Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
Check out 18 unexpected dog facts that are bound to wow you. These revelations provide a fresh perspective on our loyal pets.
“When they kick the ground after a poo, they’re not trying to cover it up. They’re using the scent glands in their feet to sort of make an arrow on the ground pointing at their poo so other dogs won’t miss it.”
“Dogs are better at reading a human’s facial expressions/body language, gauging a human’s emotional state, and responding to cues (words, pointing, direction of gaze) than our closest relative, the chimpanzee.
This trait seems to be an innate result of them living alongside us for generations- in studies testing the problem-solving abilities of dogs vs captive wolves, the dogs would often look to the humans for help or hints if they were stumped, while the wolves were more successful at solving problems on their own.”
“Dogs “tell time” from scent. Your dog will start getting excited or more active around the time you come home from work each day. They do this not by the actual clock, but because we are creatures of habit and are typically gone the same amount of the everyday.
When we leave our scents in the hoose begin to reduce and we get home they are at a certain level. They become conditioned that we will return when our scents hit that lower level.”
“Dogs evolved the use of muscles around their eyes that allow them to be expressive with their eyes (the famous puppy dog eyes). This is not seen in any other species in the Canidae family. The theory is that it came about from living amongst us for thousands of years and they basically slowly learned how to communicate with us and get what they want out of us.”
“While most people know dogs don’t see as much color as humans, not as many people know they don’t see in as much detail as we do! Perfect sight for a human is 20:20, but for a dog, it’s 20:70 or 20:80. However, dogs track movement better than people because of a structure in their eye called a visual streak, which humans don’t have. So they’re very good at seeing horizontal movement and tracking it, even if visually they might not be able to make out what it is precisely.”
“Dog actors sometimes need their tails to be edited to not be wagging, because they’re just so happy to be doing their jobs!”
“Dogs have a special olfactory cavity in their nose that allows them to smell scents without breathing too much oxygen into their lungs. This stops them from hyperventilating when they sniff a lot.”
“Not only do they recognize lots of different smells, they can tell how long ago a certain smell was left. It’s almost like a time stamp for a post. The dog can tell how long ago the mailman walked by.”
“The bump on the dogs leg that’s half way between their inner knee and paw is actually their thumb.”
“Dogs have an infrared detector in their nose! It is a survival technique, for them to find their mother when they are tiny and can’t see. It is also a way for them to sense predators, BUT it is also a reason why they might steel our seats on the couch when we get up!”
“Dogs drink water by making a little bowl of their tongue and scooping water into their mouth! “
“Because of the shape of their nose, dogs can smell on both the inhale and exhale.”
“Dog domestication probably happened several times, but is estimated to be at least 35,000 years ago. This means that dogs have been our companions the longest, and truly earned the title of Man’s Best Friend.”
“Dogs are aphasic! Meaning they are completely without spoken language, so when we give them commands they aren’t actually understanding our words, they are counting syllables, marking our tone of voice, and seeing the tiny ‘tells’ in our body language!
That’s why it’s absolutely best to incorporate hand signals into a training regimen, with the added benefit that if they ever go deaf they’ll still be able to understand you!”
“The average 40lb dog poops nearly 7 times it’s weight in a year.”
“Floppy ears developed in hunting dogs so when they sniff the ground, all the scents get brushed into their nose like a broom!”
“If 2 dogs are playing but you can hear growling it’s usually ok if they are sneezing. Forced sneezes let the other dog know they are just playing and not to take the playtime as a challenge to fight.”
“Dogs are actually facultative carnivores, which means that they do best on a carnivorous diet, but can survive on a non carnivorous one if there is nothing else available.”