Take A Break From The Post Election Rhetoric and Enjoy These 30 Fun Facts About Dogs!
DOGS AND HUMANS
1. A dog’s nose is like a human fingerprint and can be used to identify them!
2. In South Carolina, the maximum sentence for beating your dog is longer than the sentence for beating your wife!
3. Dogs only have 1,700 taste buds vs 9,000 in humans.
4. Paul McCartney added an extra high pitched whistle in the song “A Day in the Life” for his Shetland Sheepdog.
5. Lord Byron was so outraged that Cambridge Trinity College wouldn’t let him bring his dog to class, he brought a bear instead.
CHARACTERISTICS
6. The only sweat glands dog have are between their paw pads.
7. A dog’s sense of smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than a human’s!
8. Dogs can see in the dark due to a special membrane in their eyes called the tapetum lucidum.
9. Dogs have wet noses because they lick their noses and absorb scent chemicals so they can smell better.
10. It has been proven that dogs can actually “smell” some types of cancer.
11. Dogs release oxytocin (the love hormone) in their brain when they interact with dogs and humans.
HISTORY
12. Spiked dog collars originated in Ancient Greece where they were designed to protect their dog’s throats from wolf attacks.
13. The earliest fossils of dogs date back to 10,000 B. C.
14. Dogs curl up when they’re sleeping because of the instinct to protect their vital organs when asleep.
15. All dog breeds are descended from a species called the Tormarctus, a hyena like animal that lived over 15 million years ago.
16. The famous mythical guardian of the Underworld in Greek mythology was the three-headed dog Cerberus.
STATISTICS
17. It is estimated that in the United States, 1 million dogs have been named as the primary beneficiary of their owner’s will.
18. The oldest dog on record lived to be 29 years and 5 months old.
19. In America, more than 1 in 3 million families have a dog.
20. In 2002 more people were killed by dogs than sharks in the United States.
DIFFERENT BREEDS
21. Two breeds of dog have black tongues: The Chow Chow and the Sharpei.
22. Greyhounds can run up to 45 miles per hour making them the fastest dogs on earth.
23. The Newfoundland dog breed was bred to help fisherman do their jobs hence their water resistant coats and webbed feet.
24. The Norwegian Lundehund is the only dog breed to have six toes on each foot!
25. Bloodhounds have the ability to trace scents that are over 300 hours old.
26. The Basenji (African Wolf Dog) is the only breed of dog that can NOT bark!
REAL LIFE DOGS
27. With help from the ASPCA, some of Michael Vick’s fighting dogs have now become certified therapy dogs.
28. A Border Collie named Chaser can recognize 1,022 words!
29. Rin Tin Tin was the first big Hollywood dog star after he was rescued during WWI.
30. Abraham Lincoln’s dog, Fido, was also assassinated.
courtesy of www.visualistan.com
