Did You Know?

• German Shepherds were among the first dogs trained for police work- beginning around 1900 in Ghent, Belgium.

• Dog’s body cells contain the most pairs of chromosomes (heredity- carrying structures) of any mammal- 39 pairs.

• There is an old Chinese belief that if a person owns a good and faithful dog that the dog will sacrifice itself to Death when Death demands a member of its’ immediate family.

• The most decorated U.S. dog during World War II was a German Shepherd/Husky/ Collie mix named Chips. He also served as a guard dog in North America and later earned a Silver Star for capturing a machine gun nest during the invasion of Sicily.

• Dogs have been used to determine whether twins are identical or fraternal because identicals have the same scent, but fraternals do not, no matter how much they may look alike.

• The Latin word for faithful is “Fido?” Could this possibly have any connection with the fact that so many dogs are named this?

• If an old or sick dog does not shake itself after getting up that this is a sign of bad overall health? Each dog shakes itself to get every muscle and tendon back into perfect place after waking up.

• A dog can survey an area between 200 to 270 degrees, depending on the shape of its skull and the positioning of its eyes, compared to the average of 100 degrees for a human being.

• Due to the popularity of lap dogs in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar once mused if Roman women had ceased to have children in lieu of their new four-legged companions.