14 Fun Dog Facts

Often referred to as man’s best friend, dogs have been companions to humans for thousands of years. Like humans, they have their own personalities, and likes and dislikes. There’s much more to dogs than meets the eye. Here are some fun and interesting facts about dogs.

1. No two dogs have the same nose print. Much like a person’s fingerprint, a dog’s nose print is unique to them.
2. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell which is at least 40 times better than ours. Their noses can have as many as 300 million receptors, whereas human noses only have around 5 million.
3. Their sense of smell is so great that some dogs can sniff out people, drugs, money, or even medical problems. For example, they can be trained to detect a change in blood sugar levels, or when someone is going to have a seizure, and alert them.
4. Dogs may have a better sense of smell than us, but they cannot taste as much. They have around 1700 taste buds, whereas humans have between 2000 and 10,000.
5. Dogs can hear much higher frequencies and much softer sounds than humans. They can also hear noises from much further away.
6. Have you ever noticed yourself yawning after seeing or hearing someone else yawning? Well, yawning is also contagious for dogs. The sound of a yawn can trigger a dog to yawn.
7. Although all dogs dream, puppies and senior dogs dream more frequently than adult dogs.
8. All puppies are born deaf and unable to see. Their eyes are closed for 2-3 weeks after they are born. Hearing is the last of a dog’s senses to fully develop, taking around 3 weeks to kick in.
9. Contrary to popular belief, dogs are not actually colourblind. They have a dichromatic vision which means they have two cone cells that can perceive colour. This enables dogs to see blue and yellow.
10. With over 11 million dogs in the UK, dogs are the nation’s most popular pet. There are dogs in 34% of UK households.
11. Petting a dog can lower not only your blood pressure but also the blood pressure of the dog you are petting too.
12. Most dogs can outrun a human, and some dogs are so fast they could beat a cheetah in a race. Although cheetahs can run up to 70mph, they can only do this for around 30 seconds, whereas a dog can run 35mph for 7 miles so they could easily overtake them once the cheetah slows down.
13. Much like humans have a dominant left or right hand, dogs can also have a preferred paw that they tend to use to do things with.
14. Dogs can learn more than 100 words and gestures, which means their understanding of us is equal to that of a 2-year-old child. However, their cleverness and loyalty mean they are much easier to train than a toddler.

For help with training or better understanding your dog, our expert team at WitsEnd is on hand, offering tailored advice, training sessions, and behaviour therapy.

Working with people from all over the country, we have had over 2000 success stories! To book an appointment or for more information, please call us on 0116 244 2455.