Who doesn’t love dogs? Well, maybe cat lovers, but even they cannot resist a dog’s adorable expression when they can’t find the ball that you have “thrown” in the opposite direction. These animals are truly a man’s best friend, but there are a lot of qualities about dogs that many people don’t know and are quite confused about. Here are 12 fascinating facts about dogs that will blow your mind.
12 Fascinating facts about dogs
1. Their sense of smell is 40 times better than human’s
You must have seen your dog run towards you from a mile away almost as if they saw the future, especially if you have some tasty meat tucked away in one of your grocery bags. One of the amazing facts about dogs is that they have 50 times more nerves responsible for sensing the smell of objects than we do.
To top it off, the part of their brain that is responsible for processing signals related to scent is proportionally 40 times larger than that of a human.
2. Dogs aren’t colorblind
This is probably the most common myth among dog owners and other people. They presume that the dog can only see everything in grayscale. Interestingly, dogs can actually perceive some colors and not the whole spectrum. Humans can detect the whole color spectrum with the help of their eyes.
Dogs, on the other hand, can only perceive some of these colors which result in their vision being mostly gray, blue and yellow. Moreover, the colors don’t appear as vivid through their eyes as they do through ours. This is because the number of cones (part of our eyes responsible for detecting color) is far fewer in them when compared to humans.
3. Dogs sweat through their feet
Ever hugged a dog right after a tiring run and wondered why you didn’t feel his / her sweat on you? This is because they have sweat glands present only in their feet. Hence, you will see a dog panting more often than a human to cool itself off.
4. They cover their poo to mark their territory
I am sure you must have seen a dog throw dirt on its poo after they are done reliving themselves. At this time, you probably thought how nice they were for cleaning after themselves.
However, they are not doing this because they are big on hygiene. Remember we said that dogs sweat through their feet? One of the less known facts about dogs is that by flicking the dirt after they are done, they are actually trying to mark the nearby area with their scent.
5. Dogs are quite jealous
If you thought that your ex-partner was jealous, think again. Research shows that dogs can feel the emotion of jealousy.
This is especially true when they see their owner adoring some other dog or someone else entirely. It’s for this reason that they resort to attention seeking tactics like destroying your couch. So, next time when your dog interrupts your family time, don’t be too surprised. All they need is some attention to make them feel like a ‘good boy’ again!
6. Tail wagging is not always a sign of joy
Another common myth circulating about dogs is that whenever they are wagging their tail, it means they are happy and want to play. While this may be true, it depends on which position they are wagging their tails in.
In most instances, the height of the tail signifies the mood of the dog. If the tail is high up, it is a dominant sign asking you to back off. A low tail, on the other hand, signifies that they are submissive. Even the breadth of their tail wag signifies something. Psychology Today has some interesting thoughts on the subject.
7. Whiskers can act as a scale
Admit it, each one of us has wondered why dogs or cats have whiskers.
While different animals use their whiskers for different reasons, dogs tend to use it to help their vision and detect nearby objects. They can use these whiskers to pick up on tiny vibrations in the air as well.
But when it comes to fitting through a small gap, they see if their whiskers can fit through it first. A general rule of thumb for them is that if the whiskers can fit through the hole, then so can they!
8. Dogs can detect medical conditions
There are many unbelievable facts about dogs. One of them is that they can detect their owner’s medical conditions in time for a prompt response from the medical team.
Most of these aren’t because of sheer coincidence. Dogs have an excellent sense of sound and smell. As they spend a lot of time with their owners, they can detect when the owner’s heartbeat is off or when something just doesn’t smell right. To alert others around them, they start behaving abnormally and throw tantrums.
9. Dogs have night vision
A dog with night vision goggles would take the internet by storm. However, that is not what we mean when we say they have night vision. Owing to the large number of rods in their eyes, dogs can see quite clearly in the dark. Another advantage they have is called tapetum lucidum. This is a part of the eye that reflects light back into their eyes giving them another chance to see more. It’s also the reason that their eyes glow in the dark.
10. They have a unique nose print
One human can be differentiated from one another using their fingerprints which are unique to every individual being. Similarly, every dog has their own unique nose print which we can use to differentiate one dog from the other.
11. Dogs were gods
Don’t just focus on the spelling. As incredible as these facts about dogs may sound, they are all true. In ancient Egypt, dogs were treated as some of the most royal creatures.
When anyone’s pet dog died, they mourned the dog for days by sporting and eyebrow-less face and heads smeared with mud. Some dogs were also god-like entities in the ancient Egyptian culture.
12. A pair of dogs equals thousands of puppies
One of the amazing facts about dogs has to do with their breeding potential. Dogs reach their maturity much faster than humans do and they can easily have 6 or more puppies at once. With a pregnancy period of only 60 days, a female dog and her pups could create around 66,000 puppies in 6 years. That is why dogs are usually neutered when kept as pets.
Fascinating facts about dogs – Conclusion
It is clear why dogs are amazing creatures and why we love them so much. However, these were just a few reasons people find their dogs fascinating. If we tried listing them all, then we might just come up with a ‘dog bible’. Let us know why you find your dog amazing in the comments below!
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