Lots of people choose a dog because of his looks, or because they have always “wanted “a particular breed. Sadly, when people go on looks alone, they may not understand the needs of the breed and find the dog they have chosen does not fit into their lifestyles. This results in the rehoming or surrendering of the animal to a shelter. There are certain characteristics hard wired into each type of dog which need to be expressed for the animal to be happy. Please ask your veterinarian, behaviourist or trainer.
Fun Interesting facts about cats and dogs:
- The nose print of dogs, cats and other animals is unique – much like a human fingerprint.
- Dogs are not colorblind. They have dichromatic vision which means they have limited color perception and can only see shades of blue and yellow.
- House cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with TIGERS. They also share some of the same behavior habits such as scent and urine marking, prey stalking, and pouncing.
- Dogs have ~1700 taste buds as compared to humans who have ~9000. They can taste sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
- The whiskers on a cat aren’t just cute—they serve a very important function in assisting cats with getting around, especially at night. Whiskers allow a cat to detect and respond to changes in their surroundings – think kitty radar.
- Greyhounds can beat cheetahs in a race. While cheetahs can run twice as fast as greyhounds, they can only maintain that 70 mph speed for about thirty seconds. A Greyhound can maintain a 35 mph speed for about seven miles.
- Disneyland in California has feral cats who freely roam the park and help control the rodent population. Watch out Mickey and Minnie!
- 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.
- Cats can rotate their ears 180 degrees.
- Yawning is contagious - even for dogs. Research shows that the sound of a human yawn can trigger one from your dog. And it’s four times as likely to happen when it’s the yawn of a person he knows.