What is a domestic dog?
The term “domestic dog” refers to any of several hundred breeds of dog in the world today. While these animals vary drastically in appearance, every dog—from the Chihuahua to the Great Dane—is a member of the same species, Canis familiaris. This separates domestic dogs from wild canines, such as coyotes, foxes, and wolves.
Domestic dogs are mostly kept as pets, though many breeds are capable of surviving on their own, whether it’s in a forest or on city streets. A third of all households worldwide have a dog, according to a 2016 consumer insights study. This makes the domestic dog the most popular pet on the planet.
DOG FACTS!
1. Dogs have a sense of time. It's been proven that they know the difference between a hour and five. If conditioned to, they can predict future events, such as regular walk times.
2. Your dog is as smart as a two-year old! Ever wonder why children around this age seem to have a special bond with the family dog? It could be because they speak the same language, roughly 250 words and gestures in fact.
3. Your dog can smell your feelings. In fact, your dog’s sense of smell is approximately 100,000 times better than yours. So it shouldn’t be shocking that they can in fact, smell things such as fear. When a human is fearful, they perspire, and a dog is easily able to pick up on this change.
4. Petting a dog can actually benefit your physical and mental health. Studies have shown that petting a dog for 15 minutes can lower blood pressure by 10%, can help lower feelings of stress, depression, and combat loneliness.
5. Dogs can be trained to to detect cancer and other diseases in humans. Cancerous cells release different metabolic waste products than healthy cells in the human body. Dogs may even be able to sniff out cancer cells simply through smelling someone’s breath.
6. Chocolate can be very deadly to dogs due to containing the ingredient, theobromine. Dogs cannot metabolize theobromine and ingesting chocolate could cause a severely toxic buildup in their system which could become fatal.
