It is the fourth day of the A to Z Challenge. Join in and hop to the different blogs. meet new people, expand your knowledge, but most of all have fun! Jack the Licker, Penny Winnie, and Brutis ‘Cujo’ Menutis—No these are not wild west outlaw names or the fanciful names the Scottish reivers liked to use. These are the affectionate nicknames we have for our three dogs: Jack, Penny and Brutis.
Jack, my Chorkie (which is a chihuahua and Yorkshire terrier mix), sits with me while write my otherworldly tales. He’s a sweet boy. His nickname is: Jack the Licker… well you can probably guess why. Penny is a teacup chihuahua and is three pounds of cuddly fur. Brutis is a chihuahua mix and has the attitude of a ferocious beast until confronted then he runs away.
For today’s post, I put together some dog facts you were just dying to know. lol
Darn Delightful Dog Facts:
All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis, which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, a direct forbear of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal, and the dog.
Ancient Egyptians revered their dogs so much that if their pet died they would shave their eyebrows, smear mud on their hair and mourn out loud for days..
Grapes and raisins can cause renal failure in dogs. Chocolate, macadamia nuts, cooked onions, or anything with caffeine are also harmful.
Shakespeare was our 15 year old hound dog that passed away in January. He stars in my short story: Mistletoe, Stakes, and Yuletide Cheer, featured in the 2012 Christmas Collection.
Dogs have three eyelids. The third lid, called a nictitating membrane or “haw,” keeps the eye lubricated and protected.
Ozzy Osborne saved his wife’s Pomeranian from a coyote by tackling it and wrestling the coyote until it released the dog.
The phrase “raining cats and dogs” originated in seventeenth-century England. Oftentime during heavy rainstorms, homeless animals drowned and their bodies would float down the streets, giving the appearance it had rained cats and dogs.
During the Middle Ages, Great Danes and Mastiffs wore suits of armor and spiked collars when they entered battle or when they were to defend the supply caravans.
Weird dog laws: Police officers in Palding, Ohio may bite a dog to quiet it. In Ventura County, California, cats and dogs are not allowed to have sex without a permit.
Plato said: “a dog has the soul of a philosopher.”
The earliest European images of dogs are found in a cave in Spain. The cave paintings date back 12,000 years ago in Spain
Dogs can register sounds of 35,000 vibrations a second where as a human can only hear 20,000 vibrations.
A German shepherd has smell sensory cells of 220,000,000 where as a human has only 5,000,000 cells.
The tallest dogs are the Great Dane and the Irish wolfhound. The smallest dogs are the Chihuahua, Yorkshire terrier and Toy Poodle.
The oldest age recorded for a dog is 29 years and 5 months.
“Did you say treats?”
The world’s heaviest and longest dog is an English Mastiff named Zorba which weighed 3423 pounds and eight feet three inches long from nose to tail.
Greyhounds can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour in short bursts.
Do you have any interesting facts to add to the list?
Here’s the list to the other A to Z Challenge participants.
We are cat people, but have lots of friends wtih lots of dogs. This is a great post. Do you know the book for young adults My Life In Dog Years by Gary Paulsen, a famous and wonderful author. It is a memoir about the importance of dogs in his life beginning when he was a homeless child. Very moving.
Commonweeder,
No, I don’t know about the book My Life in Dog Years. I’ll have to check it out. Sounds interesting.
You sure love your animals! My cat and dogs perform mischief together. My cat jumps onto the counters and tables and knocks things off so that the dog can ran off and hide them in its bed. What a team!
Gemma,
Too funny!! Penny and Jack (dogs) were like a tag team getting into things. I came home one day to find a whole roll of toilet paper shredded into the tiniest pieces I had ever seen. What a mess! Needless to say, the bathroom door is firmly closed at all times. lol
My cat Bryn is an indoor cat, but she still likes to go on the hunt. She slays stuff animals, ribbon, socks (my son tends to leave around the house), etc, whatever she can find and brings them to my bedroom door. She makes a particular sound and I know she’s made her kill. lol Thank goodness she’s not outside for these hunts. I’m afraid of what she might bring me then. lol
I love dogs but we’re not going to get another one, for now we’re sticking with cats. Hubby and I want to be able to travel and don’t think it’s fair to the dog.I’ve had three dogs in my married life, a mutt who lived to 19, a white lab mix who died at 12 of an immune disorder and a cocker spaniel who lived until 16. They were all wonderful members of our family.
Jen,
It’s amazing how those furry friends wiggle their way into our hearts. 🙂
Great blog. I’ve never heard of a Chorkie!
Val,
I never heard of it either until we had one. lol Super friendly dogs that love to be a part of the family.
That was all very interesting, but what got me was the origin of raining cats and dogs. Horrific and fascinating at the same time!
Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Shannon,
I know. Now when you say it’s raining cats and dogs–it will give it a whole different meaning. lol
We all LOVE dogs here. Some of my happiest memories are of times with them, sadly some of the saddest are with them too, when we’ve had to say good-bye to them.
I have just finished reading “The art of racing in the rain”. Have you read it? An, I can’t put it down til I finish it book, written from a dog’s perspective!
Lisa,
No, I haven’t read “The Art of Racing in the Rain”. Sounds interesting.