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Pet Tidbits
Dog Sense
Do dogs sense things differently than humans do?
Well, yes and no. Dogs share the same basic senses with us: they see, hear, touch, smell and taste. But the level of their senses is different – an important distinction when you’re trying to figure out just what your dog is doing.
Sight
It was once thought that dogs were “color-blind” – only able to see shades of black and white with some grey, but scientific studies have found that’s not true. Dogs can see in color – ranging from blues and greens to greys and crèmes, and of course, black and white. It’s been estimated that humans can distinguish somewhere between 7 and 10 million different colors. (We don’t even have names for that many colors!)
But dogs have it all over humans in detecting motion – that’s one reason they can detect a cat up a tree at a much greater distance than you can! And their night vision is typically better than ours – dogs have an additional reflective layer in the eye called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back into the receptor cells of the eye, which not only increases their night vision, but gives them that spooky appearance of eyes glowing in the dark.
Hearing
When your dog is barking like crazy in the middle of the night, don’t just assume he’s lonely and wants you to get up and keep him company. He may be listening to something that you can’t hear, that’s extremely upsetting to him – like a burglar breaking in your basement window.
Dogs can hear at four times the distance humans can – that means you might hear something from a 100 yards away your dog could hear from a quarter of a mile away. Their ears are also better designed to gather more of the available sound wave – they have 15 different muscles that move their ears in all directions, plus they can move one ear at a time – and independently of the other to absorb even more information!
Touch
Dogs also have a well-developed sense of touch, surprising perhaps under all that fur, although this sense is much less sophisticated than a human’s. Puppies are born with sensory receptors in their faces so they can find mama even if they’re separated before they open their eyes. But they also can sense touch all over their bodies, just as humans can. One reason your dog flops down on the couch next to you and tries to snuggle up on a hot day (or any other day for that matter!) is because he likes the comfort of feeling that you’re right there!
Smell
We can’t even come close to our dog’s ability to smell things. It’s been estimated that a dog’s sense of smell is 100,000 times more powerful than a human’s. Scientists think that humans have about 40 million olfactory receptors, versus 2 billion for your dog! That’s part of the reason dogs make such good trackers, and can trace scents across all sorts of distractions – like across roadways or through dense woods.
Dogs also use their sense of smell as a communications tool – when they’re running around the park with their nose to the ground, sniffing everything in sight, they’re actually reading the calling cards of everyone – dogs, humans, cats, squirrels, and anyone or anything else, that has been there before him. Which is why he may not pay attention to you when you first get to the park – he’s trying to see if any of his buddies have been there before him!
Taste
Just as with humans, taste is closely linked to the sense of smell – the main difference is humans won’t eat something that smells bad; while dogs are the opposite – the smellier the better. Dogs will gulp first and ask questions later.
While humans many times won’t eat something that doesn’t look appealing, let alone doesn’t smell good, dogs are more concerned with smell, than taste. They frequently gobble down food before they have time to chew it, let alone taste it. But that’s ok – it’s why when we clean out our refrigerators our dogs think it’s time for treats.
So the next time your dog engages in some puzzling behavior, whether it’s barking for no reason, or ignoring you at the park, he might not be trying to irritate you – he’s just responding to a different level of senses than you are. Take a moment to look around and try and figure out what’s triggering his behavior before you get mad. Your dog could be trying to tell you something!
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Six Not Well-Known Dog Breeds
Everybody has heard of the basset hound or the beagle. This type of dogs has proved to have many desirable qualities yet there are many other breeds of dogs that also have many good qualities but are not well-known.
The affenpinscher
Related to the schnauzers, the affenpinscher is thought to be most suitable as a family pet. They are very intelligent, easy to train and have a good demeanor. They have dark fur and are very affectionate to humans.
The anatolian Shepherd
This dog breed is of a medium size and has proved to be very courageous. They are very powerful, loyal and are used in for military and hunting purposes.
The basenji
The basenji breed are medium sized muscular dogs. Also named the Africa Barkless Dogs not because they can't, but because they don't choose to.
They are extremely well-known in Africa for their hunting skills.
They are not well-suited as a family pet but an experienced dog owner can train them to be a good pet provided this is done from an early age
The Bouvier des Flandres
This small breed is similar to a terrier. They have a nice, calm demeanor.
In France, they were orifinally bred to be herders but nowadays they are used for police, military purposes, and guide dogs.
The central Asian Ovtcharka
The Central Asian Ovtcharka are large and muscular dogs. They are very loyal and fearless dogs with strong protective instincts; this makes them great watchdogs.
The Polish Owczarek Nizinny
These are medium sized, muscular dogs with long fur that covers their eyes. They make good family pets as they are very loyal, but they should not be left alone because they may be destructive when left on their own.
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Guide Dogs
No one knows when the concept of using assistance animals for the blind first came into being. It is suggested that dogs have been used in such a capacity in various cultures for a very long time. It is known, however, that there was no formal guide dog program in existence until after the First World War.
Why German Shepherds?
Many people have probably wondered why guide dogs and Seeing Eye dogs are so often German Shepherds. The reason is actually twofold.
First, the German Shepherd has a strong sense of loyalty to its owner, giving it a natural tendency to be protective. Having a very protective dog as a companion is an obvious asset for a handicapped person.
Second, the first guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired were trained in Germany to provide assistance for those blinded in the war.
After the end of World War I, Germany was devastated by financial depression. Many private businesses failed and the Potsdam, Germany school that trained the guide dogs for the blind was one of them.
The Beginning
An American woman named Dorothy Eustis had heard about the program and decided it was a very worthwhile endeavor. Because she owned a company that was training German Shepherds as working dogs, she decided she might try to train guide dogs for the blind. She did not start this right away, she was still considering the possibilities when she penned a story for The Saturday Evening Post about the potential for guide dogs for the blind.
A Nashville man named Morris Frank had heard the story and decided to write to Ms. Eustis and ask her to train a dog for him. She did and Mr. Frank became known as the first blind person to use a guide dog.
As part of an arrangement he’d made with Ms. Eustis, Mr. Frank started training guide dogs in the United States. The foundation that Mr. Frank started was dubbed “The Seeing Eye” and the so-called Seeing Eye dog was effectively born.
Today guide dogs are trained to assist people with many different disabilities. There are Hearing Ear dogs to assist the deaf and other dogs that assist the physically disabled. All of the people who have benefited from the use of a guide dog, however, owe their thanks to Mr. Morris Frank of Nashville, Tennessee.
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Test Your Feline Felicity
1. The Cat Family, or the family Felidae, includes at least 35 species of cats that are similar in physical characteristics. Which is NOT a member of the Cat Family?
A. Kodkod
B. Margay
C. Ocelot
D. Fox
D. Fox
TBD: Did you know that cats are regarded by many biologists as the most highly developed carnivores?
2. Do you know how many breeds of domestic cat there are?
A. 20
B. 40
C. 60
D. 80
B. 40
TBD: There are about 40 varieties, or breeds, of domestic cats recognized internationally.
3. Cats became objects of worship in Egypt for what reason?
A. The dog was already worshipped by the Assyrians.
B. Egyptians worshipped the sun and recognized the cat's affinity for the sun.
C. Their ability to keep down the rodent population in Eygpt's economically-important grain fields along the Nile.
D. Their grace and beauty.
C. Their ability to keep down the rodent population in Eygpt's economically-important grain fields along the Nile.
TBD: A very practical notion.
4. What is the collective name for a group of cats?
A. Sleuth
B. Murder
C. Gang
D. Clowder
D. Clowder
TBD: The other answers are collective names as well. You have a sleuth of bears, a murder of crows, and a gang of elks.
5. Cats are indigenous to all continents except which two?
A. Antarctica and Australia
B. Eurasia and South America
C. Antarctica and North America
D. Australia and Eurasia
A. Antarctica and Australia
TBD: This was news to us, too!
6. Who or what was Bastet?
A. The first domestic cat.
B. Egyptian cat goddess with the body of a woman and the head of a cat.
C. Egyptian goddess of war who was assisted by a magical cat.
D. The Egyptian pharaoh who declared that cats were sacred.
B. Egyptian cat goddess with the body of a woman and the head of a cat.
TBD: She was the goddess of love and fertility.
7. All cats are digitigrade which means they walk on their toes with the back part of the foot raised. Which cats do NOT have claws that are completely retractile?
A. Geoffrey's Cat
B. Cheetah
C. Jaguar
D. Little spotted cat
B. Cheetah
TBD: Actually the Cheetah is the only cat, including all the other large cats, with this distinction. Who knew?
8. Which is NOT a way that the Egyptians used the cat?
A. Retriever for birds
B. Racing animals
C. Object of worship
D. Hunting animals
B. Racing animals
TBD: It was true that cats were trained to retrieve birds brought down by their masters!
9. These breeds are all lacking something, what is it (respectively)? The Manx, Cymric, and Sphynx.
A. Tail and hair
B. Ears, hair, and tail
C. Claws, tail, and hair
D. Tail
A. Tail and hair
TBD: The Sphynx is a hairless cat while the Manx and Cymric are shorthaired and longhaired cats without tails.
10. Which region CANNOT claim a breed of rex?
A. Selkirk
B. Devonshire
C. Wales
D. Cornwall
C. Wales
TBD: There is a Selkirk Rex from Wyoming's Selkirk Mountains, a Devon Rex from Devonshire, England, and a Cornish Rex from Cornwall, England, but no Welsh Rex.
11. What is the scientific classification of the domestic cat?
A. Felis catus
B. Felis domesticus
C. Acinonyx jubatus
D. Panthera leo
A. Felis catus
TBD: That was too easy! By the way, The QuizQueen made Felis domesticus up, Acinonyx jubatus is the cheetah, and Panthera leo is the lion.
12. Which is NOT a characteristic of the cat?
A. The ability to taste sweet things
B. The ability to hunt in the dark
C. Using its sensitive whiskers to sense changes in the environment
D. Papillae to clean the flesh from the bones of animal prey
A. The ability to taste sweet things
TBD: This was new to us, too!
13. Two pigments form the basis for all coat colors in the modern domestic cat. These two pigments may be combined with each other or with white (the absence of pigment). What are the two pigments?
A. Black and orange
B. Black and white
C. Black and blue
D. Orange and blue
A. Black and orange
TBD: Scientists believe the domestic cat's original coat color was probably greyish-brown with darker tabby stripes, a color that provides excellent camouflage in a variety of environments. All other coat colors are the result of genetic mutations.
14. How many vocal sounds does a cat have?
A. 10
B. 50
C. 100
D. 150
C. 100
TBD: Most dogs have only about 10.
15. When a famous cartoon Cat and Mouse made their debut in 1939, what was the Cat's name?
A. Tom
B. Jerry
C. Jasper
D. Morris
C. Jasper
TBD: In later cartoons, they would become Tom and Jerry, but in Puss Gets the Boot, the feline co-star was named Jasper.
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Disclaimer: I do not offer any guarantees that any of these remedies, hints or information works. These are strictly pieces of information that I have found on the internet or during research, that I thought may be of interest to my visitors. Please make your own judgments and decisions.
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