Puppy and Dog Trivia

Everything, living or non living, in this world has little known facts and trivia. Some are known to the public while others remain in the shadows of only enthusiasts of the subject. In the animal kingdom, many creatures surround man, but amongst them, the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) has got to be one of the most highly respected  because of their ability to be trained, taught well, abilities for helping people in real-life work, and just for their loyal companionship. I think you will enjoy reading these puppy and dog trivia facts.

Puppy and Dog Trivia

Here are some puppy and dog trivia you may know already or be unaware of concerning puppy’s and dogs:

• The wolves are the dogs’ ancestors. This explains why dogs are instinctively predators at their core. Over centuries of selective breeding and expert training man has tamed these excellent hunting animals, and have eventually domesticated and kept as pets worldwide today.
• A normal dog’s body temperature is 101.5° F (38.6° C). They are also known to regulate their body temperature by panting, because they cannot sweat like normal humans – they need to be cooled down much more than humans.
• Dogs are actually prone to tuberculosis, a common and sometimes lethal lung disease.
• Like humans, dogs also have a dominant hand (e.g. left-handed or right-handed) in which they use it more than the other hand when doing tasks.
• A dog’s sweat glands are located in between their paw pads.
• The matured age of a dog is approximately 6 months. The gestation period of normal dogs is around 60 to 65 days.
• A dog’s respiratory rate is around 10 to 30 breaths per minute. A dog’s heart rate is around 70 to 120 beats per minute.
• Compared to humans, dogs have great night vision. Their rod cells are greater than their cone cells.
• When puppies are new born, they are deaf, blind and without teeth.
• The sense of smell first appears only after 3 weeks from when they were born.
• The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki, also known as the Persian Greyhound, located buried around ancient Egyptian tombs of 2134 BC.
• The skeletal system of a dog is made up of 231 bones (more than the 206 of a normal adult human), coupled with 42 permanent teeth.
• Chocolate and chocolate products are toxic for dogs. So if your dog lives inside your home do not allow chocolate to be accessible to them, and never feed them this substance.
• Compared to humans (with only 4 blood group types), dogs have eight blood group types: DEA 1.1, 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8.
• A dog’s average life span is about 8 to 15 years. But the span can widen depending on how a dog is taken care of.
• The first dog to travel to space is named Laika (literally meaning “Barker”), a dog of a Russian breed called ‘Laika’. She was originally a stray dog that became an ‘astro-dog’, but also died on the date of her exploration, November 3, 1957 due to running out of oxygen.

Those of us who own dogs naturally love them for many reasons and I hope these puppy and dog trivia facts have been interesting for you to learn.

Do you have other interesting tidbits of dog trivia you wish to share? Please leave you comments below.