They say that dogs are a man’s best friend; but like with any best friend there’s always that thing or two about them that you never seemed to know even though it feels like you’ve known them forever.

While you probably don’t think your dog could get more awesome, it turns out there’s a whole list of things that would make him or her even cooler.

Below is a list of 29 amazing facts about dogs we can bet you probably didn’t even know till now.

1. Your Dog’s Quite the Time-keeper.

Do you ever wonder how your dog can almost always sense you’re about to leave for work? Or how your dog can almost so accurately anticipate your return home?

Well it does seem that dogs indeed do happen to be very good with time.

By sensing just how much time has passed and taking a keen interest in our habits and routines dogs are able to do quite a lot of things like know you’re about to leave when you pick up your keys or what day of the week you’re more likely to take them for a walk just by observing that you slept in a little longer over the weekend.

2. Dogs see and read the world around them through their urine.

It happens all the time, you’re walking your dog along and (s)he seems to be dragging along sniffing about irritatingly slowly.

Turns out dogs send messages to other dogs through their urine, they then use their sense of smell to read messages left for them by their neighbourhood colleagues and friends.

So next time you’re out and about with your furry friend don’t get too upset when he decides to leave a message for that cute chihuahua next door.

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3. Dogs can smell your fear, anxiety and even sadness…literally!

Ever wonder why dogs are almost always more likely to chase those people that are scared of them?

Adrenaline, the fight or flight hormone can apparently be detected by a dog’s nose.

The telltale body chemicals that come more quickly to the skin surface in the face of fear or even anxiety quickly give away your emotional state to your furry friend even in the face of your lull smile. They ain’t a man’s best friend for nothing.

Dogs also tell between humans through our unique scents. All humans have a unique scent fingerprint which is all your dog needs to tell the difference between you and another person.

4. Your Dog is just about as Intelligent as a 2 year old.

This finding is based on studies that reveal that the average dog can learn between 160 and 250 words inclusive of signals and gestures (similar to a 2 year old child).

5. Dogs can feel a range of basic emotions except guilt.

While your dog probably experiences a host of emotions like happiness, jealousy and anger (s)he is probably incapable of experiencing guilt.

Contrary to the popular belief held by at least 74 percent of dog owners, dogs are incapable of experiencing complex emotions such as guilt or shame and are probably just expressing fear when they have that unforgettable look; head down and not making eye contact.

6. Dogs have up to 4 times normal human hearing ability.

While it is not in doubt that your pup can hear better than you, the sheer range of this capability is astounding.

The average human can hear sounds up to 20 feet away while the average dog can hear sounds up to 80 feet away four times more than what the human ear can capture.

Surprisingly in spite of this amazing capability puppies are deaf for up to fourteen days after they’re born.

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7. Dogs can diagnose disease through their sense of smell.

Dogs have an uncanny ability to detect a range of organic compounds through smell that would indicate that a person’s body is not working as it should.

Your dog could thus successfully diagnose cancer as well as diabetes and even the early signs of an epileptic seizure.

8. Your dog’s nose print is as unique as a human’s fingerprint.

The creases and ridges on a dog’s nose are so unique they can actually be used to identify them.

9. Dogs mainly sweat from the bottom of their feet.

Most of a dog’s sweat glands are located around its foot pads.

On a hot and sunny day wetting the bottom of your dog’s feet would help to cool him or her down greatly.

10. Your dog’s whiskers help him sense oncoming danger.

Whereas humans experience their sense of touch most commonly through their fingers. Your dog touches the world with his face.

Whiskers; long rough hairs protruding most commonly from a dog’s jaw and above its eyes are packed with sensory nerves that send messages to your furry friend’s brain.

Highly cautious of any subtle changes in air currents, dogs use whiskers to sense any sudden vibrations in the air and anticipate oncoming danger.

So next time you’re tempted to trim or surgically remove your dog’s whiskers remember that this may result in confused and a decreased sense of spatial awareness.

11. Every Dog alive today was at least born by 1991.

The longest a dog has ever lived is 29 years so going by that math; every dog alive today was at least born by 1991.

12. Not all Dogs can bark.

The Basenji, an African hunting dog technically does not bark. It yodels.

This evolutionary feature is believed to have been developed over years of evolutionary training as a bark from a basenji could have easily sold out their hunting position in their many hunts for prey.

13. Petting your dog may actually lower your blood pressure And his too.

14. Your dog hates the rain.

But it’s not because of what you think. The rain and the intense sounds that come with it, are probably up to 4 times as loud in your furry friend’s ear as in yours, a pretty uncomfortable feature especially in the face of loud, heavy downpour.

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15. The constant wetness in your dog’s nose is crucial…

For determining what direction a smell is coming from. Dogs maintain this wetness by constantly licking their noses which helps to intensify scent and thus enable them distinguish the direction from which a smell is coming from.

16. You can’t own a dog in Iran.

Life without your best friend can often seem impossible to imagine but in Iran owning a dog as a pet is a criminal offence punishable by law unless you can prove it is a guard dog or a hunting dog.

Those caught violating this law risk receiving 74 lashes as punishment. So next time you plan your trip to Iran be sure to leave your furry friend safely at home.

17. You can tell how long your dog will live just by its face.

Dogs with sharper, pointed faces have been shown to live longer than their counterparts with flat faces such as bulldogs.

18. Your Dog’s urine is acidic enough to corrode metal.

An interesting phenomenon lead to this discovery in Croatia after lamp posts kept falling off to the chagrin of the authorities.

A little inquest into the matter revealed that dogs urinating on the lamps resulted in corrosion of the metallic lamp posts thus resulting in them falling off frequently.

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19. Your Dog’s internal compass helps it sense the earth’s magnetic field.

Countless stories have emerged over the years of lost dogs travelling hundreds of miles to find their way back home. How then do dogs know which direction to travel in order to get back home?

Dogs have a magnetic sense which allows them to detect the direction of the earth’s magnetic field and hence determine where north and south is.

This internal compass proven by the fact that dogs often defecate and urinate in alignment with the earth’s magnetic axis enables dogs to navigate with fair accuracy over long distances.

20. In just 6 years a female and male dog can produce 67000 dogs.

You know the age old phrase a litter of puppies? Well without neutering or spaying a male and female dog can produce up to 67000 dogs in just 6 years.

21. Your dog is way hotter than you.

A dog’s normal temperature of between 101 and 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit would be akin to a human’s temperature during a fever. So yes your best friend is hotter than you.

22. Dogs dream just like you do.

Ever notice that subtle twitch, leg quiver or even growl made by your dog as she sleeps?

Your dog is probably deep asleep dreaming. Dogs have a similar brain wave pattern to humans and experience the same rapid eye movement (rem) during sleep as we do.

Next time your furry friend takes a little snooze observe him closely after about 20 minutes when he should begin to experience his first dream; watch the change as his breathing becomes shallow and a tad irregular and be keen to observe the odd muscle twitches that follow as your furry friend drifts slowly into dreamland.

23. Dogs are scientifically defined as a “Friendly dog wolves”.

Dogs are actually descendants of wolves but it is not possible to domesticate wolves in the same manner as they are highly aggressive and unpredictable, requiring more space and avoiding socialization.

24. Dogs are not color blind.

They’re just red-green color blind, this doesn’t mean that they can’t see red but simply that it’s just not as vibrant to them appearing a shade brown.

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25. Dogs have poorer sharpness of vision compared to humans.

A dog would see at 20 feet what a human could see from 75 feet away. Put simply, if 75 percent of pixels in a normal clear image were removed, the grainy remainder of what’s left is what a dog would see. Clear but grainier than what we see.

26. 1,000,000 Dogs are at first place in their owner’s will.

Well, what are friends for. 1,000,000 dogs are set to inherit their owner’s property upon their demise.

27. Adult dogs have 10 more teeth than humans.

Humans have 32 teeth whereas dogs have 42 teeth upon maturity. In spite of this puppies, contrary to popular belief are born toothless.

28. Dogs drink water by lapping it up backwards.

Mainly because like cats they have incomplete cheeks and they can’t suck in water like you and me without it coming out through the sides of their cheeks.

Due to their inability to suck in water, dogs developed what is now known as a lapping mechanism, where a dog curls its tongue backwards and impacts the water to induce a splash.

The tongue then quickly retracts into the mouth and then the dogs jaws are snapped shut completing the cycle with water pulled upward toward the mouth forming a water column that extends from the drinking bowl.

So next time your furry friend makes a mess around his drinking bowl you’ll have a better understanding that it’s not intentional they’re only doing the best they can.

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29. The Greyhound which is the fastest dog would defeat a cheetah in a long distance race.

At 45 miles per hour, a greyhound would defeat a cheetah running at top speed over the long distance.

Cheetahs, though they can move faster than 45 mph can only do so over short bursts of speed unlike the greyhound’s consistent 45 miles per hour run.

Though the cheetah would get off the blocks quicker, a greyhound would easily overtake the cheetah a little later at this top speed of 45 mph.

Final Note

Dogs almost always seem to know so much about us; they understand our tone, body language and even our feelings most times, but how much do you know about your furry little friend?

You see and notice a lot of things in your dog; some you find interesting, others amazing and some so weird you cringe at their mere mention.

All said and done, your furry friend has a lot of amazingly different facts about him that are sure to leave you nodding and tapping your hands and head in awe, excitement and even surprise as you discover them.

We hope that this list of interesting facts about dogs not only informed you, but it will inspire you to keep learning and loving on your furry friend as you continue to journey through life together.

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