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
Almost every dog owner deals with the ongoing frustration of hair everywhere. Some dog breeds shed more than others and for different reasons - other than just being furry. The most common reasons for shedding are old, damaged or extra hair (double coated breeds). Although hair kinda comes with the territory of having a pup, there are ways to help reduce floating hair in your home.
Regular Brushing- daily brushing helps to remove the loose hairs before they have a chance to find a nice spot to land, like all over your black couch. Be sure to talk to your local groomer or pet store for the right type of brush for your dog's coat. This makes a big difference in successfully catching up all those loose fly-aways while brushing.
Regular Bathing- frequency of bathing depends on how “dirty” your dog gets on a regular basis. Typically once a month (if your dog is not constantly rolling in mud) is a good guideline to follow. A clean coat is generally a healthier coat. Make sure to get a gentle and moisturizing shampoo, conditioner is not a must, but it doesn't hurt!
High Quality Diet- feeding your furry friend a high quality balanced diet is key to maintaining healthy skin and therefore a healthy coat. Speak to your veterinarian regarding the best diet recommendation for your dog.
Bug Control- prevent your pet from unwanted parasites like fleas, mites and ticks. These are all parasites that will affect the health of your pet’s skin and coat. They cause itching, redness and irritation which leads to shedding.
Allergy Control- if your dog has seasonal or environmental allergies be sure to address these based on your veterinarian's recommendations. Typically it just takes medication or medicated shampoos. Itchy skin means increased shedding - aka more hair!
Vacuum Often- vacuuming as often as possible will obviously help with the hair and debris in the environment. Don’t forget to vacuum your dog's bed.
Regular Veterinary Visits - there are many skin conditions and internal diseases outside of the scary ones that can cause hair loss in patches. Regularly visiting your veterinarian will help to ensure that if any conditions arise, they will be treated accordingly.
You will never be able to eliminate shedding, but being mindful of these basic points can help to significantly reduce the daily hair balls flying around your home!
Source (Image): Bully Rubs Pet Care
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
It is important that we know how to read dog's body language. This can help us to determine if it is safe for us or our canine companions to approach another dog. Below are some helpful descriptions of dog body language.
Before you approach any strange dog, look for signs of relaxed or playful body language and always ask the owner if it is ok to approach.
Source: Modern Dog
Source (Image): Dog Listener
Source (Image): Modern Dog
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.
Source (Image): Science
Source (Image): Pet Health Network
Source (Image): Woofipedia
Common Household Items | Serving | Theobrominea | Caffeinea |
---|---|---|---|
Ice Cream Rich Chocolate | 1 cup ( 148g) | 178mg | 5.9mg |
Peanut M&M's | 1 cup (170g) | 184mg | 17mg |
Ready to Eat Chocolate Pudding | 4 oz (108g) | 75.6mg | 2.2mg |
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar | 1.55 oz (43g) | 64mg | 9mg |
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup | 2 Tbsp (39g) | 64mg | 5mg |
Hershey's KISSES (Milk Chocolate) | 9 pieces (41g) | 61mg | 9mg |
Hershey's Semi-Sweet Baking Bar | 1 Tbsp (15g) | 55mg | 7mg |
Cookies, brownies, commercially prepared | 1 Square (2 –3/4” sq x 7/8") (56g) | 43.7mg | 1.1mg |
KIT KAT Wafer Bar | 1 bar (42g) | 48.7mg | 5.9mg |
REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups (2pk) | 2 cups (45g) | 32.4mg | 3.2mg |
Doughnut, cake-type, chocolate, sugared or glazed | 1 Doughnut (3' dia) (43g) | 12.6mg | 0.6mg |
Chocolate Chip Cookies , made with margarine | 1 Cookie Med (2 1/4" dia) (16g) | 20.3mg | 2.6mg |
Milky Way | 1 bar (58g) | 37.1 mg | 3.5mg |
Generic Hot Fudge Sundae Topping | 1 Sundae (158g) | 77.4mg | 1.6mg |
REESE'S PIECES Candy | 1 package (46g) | 0mg | 0mg |
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened, processed with alkali [Dutch cocoa] | 1 cup (86g) | 2266 mg | 67.1mg |
Baking chocolate, unsweetened, squares | 1 cup, grated (132g) | 1712 mg | 106mg |
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened | 1 cup (86g) | 1769 mg | 198mg |
Baking chocolate, unsweetened, liquid | 1 oz (28g) | 447 mg | 13.2mg |
Puddings, chocolate flavor, low calorie, regular, dry mix | 1 Package (40g) | 238 mg | 7.2mg |
Desserts, rennin, chocolate, dry mix | 1 Package, 2 oz (57g) | 242 mg | 7.4mg |
Puddings, chocolate flavor, low calorie, instant, dry mix | 1 Package, 1.4oz box (40g) | 189 mg | 5.6mg |
Syrups, chocolate, HERSHEY'S Genuine Chocolate Flavored Lite Syrup | 2 tbsp (35g) | 68.3 mg | 2.1mg |
Cocoa, dry powder, hi-fat or breakfast, processed with alkali | 1 oz (28g) | 685 mg | 20.2mg |
Candies, chocolate, dark, 70-85% cacao solids | I bar (101g) | 810 mg | 80.8mg |
Cocoa, dry powder, hi-fat or breakfast, plain | 1 Tbsp (5g) | 92.6 mg | 10.3mg |
Source: PetMD