Dogs have been called “Man’s Best Friend” for hundreds of years. In the United States and all over the world, dogs are the most popular pet to have. More than 1 in 3 American families own a dog. Not only do we love our dogs as pets, but we love dogs for the remarkable things that they can help us with such as the police force, military, with PTSD victims, in therapy sessions and with the disabled. Studies have shown that people who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.Forget an “apple” a day to keep the Dr. away….adopt a dog!

Did You Know………..

• The domestic dog has been one of the most popular working and companion animals throughout human history.
• A dog’s nose has about 4 times as many scent cells as a cat’s and 14 times more than a human’s. While humans have 5 million smell-detecting cells, dogs have more than 220 million. They can smell about 1,000 times better than humans. That’s why dogs are often used to track down illegal drugs and missing persons. They can sniff out their dinner from any room in the house. Dogs are capable of differentiating odors in concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can. The part of the brain that interprets smell is also four times larger in dogs than in humans.
• Dog have superior hearing than humans, capable of hearing sounds at four times the distance. Dogs’ sense of hearing is more than ten times more acute than a human’s. This can be one reason why they don’t like rain because the sound is amplified and hurts their very sensitive ears.
• Dogs perform many useful tasks for humans including hunting, farm work and security as well as assisting those with disabilities such as the blind.
• With patience and understanding you can teach any old dog new tricks, depending on what you are trying to teach, or un-teach the dog, which is usually more difficult. Dogs can learn at any age, and like humans, it’s just old habits that are hard to break!
• It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is similar to our vision at dusk. Dogs see in color, but not the same way that we do. Veterinary ophthalmologists have found that dogs are similar to people with red/green color blindness, meaning they can see bluish and greenish shades but not reddish ones. To a dog, a bright orange ball on a grassy lawn appears as a light greenish ball in greenish grass.
• According to a recent survey, the most popular name for a dog is Max. Other popular names include Molly, Sam, Zach, and Maggie.
• An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their owner’s will.
• Contrary to popular belief, dogs do not sweat by salivating. They sweat through the pads of their feet. The only sweat glands a dog has are between the paw pads.
• Every known dog, except the chow, has a pink tongue – a chow’s tongue is black.
• Dogs can alert their owners of an epileptic seizure up to an hour before it occurs.
• Walt Disney’s family dog was named Lady. She was a poodle.
• The dog was one of the first animals domesticated by humans.
• The heaviest dog ever weighed 319 pounds.
• The oldest dog ever died at age 29. The longest living dog, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was an Australian Cattle Dog, named Bluey, who lived to be 29.
• An adult dog has 42 teeth.
• Dogs can donate blood to other dogs.
• Over 50% of all pet owners would rather be stranded on a desert island with their pet, not another person.
• A dog’s heart beats between 70 and 120 times a minute, compared with a human heart which beats 70 to 80 times a minute.
• A dog’s normal body temperature is 100.5 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
• A female carries her puppies approximatly 60 days before the puppies are born.
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the smallest dog on record was a Yorkshire Terrier in Great Britain who, at the age of 2, weighed just 4 ounces.
• Chocolate contains a substance known as theobromine (similar to caffeine) which can kill dogs or at the very least make them violently ill.
• Dogs were the first animals domesticated by people.
• A greyhound can run as fast as 45 miles an hour.
• Spaying/neutering your dog before the age of 6 months can help prevent cancer in your dog.
• Puppies acquire a full mouth of permanent teeth between four and seven months old.
• Eighty percent of dog owners buy their dog a present for holidays and birthdays. More than half of them sign letters and cards from themselves and their pets.
• The dog name “Fido” is from Latin and means “fidelity.”
• Most pet owners (94 percent) say their pet makes them smile more than once a day.
• Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible.
• Seventy percent of people sign their pet’s name on greeting cards and 58 percent include their pets in family and holiday portraits, according to a survey done by the American Animal Hospital Association.
• A dog’s whiskers are touch-sensitive hairs called vibrissae. They are found on the muzzle, above the eyes and below the jaws, and can actually sense tiny changes in airflow.