1. How Old Is My Dog?

It used to be thought that 1 human year equaled 7 dog years. That’s not necessarily true. Depending on the size of your dog, they may age slower or faster than that!

Based on a chart developed by Fred L. Metzger, DVM, Dipl. ABVP; State College, PA (metzgeranimal.com)

2. Dogs CAN See Color:

Dogs have dichromatic (humans have trichromatic) vision meaning they can only see part of the range of colors that we can see. Based on how their eyes are made, they should be able to see yellow and blue primarily. Besides blue and yellow, dogs can also see violet, indigo and red. Likely, the colors green, yellow and orange will look alike to dogs. Sadly, we will never know the answer for sure since our dogs can’t tell us!

3. Tug Of War Is NOT A Bad Game:

Many people believe, “If you let the dog win tug of war then it will become dominant.” False.

What happens when you play tug of war? You and your dog start to tug on the toy. If you let him “win” what does he do? He stands there and “asks” you to take it again. If it were a dominant game that caused aggression, then your dog will run off with the toy, guard it and not let you near it. Instead your dog stands there hoping that you will pick it up and play the game again! Your dog loves to play with you. As long as you have rules and boundaries, tug of war provides your dog a proper outlet for his energy.

4. You CANNOT Tell If A Dog Has A Fever From His Nose:

A persistent old myth is still out there: A warm dry dog nose does not mean your dog has a fever. In fact, you cannot tell if your dog is sick based on his nose. A dog’s nose may be very wet and cool one minute and dry and warm the next. All are perfectly normal. The only way to tell if you dog has a fever is to take a rectal temperature using a digital thermometer. Normal dog temperature is between 100-102.5° F.

5. A Dog That CANNOT Bark:

The Basenji is known as the barkless breed. Despite not being able to let out a complete “woof,” they are able to make plenty of other noises including squeals, whines and screeches.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 9:29 am and is filed under Amy Breton, Pet Facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.