a trace left hundred hours ago and follow it for more than 99 miles (160 kilometer)! Of course, such phenomenal abilities of dogs are extremely widely used in catching criminals, searching for drugs, explosives, pathfinders and rescuers. Dogs of the lundehund breed have 6 fingers on each paw.
- In Latin, the dog is “canis”. So the Canary Islands got the name after canines. Birds canaries, by the way, too. Surely, you know such a breed, as Chihuahua (the smallest dogs in the world). Therefore, they got their breed name after the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where they were first discovered. In addition, like human children, Chihuahua are born with a soft spot – a fontanel – in the upper part of the skull, which hardens with age.
- The most popular breeds in the United States of America are: Labrador retriever, German shepherd, Golden retriever, Bulldog, Beagle, Rottweiler, Yorkshire terrier, Boxer, Poodle and French bulldog. Meanwhile, three dogs survived in the tragedy of the Titanic – Newfoundland, Pomeranian and Pekingese. Of course, they were in the first class.
- The fastest dog in the world is the English greyhound. In 1994, a representative of this breed, named Star Titl, managed to accelerate the speed of 67.32 km per hour (41.831 mph). So far, no one has beaten this record.
Well, friends, now you know ten really interesting facts about canines. We hope that if we miss something important, you will certainly indicate this in the comments.
For those who would like to know more, we are adding this fascinating information:
- Dogs cannot distinguish colors. Then how do dog-wardens know on which traffic signal they have to take their blind owners across the road? The fact is that these intelligent animals are not guided by traffic lights, but by the flow of cars and the movement of people.
And do you know how many times does a heart of an adult dog beat? Practically as a human, that is 60-100 strokes. But the puppies’ heartbeat is more frequent: from 100 to 140 beats. - The hearing of a pooch is about 10 times more accurate than a human.
- Did you know that a person has about 9,000 taste buds? Despite the fact that it is very difficult to determine the taste perception in canines (after all, it is very closely related to the sense of smell), it is believed that our pets have only 1,700 taste receptors. Perhaps that’s why they are not so whimsical in eating as people! Although they can discern sweet, unlike cats, and even some dogs like it.
It is important to know that chocolate is dangerous for dogs, as it contains substances that the dogs’ organism cannot dissolve.
- Hounds do not like when someone huggs them, regarding it as a sign of domination. It turns out that among animals, too, they do not like domination!
- It is interesting that the hounds also hiccup. By the way, the nature of hiccups has not been studied by scientists until now.
- Dogs analyze any object first by movement, then by brightness and, finally, by shape. So in case of aggression from a street dog, demonstrate your gait and other movements as confidently as possible.
- Canines and humans have a 97% common structure of genes.
- Pooches live on average 10-15 years.
- Surprisingly, hounds also laugh in their own way. It looks like some kind of repeated snort. If you record this sound and then replay it your dog, it will start to wag its tail and play.
- It is believed that somewhere around 45% of our favourite pets sleep in the beds of their owners. They are real family members!
