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29 Amazing Canine Facts

1. The tallest dogs are the Great Dane and Irish Wolfhound.
2. The smallest dogs are the Chihuahua, Yorkshire Terrier and Toy Poodle.
3. A dog's hearing is very acute. They can register sounds of 35,000 vibrations a second (compared to our 20,000).
4. Dogs have a wonderful sense of smell. A Fox Terrier has 147 million 'smelling cells' and a German Shepherd has 220 million compared to a humans 5  million.
5. The oldest reliable age recorded for a dog is 29 years and 5 months - an Australian cattle dog called Bluey. The average for a dog is 15 years.
6. All dogs, regardless of breed, are direct descendents of wolves.
7. Two dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic... a Pekingese and a Pomeranian.
8. Dalmation puppies are pure white when they are born and develop their spots as they grow older.
9. The poodles 'haircut' was originaly to improve its swimming ability as a retreiver. The pompoms were left to keep their joints, lung and kidneys warm.
10. Dogs take between 10-30 breaths per minute.   
11. Dogs have twice as many muscles for moving their ears as humans do.
12. Dogs have a visual range of 250 degrees compared to the human range of 180 degrees.
13. The word puppy derives from the French word poupee which means doll.
14. Puppies are born blind, deaf and toothless.
15. A puppy begins to see when it is between two to three weeks old...at three weeks it will develop a sense of smell.
16. At four to eight weeks of age a puppy's mouth will get 28 baby teeth. At four to seven months of age the baby teeth will fall out and are replaced with 42 permanent teeth.
17. The phrase 'raining cats and dogs' oringinated in 17th century England when many cats and dogs drowned during heavy downpours of rain and when rivers burst their banks. Their bodies would be seen floating in the rain torrents that raced through the streets giving the apperance that it had rained 'cats and dogs'
18. Dogs have three eyelids - an upper and lower eyelid and a third one hidden bwteen them. It helps protect their eyes form dirt and dust.
19. The Greyhound is the fastest dog and can run at 45mph for a short time.                 
20. The Basenji dog from the Congo is a breed that does not bark; instead it makes a yodel type sound.
21. Dogs have been wearing collars ever since Egyptian times.
22. The Doberman breed was created in the 1860's by Louis Dobermann, a German tax collector who created the dog to protect him while he worked.
23. The most intelligent dog breeds are said to be the Border Collie, Poodle and Golden Retreiver.
24. Dogs can see in colour but not as vivid a colour scheme as we use. It is much like our vision at twilight.
25. Dogs have fewer taste buds that humans. We have approximately 9,000, whereas dogs have 1,700.
26. Contrary to popular belief the Canary Islands were not named after the Canary bird but rather after the large dogs that lived on the island.
27. Dogs turn in circles before lying down our of instinct. In the wild, this action would turn long grass into a bed.
28. Dogs don't have an appendix.
29. When your dog is frightened it puts its tail between its legs. Doing so covers the scent glands in the anal area, which carry the personal scent of the dog and identify it to other dogs. This behaviour is the canine equivalent of a human being hiding their face with their hands.

 

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