Dogs are known to be man’s best friend. We all know that for centuries but there are certain facts that aren’t that commonly known about our canine buddies. Today we will explore those amazing facts and you will start seeing your dog in a whole new way.
Strong sense of smell:
Their sense of smell is at least 40 times better than ours. The area with the brain cells that detect smell are basically 40 times larger and therefore they can smell almost anything even if it’s far away. Dogs have 300 million receptors in their nose as opposed to humans who have 5 million.
This is one of the reasons why dogs are used in security forces to sniff people, drugs or anything suspicious. Dogs all around the world are awarded with medals for saving lives of the people due to this God gifted sniffing power.
Some dogs are even trained to sniff out medical conditions. For example they can sniff out changes in blood sugar of diabetic patients and alert them.
Can breathe and smell at the same time:
Dogs use their sniff a lot. They use it for finding food, detecting any danger and finding friends. They are designed in such a way that they can smell at the same time when air is passing in and out of their lungs.
Dogs don’t sweat:
Dogs do sweat but not like us. We humans produce watery liquid while our doggie produces some oily substance. We cannot see it but your dog can always know its present there due to their great sense of smell. The only place where dogs sweat like us is on their paws.
Left or right pawed:
Like we humans are left or right handed, similarly our dogs can also be left or right pawed. To check which paw your fur baby prefers, you can give your dog a toy to play with and see which paw they use to interact with the toy first.
Your dog’s nose print is unique:
Much like our finger print our doggie friend has a unique nose print.
Yawning is contagious:
Well that’s now true for your dog too. According to research the sound of a yawn from somebody the doggie knows can trigger their yawn too.
The Australian Shepherd is American:
As opposed to what the name suggest the Australian shepherd is not from Australia. They are an American breed of dogs.
Dogs can change your blood pressure:
Now that sounds interesting. Your blood pressure goes down if you are petting a dog. Your fur baby has the same effect too.
Dogs have dichromatic vision:
Your pup can only discern blue and yellow color. The colorful rainbow that you see in the sky does not appear the same to your four legged friend.
All puppies are deaf:
Dogs have a stronger hearing ability than humans. They can also hear more frequencies than we can but the strange fact is that they are born deaf. Hearing is one of the last senses to develop. They usually start hearing around three weeks.
Dalmatians are born white:
Have you ever seen a Dalmatian puppy? Well they are born white and not spotted. The spots develop with time.
Greyhounds can beat Cheetahs in a race:
Cheetahs run faster than greyhounds. They can maintain 70 mph of speed for only thirty seconds as opposed to the greyhounds who can maintain 35 mph for 7 miles. So basically the cheetah starts of first but is soon over taken by a greyhound.
Ear movement is controlled by 18 muscles:
You might have noticed that your pup moves their ears a lot. Dogs have about 18 muscles which control their ears and move them in different directions to hear sounds. Ears can also tell us how our doggie is feeling. It is a great indicator of their body language.
Their intelligence is like a 2 year old:
Since dogs can learn and respond to 100 words and gestures. This makes their intelligence level equal to a 2 year old. But when it comes to training they are easier to train than a 2 year old toddler.
A dog’s nose absorbs scent chemicals:
You will not believe this one. Your doggie can actually absorb scent chemicals in their nose and then lick their nose to identify and better understand what the smell is.
Basenji dogs don’t bark:
Basenji dogs don’t bark, they are famous for their yodel, scream or whining.
30% of Dalmatians are deaf in one ear:
And about 5 % are deaf in both. The Dalmatians with the larger spots are less likely to be deaf.
Chow Chows and Shar-Peis have black tongues:
These are the only two breeds of dogs that have complete black tongues. The cause of this happening is also unknown yet.
Dogs have three eyelids:
Did you know that your four legged friend had only three eyelids? The third eyelid is called the ‘haw’ or nictitating membrane and is used to protect and lubricate the eyes.
Dogs dream like us:
Have you ever noticed that your pup also dreams like you? Research suggests that they imagine themselves doing similar activities like playing and walking.
Tail wagging is a language:
You always thought that if your pup wags their tail they are happy. Well Discovery.com says that’s not quite true. If your doggie wags their tail to the right, then they are happy but if they wag it to the left then they are frightened. Wagging low means insecurity while rapid tail wagging along with tense muscles means aggression.
Dogs yawn to calm themselves:
Whenever we see our doggie yawning we assume that they are sleepy like us but sometimes they are only anxious or stressed out. Dogs can use repetitive yawning for calming themselves too.
Dogs are direct descendants of wolves:
We have seen many dogs around us that look like wolves and the truth is that they directly descended from the wolf family.
Are you fascinated by these facts? Well we hope some of these facts might help you explain different behaviors of your furry friend.