Dog News

Fun Fact Friday! A Dog's Sense of Sound

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Michael Moll

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

Dog with ear up listening

 

Fun Fact: A dog's sense of hearing is 4 times greater than humans!

Aside from a dog's super-smell power, hearing is their second most powerful sense. Dogs have a frequency range that is double that of the human ear. That is why we notice our dogs being alert to sound seconds or even minutes before you can hear the same sound. On the downside, loud and abrupt noises that may be totally normal to our ears can prove to be very uncomfortable to our canine companions. A lot of dogs grow super agitated and timid during thunderstorms - and this is why.  

Dogs have roughly 18 working muscles in their ear allowing them to rotate, raise, lower and tilt them in many different directions. They are able to move their ears around with a tremendous level of flexibility, playing a huge role in their ability to focus on exactly where a specific noise is coming from.

Unlike humans, dogs also have the ability to hear two different sounds at one time, one sound in each ear. So the next time you think your pup is ignoring you, remember that they are probably listening to you and another sound, they are just more interested in what they are hearing with the other ear.

 

Source (Image): Bright Mags
Source (Image): Scent Hound

Posted in Fun Fact

Fun Fact Friday! Whiskers

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Michael Moll

Purpose Of Dog Whiskers 

up close dog face

 

Have you ever gazed over at your canine companion’s whiskers wondering “what are those long toe ticklers really for?” Fun fact, those strange looking coarse hairs around your dog’s muzzle, chin and eyes are actually packed with nerves. These particular hairs are very different than the rest of the fur on your dog's body. They play an important role in sending sensory messages to your dog's brain, much like the way our sense of smell, touch, sight, sound and taste send feedback to our human brains.


A dog’s whiskers aid him or her in determining the shape, size and speed of nearby objects, helping your dog with overall spatial awareness. They are also able to feel vibrations and subtle changes in the air through the follicles at the base of the hairs. This can be especially helpful in sensing danger approaching, providing an extra keen awareness of the surrounding environment. This is part of why dogs seem to have excellent medical intuition.


It is important that we understand the role whiskers have in our dogs lives, since some people find it tempting to trim whiskers for cosmetic reasons, but please don't. It will cause severe confusion for our pups, like losing one of our own five senses would.

 

Source (Image): Psychology Today 
Source (Image): CertaPet

Posted in Fun Fact

Fun Fact Friday! Determining Your Dogs Age in Human Years

Posted on October 07, 2016 by Michael Moll

Dogs VS Human Aging 

dog lifestages

 

There are many myths that float around about dogs, one of the biggest being about the way dog's age in comparison to humans. It has been noted that for every year a dog is alive, it equivalents to 7 human years. This is inaccurate! It is true that dogs age much faster than humans, but the rate in which they age is dependant on their size. Small dogs (<20 pounds) age the slowest and large dogs (>90 pounds) age the quickest. 

Every dog is considered a senior by the age of 7-8 years old, but the difference in human years between a small and large or giant breed is significant. Therefore a giant breeds life-span is said to be much shorter than one of a small breed. 
Below you can see the comparison between small, medium, large and giant breeds aging vs humans. 

 

dog aging chart

 

Source (Image): Science
Source (Image): Pet Health Network
Source (Image): Woofipedia

Posted in Fun Fact

Fun Fact Friday! Do Dog's Sweat?

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Michael Moll

Do Dog’s Sweat?

dog in swimming pool

 

Have you ever wondered if dog’s sweat? If so, how do dog’s sweat? The answer is tricky! Dog’s don't “sweat” like we do but they release heat. Dog’s lack the normal sweat glands that humans have. Dogs have a few interesting ways of cooling down.

  1. They primarily release heat through panting. Panting works by allowing heat from the inner chest (the hottest part of the body)  escape through moisture made the mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, and throat. As a dog breaths out the moist air, evaporation occurs and cools down the dog.
  2. They secondarily release heat through a process called vasodilation. Vasodilation is a fancy term for dilating the blood vessels. It helps to bring the hot blood to the surface of the skin which allows blood to cool down before taking a trip back to the heart.
  3. The third way they release heat is through the small sweat glands in their paw pads (this is not a reliable source as they release a very minimal amount of heat this way).

It is important to know how to recognize the signs of overheating. Excessive panting, bright or dark red colored gums, flushed skin, warm to the touch, vomiting, increased drooling, glazed eyes, weakness, and collapse.

Keep in mind that dogs don't just overheat from being outside in the sun. They can also overheat from extreme excitement, confinement, panic, true fever, stress, lack of water, over exercising, and laying near hot objects (camp fire).

Keep them cool and prevent the excess drool!

 

Source (Image): Primal Canine 
Source (Image): Pet Meds

Posted in Fun Fact

Fun Fact Friday! A Dog's Vision

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Michael Moll

A Dog's Vision

dog vision

 

Many people still believe that dogs are colorblind, only seeing black and white. This is a very popular misconception that even the most devoted dog lovers believe.  Dogs are limited in their spectrum of colours if we compare it to human vision, but they do see some colour!


Dogs' eyes contain two kinds of cones, while humans have 3. Cones are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye - essentially, they enable pups to distinguish blue from yellow, but not red from green. This is also the most common variation of colour blindness found in humans - and this is simply because they lack the third kind of cone that is in the eyes of humans who can see normally.


The neurons inside a dogs' eye are very active in response to the colour yellow, or shades similar. That activity slows down when blue light hits the cones. Red and green light have a neutral effect on these neurons, so they don't perceive any colour in response to red and green light. In place of these colours, dogs see shades of grey.

Since red objects tend to be darker than green ones, dogs typically use this sense to determine the difference between these two colours.


This is just one of many reasons why our furry friends are so unique!


Source: Live Science 
Source (Image): Improve eye sight 
Source (Image): The League of Dogs

Posted in Fun Fact

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