Thanks to our friends at Tough Pups Gazette, Luv My Pet.com wants to share some very interesting facts you may not have known…

#1 - A one year old dog is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human.

#2 - The average “city dog” lives 3 years longer than “country dogs”.

#3 - 87% of dog owners say their dog curls up beside them or at their feet while they watch T.V. (in an independent survey)

#4 - Dogs can be trained to detect epileptic seizures.

#5 - Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic - a Newfoundland, a Pomeranian, and a Pekingese.

#6 - An estimated 1,000,000 dogs in the U.S. have been named as the primary beneficiaries in their owner’s will.

#7 - An American Animal Hospital Assoc. poll found that 33% of dog owners admit to talking to their dogs on the phone and leaving answering machine messages for them while away.

#8 - 70% of people sign their pet’s name on greeting and holiday cards and 58% put pets in family and holiday portraits.

#9 - A dog’s smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than that of a human’s.

#10 - Chocolate contains a substance known as theobromine (similar to caffeine) which can kill dogs or at the very least make them violently ill.

#11 - The longer a dog’s nose, the more effective it’s internal cooling system.

#12 - U.S. Customs dogs “Rocky” and “Barco” were so good at patrolling the border that Mexican drug lords put a $300,000 bounty on their heads.

#13 - A dog’s heart beats up to 120 times per minute, or 50% faster than the average human heartbeat of 80 times per minute.

#14 - Dogs live 15 years on average.

#15 - An African wolf dog known as the basenji is the only dog in the world that cannot bark.

#16 - Only dogs and humans have prostates.

#17 - Bingo is the name of the dog on the side of the Cracker Jack box.

#18 - Humans have kept dogs as pets for over 12,000 years.

#19 - A dog’s mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of pressure per square inch, with some as high as 450.

#20 - It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is akin to our vision at dusk.

#21 - Basset Hounds cannot swim.

#22 - Obesity is the #1 health problem among dogs.

#23 - Dogs have two times as many muscles to move their ears as people.

#24 - Wolves and dogs can mate to produce fertile offspring.

#25 - Dogs have actually been heard barking the words “LuvMyPet.com” “LuvMyPet.com” in dog parks across the world? (Ok, Not Really, but if you love your dog, you’ll love the fact that you can protect your pet for affordable prices, at convenient weekend times, at Luv My Pet vaccination clinics nationwide.)

25 Responses to “25 Crazy Factoids You Never Knew About Dogs”

  1. Basset Hounds can swim! My family raised Bassets when I was young, and they use to love going for a swim in the pond. They look really funny while doing it.

    June 4th, 2008 | 5:59 am
  2. June 4th, 2008 | 6:01 am
  3. I find it amazing that over 1 million pet owners have made their dog the primary beneficiary in their will. I love my dog too, but that is just a little crazy.

    June 4th, 2008 | 2:49 pm
  4. Dina

    I’m in the 33% that talk to their dogs on the phone when they are away.
    I’m a bit puzzled as to how a Newfoundland survived the titanic - did it take the space of human on the life raft? The smaller dogs could have been held, but a Newfoundland?
    #9 - I think you mean their sense of smell. Though our last dog really smelled about 100,000 times worse than any human I know.

    June 5th, 2008 | 5:48 pm
  5. Jeff

    Maybe the Newfoundland was a puppy?

    I’m puzzled about city dogs living longer than country dogs. I would think the opposite is true since dogs in the country would be likely to get more exercise.

    June 5th, 2008 | 9:06 pm
  6. Tori

    of course city dogs live longer than country dogs. City dogs are small, country dogs are big, and small dogs have longer lifespans than big dogs.

    June 5th, 2008 | 10:48 pm
  7. bef

    Tori
    I’d imagine that it has more to do with the fact that city dogs are more likely to be exclusively pets than country dogs, who can be pets and working dogs. Farm dogs are exposed to more dangers such as farm equipment, coyotes (a common cause of pet death in the country), or possum and raccoon, not to mention livestock. Plus, rural folks tend to have a far more practical approach to pet health care than their urbanite compatriots.

    June 6th, 2008 | 2:08 am
  8. Great!

    idurmutt.com
    jakeandtycho.com

    June 6th, 2008 | 10:14 pm
  9. Dennis

    The Titanic live boats were half full.

    Number 4, dogs can sense this with out training and allot of over things.

    June 7th, 2008 | 5:22 am
  10. virginia

    my baset hound hates water. we had a flood & he would just stand there & not do anything even do his business. he is so housebroken we had hard time to get him to do his business indoors

    June 8th, 2008 | 7:52 pm
  11. jack

    bef,

    No, you are wrong. Tori is right.

    June 9th, 2008 | 12:11 am
  12. L

    I really doubt some of these ’statistics’. Please name your source(s). I know a lot of dog owners and none of them leave phone messages while away. I’ve spent three days trying to teach my dog to access voicemail so I can leave her messages when I’m away. She’s much smarter than most dogs but for some reason can’t remember the ‘5′ s in the access number and codes. I really doubt there’s that many dogs that can access voicemail when mine can’t.

    June 9th, 2008 | 4:21 am
  13. QueenVelveeta

    Bassett Hounds can swim, though they don’t like to. My Bassetts hate our backyard swimming pool, but love to get in the ponds on our ranch. Go figure. Anyhoo, because of their heavy bone structure, they don’t swim very well, but they can dog paddle. Hope this helps.

    June 9th, 2008 | 4:00 pm
  14. Lucy

    Dogs and humans are not the only animals to have prostate glands. Most male animals do.

    June 10th, 2008 | 8:14 am
  15. Nice Blog :)

    June 10th, 2008 | 10:20 am
  16. Pie

    Dina,

    the Newfoundland probably made it off the titanic because that’s what they do. :) The breed was mostly used by the fishermen/ whalers in the north Atlantic to save crew members that got swept overboard. I’ve owned 3 of them and they absolutely LOVE the water, colder the better, and are
    extremely strong swimmers. I would say it probably stayed alongside one of the life boats.

    June 10th, 2008 | 12:39 pm
  17. ron

    very nice info,I had an American cocker who I tried to talk to over the phone for years.She would here my voice and smell the phone, she could not smell me so she would walk away. I think she didn’t believe it was me because she couldn’t smell or see me. One other point,I wonder if city dogs have longer lives because they are better watched, in the country a lot of dogs are turned out and have the run of things,eat a lot of stuff they shouldn’t,run on the roads and are killed by cars.

    June 10th, 2008 | 8:10 pm
  18. amanda

    my dog is an 18yo beagle/terrier. but she’s losing her bladder

    June 10th, 2008 | 10:30 pm
  19. jc

    Love this info!

    I often called my Maltese during the day, when we had an ANSWERING MACHINE! Now that we have VOICEMAIL…obviously I can no longer be heard by my dog.

    My Maltese is a pampered city PET. My German Shepherds & Labrador Retrievers were working DOGS, and exposed to dangers in the country, that my Maltese hasn’t a clue about!

    Since this pet is so pampered I have no choice but to leave him in my will. You just can’t run down to the grocery store and buy him food. I’ve tried! He’ll never get that hungry! This little pooch is seriously high maintenance…and thoroughly worth it!

    Thanks again for an interesting read.

    June 11th, 2008 | 4:18 pm
  20. matto

    Re: non-barking BASENJI; The Australian dingo doesnt bark either, just howls or whimpers

    June 12th, 2008 | 12:52 pm
  21. Matto: The basenji are ancestors of the Dingo. (Genetics has proven this)

    June 13th, 2008 | 1:45 am
  22. A

    L: are you a moron? It’s not voicemail, it’s answering machine…you know the old fashion kind that you can hear the message as it plays. Maybe your dog is smarter than you!

    June 13th, 2008 | 2:28 am
  23. Corgi

    A:

    Your sense of humor is lacking.

    June 13th, 2008 | 10:23 pm
  24. Interesting, I would love to share on my site, linking back to luvmypet.com

    Affordable vaccinations is a very needed service.

    June 28th, 2008 | 11:17 am
  25. mariev

    Dogs and Humans are NOT the only animals with prostates…

    cats, horses, cattle, small ruminants, mice all do; in fact, I’m having trouble thinking of a mammal that doesn’t have one.

    August 16th, 2008 | 8:17 am

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