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. 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. The longest lived 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. 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. If never spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their puppies could produce over 66,000 dogs in 6 years! The only sweat glands a dog has are between the paw pads. The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be (1) the border collie, (2) the poodle, and (3) the golden retriever. Chocolate contains a substance known as theobromine (similar to caffeine) which can kill dogs or at the very least make them violently ill. Dogs’ sense of hearing is more than ten times more acute than a human’s More than 1 in 3 American families own a dog. Dogs don’t like rain because the sound is amplified and hurts their very sensitive ears. The ten most popular dogs (AKC, 2007) are in order: Labrador Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Beagle, Boxer, Dachshund, Poodle, Shih Tzu, and Bulldog. 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. Small dogs live the longest. Toy breeds live up to 16 years or more. Larger dogs average is 7 - 12 years. Veterinary medicine have extended this estimate by about three years. However, some breeds, such as Tibetan terrier live as long as twenty years. 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.” The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world. Most pet owners (94 percent) say their pet makes them smile more than once a day. Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible. It has been established that people who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks. All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus,a direct forbearer of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal as well as the dog. Seventy percent of people sign their pet’s name on greeting cards and 58 percent include their pets infamily 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. The origin of amputating a dog’s tail may go back to the Roman writer Lucius Columella’s (A.D. 4-70) assertion that tail docking prevented rabies.   Dogs can smell about 1,000 times better than humans. While humans have 5 million smell-detecting cells, dogs have more than 220 million. The part of the brain that interprets smell is also four times larger in dogs than in humans. When a dog bays at the moon, it is following a basic urge to call the pack together. Most dogs don't like to be left alone so they howl. Leave the radio or television on to keep your dog company when you are away. Dogs have twice as many muscles for moving their ears as people. A dog's nose is not just used for smelling, but also to keep him cool. That's why a dog pants. The longer the dog's nose, the better his cooling system works. Staring directly into the eyes of a strange dog may be interpreted as a challenge and may actually encourage the dog to bite you. Dogs and cats turn in circles before lying down because in the wild this instinctive action turns long grass into a bed. The basenji, an African wolf dog, is the only dog that cannot bark. Chicken or steak bones leftover from dinner can choke your dog or break and cause damage to the inside of her body. Dalmatian puppies are pure white when they are born and develop their spots as they mature and grow older. Dogs have three eyelids. They have an upper and lower eyelid and a third one inside of the other two. It helps protect the eye from dirt and dust. The oldest American breed is the American Foxhound. This dates back to 1650. Newfoundlands have webbed feet, making them great swimmers and divers. Bassets can't swim. Their legs are too short to keep their heavy, long bodies afloat. An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their owner's will. At the end of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life", an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, was recorded by Paul McCartney for his Shetland sheepdog. Most pet owners (94 percent) say their pet makes them smile more than once a day. 'Seizure Alert' dogs can alert their owners up to an hour before the onset of an epileptic seizure. Some 39 percent of pet owners say they have more photos of their pet than of their spouse or significant other. In America, about one family in three owns a dog. A dog is a true friend, and one you can be certain will never talk about you, no matter what you do. People have been keeping dogs as pets for the past 12,000 years. Mixed-breed dogs usually have behavioral traits similar to the breed they most resemble in appearance. The average dog's mouth exerts 150 to 200 pounds of pressure per square inch. Some dogs can apply up to 450 pounds. A one-year-old dog is physically as mature as a 15 year-old human. Dachshunds were bred to fight badgers in their dens. 3 dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic, a Pomeranian and two Pekingese. President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles named Him and Her. The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world. The average city dog lives 3 years longer than a country dog. 87% of dog owners say their dog curls up beside them or at their feet while they watch TV. Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them. 58% of families include their pets in family and holiday portraits. George Washington had 36 dogs, all foxhounds. All dogs are identical in anatomy - 321 bones and 42 permanent teeth. 70% of people signs their pets name on greeting and holiday cards. A one-year-old dog is physically as mature as a 15 year-old human. Apple and pear seeds contain arsenic, which may be deadly to dogs. Ancient Egyptians revered their dogs. When a pet dog would die, the owners shaved off their eyebrows, smeared mud in their hair, and mourned aloud for days. A dog’s shoulder blades are unattached to the rest of the skeleton to allow greater flexibility for running. The most dogs ever owned by one person were 5,000 Mastiffs owned by Kubla Khan. Plato once said that “a dog has the soul of a philosopher. The first dogs were self-domesticated wolves which, at least 12,000 years ago, became attracted to the first sites of permanent human habitation. The earliest European images of dogs are found in cave paintings dating back 12,000 years ago in Spain. Within hours of the September 11, 2001, attack the World Trade Center, specially trained dogs were on the scene, including German Shepherds, Labs, and even a few little Dachshunds. The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5" tall at the shoulder, 3.5" from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces. Petting dogs is proven to lower blood pressure of dog owners. The most popular dog breed in Canada, U.S., and Great Britain is the Labrador retriever. Dogs have a wet nose to collect more of the tiny droplets of smelling chemicals in the air. Dogs like sweets a lot more than cats do. While cats have around only 473 taste buds, dogs have about 1,700 taste buds. Humans have approximately 9,000.