5 Fun Facts About Dogs

We all know that dogs are notoriously referred to as Man’s best friend because of their loyalty and attachment to their owners, but did you know that dogs have some pretty awesome abilities that make them more like our super sidekicks?

Check out these 5 fun facts about dogs and you’ll see why they are more than just canine companions, but actually closer to caped-crusaders!

Dogs have a sense of smell that is up to 50 times better than ours.

When we walk down the street and smell something good, it’s likely that our dog could smell it WAY before we could. This is because the area of the brain that is responsible for detecting different scents and smells is about 50 times larger in dogs than it is in humans! Because of this super-canine ability, dogs are able to sniff out drugs, people, money and even explosives!

Some dogs have even been trained to alert their diabetic owners if their blood sugar drops too low; potentially saving their lives.

A dog's sense of smell is up to 50x better than that of a human

Dogs can hear things up to 4 times farther away than humans.

Most people know that dogs can hear things at higher frequencies than we can, but in addition to this, did you know that dogs can also hear things that are much farther away? Part of the reason for this is that dogs have 18 muscles in their ears that allow them to change their listening position; acting like their own pair of parabolic microphones.

Allowing them to tune-in to specific sounds and where they are coming from have made dogs the go-to sidekick for rescue missions and for tracking in areas where a human’s senses may not be sufficient.

Dogs can hear things up to 4 times farther away than humans

Dogs are fast. Like, really fast.

The majority of dogs can outrun almost any human, but did you know that some breeds could be considered to be among the fastest creatures on land, too? Most dogs can run anywhere between 15-20 miles per hour, with the average top speed being 19 mph. To put that into perspective, the fastest human ever ran just under 28mph, but only for about 65 feet. The average speed for humans, ranges between 4-6mph; a great deal slower than dogs.

Notorious for their ability to sustain high speeds over great distances, Greyhounds can top out at around 45 miles per hour. While this is slower than a cheetah’s top speed of about 70mph, Greyhounds can keep up a pace of 35mph for up to seven miles, while a cheetah can sprint for about 30 seconds at a time; meaning that they’ll catch up with and then pass the cheetah, with ease.

Greyhounds can run at about 35 mph for up to 7 miles

Your dog likely has a dominate paw.

The old saying goes that when we’re referring to someone that we trust, we typically say that they are our “right hand man.” Though dogs may be man’s best friend and our “right hand man”, they may actually not be right-handed at all. Studies have shown that, similar to humans, dogs often have a favored paw that they like to lead with.

Want to find out if your dog is right or left-pawed? Give them their favorite toy and see which paw they use to engage with it first. To get a better idea, continue the experiment for about a week, to give yourself a better and more accurate sample size.

Dogs, like humans, can have a dominant paw.

Some dogs are good enough swimmers that they can be lifeguards.

They may not have the red swimsuits or the zinc oxide on their noses, but some dogs are such proficient swimmers that they can serve as lifeguards! Of course, there are some requirements because the likelihood of an aquatically-advanced Chihuahua being able to save a 200lb man, is absolutely absurd. It’s true, though, that some dog breeds have become excellent lifesavers; namely Newfoundlands, Portuguese Water Dogs and Labrador Retrievers.

While all three are consistently strong swimmers, Newfies have been seen in this capacity more-so than the others; likely because of their size and ability to support larger humans. Their thick coats insulate them from colder temperatures, while their webbed paws propel them through the water and their powerful tails act as a rudder.