Quirky canine facts

This week I’d like to walk you through a variety of quirky canine facts which you can impress your friends with or help at your next trivia event. I’d like to thank the American Kennel Club for the following tit bits:

• A dog’s nose print is unique, much like a person’s fingerprint.
• Dogs’ noses can sense heat/thermal radiation, which explains why blind or deaf dogs can still hunt.
• Dogs curl up in a ball when sleeping a) to keep warm and b) to protect their organs: a hold over from their days in the wild, when they were vulnerable to predator attacks.
• Dogs are not colourblind. They can see blue and yellow.

•  Dalmatians are born completely white, and develop their spots as they get older.
• The Norwegien Lundehund is the least popular dog breed and the only dog breed created for the job of puffin hunting.
• The Bloodhound’s sense of smell is so accurate that the results of its tracking can be used as evidence in a court of law.
• Largest dog ever was, according to the Guinness World Records, a Mastiff named Zorba, who weighed 343 pounds and measured over eight feet from his nose to his tail.
• Smallest dog ever, according to the Guinness World Records, was Miracle Milly, the Chihuahua. Born in 2011, Milly was a miniscule 3.8 inches tall and weighed in at one pound.
• A dog’s’ only sweat glands are between their paw pads.

• Your dog has something called “Frito Feet.” It’s basically a form of puppy B.O. Since your dog walks on the pads of their feet all day, they pick up bacteria on the pads. When they get sweaty, the mix of the moisture and bacteria makes them have a smell similar to Fritos.

• A dog’s sense of hearing is ten times more accurate than human’s ears. The reason you can hardly ever surprise or ambush your pooch is because they will often hear you from “miles” away. Canines also have several separate muscles in their ears to help move them around like little radars. The reason dogs don’t like the rain is because the sound is too sensitive for their ears.
• Dogs are the only other mammal to have a prostate, other than humans. However, dogs do not have an appendix. They also suffer from prostate cancers more rarely, although that problem as well as anything else related to prostate still occurs.
• A 1-year old dog is as mature, physically, as a 15-year old human.
• When dogs howl at each other, they adjust the pitch of the howl to sound more unique.
•  In the dark, dogs use their whiskers to pick up subtle changes in the air currents. This gives them a better understanding of the environment and helps them “see” better in the dark.
• Dogs are capable of sensing drops in barometric pressure and shifts in static electricity field, which allows them to spot an approaching storm.
• While humans have two eyelids, dogs have three. The “nictitating membrane,” often called the “haw,” helps keep the dog’s eyes lubricated.

Now you can blind your friends and family with canine facts!