"From a dog's point of view, his master is an abnormally elongated and extremely cunning dog." - Mabel Louis Robinson.
With the wag of a tail and a friendly sniff, these four-legged furry animals have found a way to melt even the coldest of hearts. And despite our 12,000-year-long history with dogs, we still don't know everything about these lovable creatures.
So, we decided to bring to you 10 seriously interesting--and little known--facts about man's real best friend! Enjoy.
Fact One: Here's an interesting evolution-related piece of information. All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal known as the Miacis. It dwelled in trees and dens, and later, evolved into Tomarctus. That is the genus from which wolves, jackals and dogs have evolved!
Fact Two: There's plenty of mention of dogs playing a huge role in the life of man; this dates back to ancient Egypt and even the Bible! While the former would shave off their eyebrows, smear mud in their hair and mourn aloud for days when their revered pets died, the incredible domestic creatures are even mentioned up to 14 times in the old testament--cats don't even get a single mention here!
Besides, Pekingese were even worshipped in Chinese temples for centuries.
Fact Three: Thought you knew everything there was to know about your pet pooch's physique? Think again. Dogs only have sweat glands between their paws, that's why they keep cool by panting so hard. Then they have three eyelids--the third one is called a nictitating membrane and keeps the eye lubricated. Also, their shoulder blades are unattached to the rest of their skeleton, which is what allows them so much flexibility while running!
Fact Four: The shape of a dog's face can be very telling/suggestive about its lifespan. While those with sharper, wolf-like faces tend to live much longer, the ones with flat faces (read: bulldogs, pugs, etc.) tend to have shorter lives.
Fact Five: Much like human's fingerprints, a dog's nose is 100% unique and no two dogs' sniffers are alike. Their sense of smell is also 100,000 times keener than a human. So, the next time you see your dog dragging trash all over the place let him be; he's probably trying to get it away from himself because it stinks so bad!
Fact Six: Dogs have virtually no sense of time. 45 minutes is the most they can go without losing complete track of the time, which is why you'll be greeted just as enthusiastically by them after hours as you would after two months!
Fact Seven: Tons of dogs have held actual jobs! Labrador retrievers were originally bred to retrieve fishing nets, while 19th century Dalmatians defended carriages against highway men. Similarly, monks used Lhasa Apsos as temple guard dogs and Siberian Huskies have been used to herd reindeer in Siberia for 3,000 years!
Today, we all see police and military dogs at airports and other high security areas. In fact, the Navy SEAL team that captured Osama Bin Laden was accompanied by one brave canine who was outfitted in protective body armor and had a secret weapon--his sharp teeth!
Fact Eight: Think the 101 Dalmatians plot was a bit far-fetched? Try this one on for size. The record for the most dogs ever owned by one person is held by Kubla Khan who had 5,000 Mastiffs!
Fact Nine: Dogs only have about 10 different kinds of vocal sounds, while cats have 100 of those! The Basenji is the world's only barkless dog!
Fact Ten: The oldest dog ever was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey who lived for 29 years and 5 months! In human years, that is more than 160!
-Pictures courtesy Thinkstock-