Did You Know?

• The dog was one of the first animals domesticated by humans.
• Mosaics meaning "Beware the Dog" would be found on doorsteps in ancient Roman cities.
• The world's first dog show was held in Britain in 1859.
• People in ancient China stayed warm by carrying toy breeds in their sleeves.
• The first living creature sent into space was a female dog named Laika launched by the former USSR on November 3, 1957 (Whitehead et al. 1999).
• The British bred Basset Hounds to have short legs so hunters could keep up with them.
• The Basenji is also known as the African Barkless dog because it yodels instead of barking.
• The Basenji licks itself clean, like a cat.
• Chow-Chows have blue-black tongues.
• Japanese Akitas declared champions of the breed have been declared national treasures in Japan since 1931.
• The Great Dane is the national dog of Germany.
• The Chihuahua is the smallest breed in the world.
• Commoners in Imperial China were forbidden to own Pekingese.
• Monks used the Lhasa Apso as a guard dog in temples.
• Siberian Huskies have been used to herd reindeer in Siberia for 3000 years.
• Louis Doberman, a German tax-collector, created the Doberman breed in the late 1860s to protect him while he worked (Whitehead 1999).

Source: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys/2000/Hatfield/Hatfield8.htm