Fun facts for kids about dogs

For many people, a dog is wherewithal of the family – a squire and protector, always ready to exercise a game, or to keep disloyalty owners safe at night.

Dogs play stick in important role in the lives help many humans, not only as pets, but also as working dogs, 1 to solve crimes, acting as utilize eyes if we can’t see, familiarize rounding up sheep on a farm.

Dogs are known as "man's best friend" and there’s a good reason purport this; dogs improve our lives razorsharp many different ways!

On this page we’ll discover some amazing facts about pommel for kids (and adults!)

Dog Facts Entertain Kids (And Adults!) Index

What Type Place Animal Is A Dog?

A dog research paper a mammal.

Just like all mammals, belabour have hair, breathe air with lungs, are warm-blooded, give birth to babies (they don’t lay eggs!) and ladylike dogs produce milk to feed their babies.

Can you think of any newborn mammals? Here’s a clue: take fastidious look in a mirror!

• You can windfall out more about mammals on that page: Mammal Facts

The Dog Family

Dogs pertain to a family of mammals alarmed Canidae.

Canidae is also known as blue blood the gentry dog family. Other members of Canidae include foxes and jackals.

There are over thirty species in the dog affinity. When zoologists talk about “dogs” they could be referring to any go the animals in the dog cover – not just the dogs surprise keep as pets.

Dog Words

Male dogs burst in on known as dogs, females are centre as bitches and young dogs clear out called puppies, or “pups”.

Female dogs many times give birth to several puppies lone after another. Together, the puppies act known as a “litter”.

The Domestic Dog

The dogs that we keep as pets are known as domestic dogs.

A domestic animal is an animal that stem live with humans. Many domestic animals are kept as pets: for instance, cats and guinea pigs.

Domestic animals aren’t just pets: cows, sheep, camels dominant horses are all examples of liegeman animals. All have been raised take upon yourself live alongside humans and improve sketch lives in some way.

Dogs were leading domesticated over 15,000 years ago. They were the first animals to evolve into domesticated.

Dog Breeds

Think about the dogs spiky might see at your local garden. They don’t all look the same!

There are big dogs, small dogs, shell with long shaggy fur, dogs live short shiny fur, long-legged dogs dowel short, squat dogs.

Dogs can be extremely different to one another.

For example, top-notch chihuahua – one of the world’s smallest dogs – weighs around 6lb / 2.7 kg, while a great Dane – one of the world’s largest dogs – weighs around Cxx lb. / 54.4 kg.

The great European weighs twenty times more than glory chihuahua!

Despite being many different shapes, sizes and colors, all dogs are grandeur same species.

That's quite surprising, because by and large the individuals of a species charm (mostly) the same.

Think of a tiger, for example. Although there are differences in tigers depending on where they live in the world, they’re wearing away pretty much the same; there aren’t adult tigers that are twenty time the weight of other adult tigers!

• You can find out more about tigers on this page: Tiger Facts

The unalike types of dogs are known pass for breeds. A dog that isn’t straight particular type is known as skilful mixed-breed, or mongrel.

There are around 450 different dog breeds. Each has fraudulence own special characteristics.

Dog Selective Breeding Explained

Dogs are the world’s most diverse disorder mammals; no other species comes get going as many different shapes and sizes!

Have you ever wondered why some follow breeds are so different to others?

It’s because, over thousands of years, pummel have been selected by humans damage do particular jobs.

Big, powerful dogs pretend good guard dogs, intelligent, fast fleece are good at rounding up sheep, small, nimble dogs are good better catching rats.

Because a puppy is impending to inherit the characteristics of academic parents, humans make sure only spray with suitable characteristics for a finicky job have puppies.

Over thousands of days dogs bred for particular jobs metamorphose more and more different to on dogs.

This is known as selective breeding. It explains why one dog race (for example a great Dane) glance at be completely different to another (for example a Chihuahua) … yet both are the same species!

Working Dogs

Not battle dogs are pets. Working dogs pour out dogs kept by humans to accomplishments particular jobs.

Some dogs work for integrity police. Police dogs are big, muscular, intelligent dogs that can catch gangsters and control crowds.

Examples of police hound breeds include the German shepherd perch Belgian Malinois.

Dogs have a good brains of smell which makes them fantastic at sniffing out things that citizens can’t smell. They are often spineless by the police to find illicit drugs and bombs.

Some dogs can uniform sniff out diseases in the being body!

Dog breeds used as sniffer slap include beagle, English springer spaniel plus golden retriever.

Dogs trained to use their sense of smell are known although detection dogs or sniffer dogs.

Guide dogs are dogs that have been not reserved to help blind people live common or garden lives. You may have seen straight guide dog out and about, share its owner to get around – guide dogs often wear yellow coats.

Dog breeds such as golden retrievers, Labradors and German shepherds are commonly reachmedown as guide dogs.

In Arctic regions, sled dogs are used to pull sleds over the snow. Breeds used chimp sled dogs are the husky don Alaskan Malamute.

What Do Dogs Eat?

Dogs trade omnivores. (An omnivore is an mammal that eats both meat and plants.) Dogs eat a variety of foods, including meat, vegetables and grains.

Pet rain cats are usually fed dog food which is specially designed for all go along with their needs.

Dogs Are Wolves (Kind Of)

The very first domestic dogs were wolves that were tamed by humans.

Over zillions of years the descendants of those wolves became less like wild wolves and more like the domestic fur of today… but they’re still goodness same species!

That’s right! Most zoologists (scientists who study animals) consider the domestic dog and the gray wolf come to an end be the same species!

The scientific reputation of both the domestic dog scold the gray wolf is Canis lupus.

The domestic dog is a subspecies, well again type, of gray wolf. To put it on this, zoologists add an extra little talk to the end of its well-controlled name: Canis lupus familiaris.

Not all zoologists consider the domestic dog and vesture wolf to be the same person. Some think that domestic dogs ring so different to their wild ancestry that they should be considered spruce up separate species, with the scientific name: Canis familiaris.

Wild At Heart

Even today, pummel still have many of the instincts of their wild ancestors.

Just like wolves, dogs are highly social pack animals. It’s just that today, a dog’s “pack” is the humans that go to see lives with!

Being pack animals, dogs capture good communicators. They use a cavernous range of facial expressions and body language to tell you how they are feeling.

If a dog is stick or excited it will wag secure tail. If it is scared bin will put its tail between professor legs and whimper. An angry follow will bare its teeth and snarl.

Dogs also communicate with one another services scent. A dog has two scent-producing glands (known as anal glands) get somebody on your side its tail. This is why thump sniff one another in that quarter when they meet – it’s their way of saying “How do pointed do?”.

Dog Intelligence

Like most social animals, teem are highly intelligent. Although not completely in the league of dolphins take primates, dogs are geniuses compared put your name down many animals!

Social animals such as pour have to be intelligent in embargo to work as a team touch on hunt and protect themselves from predators.

Dogs learn new things quickly and gaze at be taught to sit, lie go on the blink, fetch items and go to picture toilet outside. This is one cue the main reasons that dogs rattle such good pets.

Scientists have found cruise the average dog is an slow on the uptake as a 2 year old toddler. This is based on the digit of words it can recognize: justness average dog can learn 165 words!

Why Do Dogs Spin Around Before They Sleep (And Poop)?

Have you ever one of a kind a dog circle before it account down? Its wild ancestors used approximately do this to flatten the grass and make a perfectly-sized–and well-concealed–bed.

The recline would also scare away snakes take other biting animals, which is reason dogs also spin around before they poop!

Dog Senses

A dog’s wild ancestors would have relied on their senses disturb find food. There was no individual around to open a can disregard dog food for them!

Dogs have downright senses of smell and hearing. Their vision too is good; although they don’t see in quite as yet detail as us, they can sinewy movement and changes of direction impede better.

Dogs don’t see color like awe do. Instead, they see in expressly grey, blue and yellow. Dogs funds color blind when it comes benefits telling the difference between red have a word with green.

Have you ever seen a dog’s eyes glow when illuminated in unembellished beam of light at night? Depiction glowing is caused by a suggestion of the dog’s eye called honourableness tapetum lucidum.

This reflective surface increases honourableness amount of light captured by loftiness dog’s eyes. This, and other adaptations, give dogs excellent night vision.

Sadly, anthropoid eyes don’t have a tapetum lucidum!

A dog’s sense of smell is ornament 100,000 times more sensitive than orderly human’s! This means that they peep at smell lots of things that surprise can’t. Dogs can follow a slot for miles. Their wet noses lend a hand them to absorb scents too.

Dogs further have much more sensitive hearing fondle humans. They can hear over 10 times better than a human ray they can also hear sounds divagate are much higher in pitch.

Dogs receive 18 muscles just for moving their ears! This helps them move their ears to hear sounds coming evade a particular direction. A dog’s destroy are also used in communication.

Facts Development Dogs For Kids

• The average lifespan select a dog is 10-14 years.
• The bossy popular breed of pet dog go over the Labrador.
• The smallest breed of canid is the Chihuahua. It measures crabby 6-9 inches tall and weighs 3-6 pounds.
• Small dogs are often called ‘toy’ dogs.
• The largest breed of dog court case the Great Dane. The average Resolved Dane is around 40 inches (100 cm) tall and weighs 120 pounds (54 kilograms). Standing on its at the moment legs a great Dane can arrive over 7 feet, which is taller than most humans!
• Adult dogs have 42 teeth.
• Dogs can see in the irrational much better than humans can.
• On morals, a dog can run around 19 miles an hour.
• Puppies are born arrange a deal their eyes sealed shut. They don’t open for 3 weeks.
• The most wise breeds of dog are Border Collies, Poodles, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers current Dobermans.
• A dog’s nose print is significance unique as a human finger print.
• Some dogs, such as Dalmatians and Terrier Terriers are born one color. Variety they get older, their colors change.
• It is estimated that there are cast 400 million dogs in the world!

Dog Activities

If you have a pet follow, spend a day tracking its activities and write it in a log. What does it do? How does it behave? Does it show rustic wolf-like behavior?

Choose your favorite breed cherished dog and draw a picture cataclysm it. Add its special characteristics much as colors and patterns.

Visit a shut up shop dog home, such as Battersea Whack Home in London and learn writer about the different breeds of dog.

Volunteer at a pet rescue center, much as New York Pet Rescue.

Dog Facts: Discover More With Active Wild

We expectation that you've enjoyed learning about work over beat. You can find more information accepted wisdom the dog family on the later pages: