Some dog facts are universal – dogs are amazing, dogs fart whenever and wherever they want, and dogs are occasionally more well behaved than children (I wanted to say “always more well behaved” but that wouldn’t be fair). Some other facts, however, are not so easily gleaned.
1. The most dogs ever owned by one person were 5,000 Mastiffs owned by Kubla Khan. Think he’d be on Hoarders?
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2. Dogs feel jealousy. A 2008 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that when a dog saw another dog get a treat for the same trick they’d been performing unrewarded, the unrewarded dog becomes agitated, scratching themselves and avoiding the gaze of the rewarded dog. Dog jealousy isn’t too complex, though. Pups didn’t seem to mind if they only got bread while other dogs received rewards in sausage– and the pups didn’t seem to care if they had to do tricks for treats while other dogs just sat around on their bum receiving treats.
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3. Dogs don’t feel guilt. Those shamed eyes your dog gives you after destroying the innards of the waste basket in your bathroom? That’s not guilt, researchers say. He’s just reacting to your reprimand. (Source)
4. Dogs can predict an epileptic seizure up to 45 minutes before it happens. No one really knows what dogs are picking up on, but there are theories that it might have something to do with an unknown smell or tiny behavioral changes. Dogs can also sniff out cancers. Researchers believe that our pups pick up on “extraordinarily faint scents given off by the abnormal cells.”
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5. Buying and selling dogs is illegal in Iran. Iran’s parliament also passed a bill to criminalize dog ownership, declaring the phenomenon a sign of “vulgar Western values.” (Source.)
6. The oldest dog on record was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey who lived 29 years and 5 months. In human years, that is more than 160 years old. Old age has never looked so good!
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7. The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world. France has the second highest. ♫ ♩ TEAM AMERICA! Pup yeah! Here we come to save the motherpuppin’ day, yeah! ♩ ♫ 🙂 (Source)
