9 facts about dogs
Image credit: Pixabay
Our best friends are full of surprises, from super-powered noses that can smell illness to dogs that use the subway to get around. Here are nine facts about our canine counterparts
1. Dogs are as smart as toddlers
Studies have indicated that dogs are intelligent enough to understand up to 250 words and gestures, as well as numbers up to five and simple mathematical calculations. The average dog is as intelligent as a two-year-old child.
It’s a myth that dogs are colour blind, they can only see colours very faintly – as well as humans can during dusk
2. There’s a Beatles track just for dogs
The Beatles song A Day in the Life contains an extra high-pitched whistle on the track that’s only audible to dogs. The whistle was recorded onto the track by Sir Paul McCartney as a tribute to and for the enjoyment of his pet Shetland sheepdog.
A dog’s nose is as unique as a human fingerprint, with no two being the same.
3. Hugs aren’t for them
While a lot of us enjoy hugging our dogs, canines don’t enjoy getting a cuddle as much as humans and other primates. Canines interpret putting a limb over another animal as a sign of dominance, something dogs won’t always accept.
Dogs turn in circles before lying down in the wild as this movement flattens long grass into a bed.
4. Dogs have powerful noses
The canine sense of smell is incredibly powerful compared to humans, though does vary among breeds. While humans have around five million smelling cells, alsatians are believed to have around 220 million. Sniffing out almost anything is never much of a problem.
The oldest dog on record was an Australian cattle dog called Bluey who lived for 29 years
5. Dogs can smell illnesses
If you have a certain strain of cancer, diabetes or epilepsy, your dog might already know, as studies have shown that they can be trained to sniff out these illnesses. Scientists believe this could be due to dogs sniffing out abnormal proteins.
Some stray dogs in Moscow have learned to use the city’s subway system in order to travel to busier areas in search of food scraps.
6. Dogs have three eyelids
The eye of a dog consists of three lids: an upper, lower and a third lid, called a nictitating membrane or haw. This third lid is designed to keep the eye both moist and protected from foreign bodies.
All dog breeds, despite their variations, are the direct descendants of wolves and as a result any can mate together easily
7. A weaker sense of taste
Dogs depend more on their strong sense of smell, rather than their sense of taste, to differentiate between types of food. In fact, humans have almost five times the amount of taste buds that dogs do, so it’s no wonder that dog food isn’t very appealing to us.
Dogs drink water by turning the underside of their tongue into a cup in order to scoop up liquid.
8. Dogs are some of the most diverse mammals on the planet
From the Bassett hound to the golden jackal, dogs show off an incredible diversity in body shape and size. A study showed that the difference between some breeds’ skulls is as profound as the difference between some mammal species. It showed that a collie skull is as different from a Pekingese as a cat skull is from a walrus, for instance.
9. Dogs have a weasel heritage
The evolution of modern-day dogs can be traced back around 40 million years to the weasel-like Miacis, an animal genus that lived in trees and dens. The miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, believed to be a direct relation of the genus Canis, that includes wolves and dogs.
This article originally appeared in World of Animals issue 2, written by Martyn Landi
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