INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE DOG WORLD

WHY DO DOGS HAVE TO SLEEP MORE THAN PEOPLE AND WHAT SPEED CAN THEY REACH? OR INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE DOGS OF THE WORLD

There are more and more scientists who deal with dogs. They want to understand as much as possible how our pets work, think and why they have become man's best friends. Thanks to modern technologies and research, we already know a lot about the biology and psychology of dogs. Thanks to this, dogs live longer and our common coexistence can be in harmony. What has science researched so far? Read on for some interesting findings.

WHY DO DOGS SLEEP SO LONG?

The amount of time a dog spends sleeping depends on many factors, including its age, size, breed, health and activity level. Most dogs require significantly more sleep than humans because they spend much less time in REM sleep (the deepest and most restful stage of sleep). While humans are about twenty-five percent of their sleep in the REM phase, in dogs it is ten percent. This means that they need to sleep longer to be sufficiently rested.

HOW FAST CAN DOGS RUN?

The speed of the dog obviously depends on the size and physical fitness of the dog. It is also largely influenced by body shape, leg length, age and health. According to statistics, the fastest breed is the English greyhound, which is able to run at a speed of up to 70 km/h! The record is held by a dog that ran even 80 km/h. Thanks to their aerodynamic body structure, whippets and Afghan hounds can run similarly fast.

HOW HIGH CAN DOGS JUMP?

Many dogs have no problem jumping up on the couch at home, you may be surprised how high they can jump. Especially when, for example, they see a bowl of schnitzels on the table. Just as a dog's speed depends on many factors, so does jumping. It is affected by size, strength, age, health and physical condition. It is proven that dogs can jump up to a height of two meters. Even more impressive is the fact that some small breeds can jump several times their body height.

HOW WELL DO DOGS HEAR?

Dogs' excellent hearing is no myth, it's actually a biological advantage that has helped them for thousands of years. According to research, a dog can hear sound up to four times further than humans. The boys have 18 muscles in their ears (three times more than the human ear), thanks to which they can use their ears independently and change the direction in which they listen, which helps them to focus on a specific sound. They can also "connect" to different frequencies and record e.g. a whistle that cannot be heard by the human ear. And if you feel like your dog is ignoring you, in some cases it's because of selective hearing that he's not really hearing you.

WHAT DO DOGS SAY WHEN THEY BARK?

Although dogs bark for a variety of reasons, scientists previously thought that the way they bark doesn't change depending on what they want to communicate. However, recent research has found that dogs have elasticity in their vocal cords, which allows them to change the tone of their bark. The spectrographic images showed differences in timing, pitch, and other context-specific features. The same goes for growling. Experiments have shown that dogs respond to the vocalizations of other dogs differently depending on the context. For example, scientists recorded a situation when a dog growled over food and at a stranger. When he played a growl for food in front of another dog and was offered a treat, he was more hesitant to accept it than when he later heard growl at a stranger.

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