bet you didn't know...

I have now been on Twitter for almost two months, and in that time, I've been able to connect with a lot of people who love dogs as much as I do! (If you aren't following me, you should be: lifewithclaire). One of the people I follow works for Delightfully Dog which is an online community that works to connect pet lovers. I love reading their tweets and I love their website, so you should check it out too. Anyway, one of their tweets from today was: "Fun fact #14: Dogs don’t like rain because the sound is amplified and hurts their very sensitive ears." Did you know that? I didn't know that! I was intrigued about Fun Facts #1-13, so I went to their website and found a whole long list of interesting things! Here are my favorites - along with my commentary:

4.    The longest lived dog, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was an Australian Cattle Dog, named Bluey, who lived to be 29. [I am hoping that Claire will live until she's 30 and will be in excellent health that entire time. Hey, a girl can dream!]

9.    The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be the border collie, the poodle, and the golden retriever. [And the Claire.]

17.  A greyhound can run as fast as 45 miles an hour. [Claire has been tracked by a police officer at running 30mph. Part lab and part whippet? Sometimes I think so.]

25.  Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible. [I don't know about that, but you can bet that I'm going to try and find those verses after this! I'm curious as to what they say!]

29.  A dog’s whiskers are touch-sensitive hairs called vibrissae. They are found on the muzzle, above the eyes and below the jaws, and can actually sense tiny changes in airflow. [Sometimes Claire winces when I touch hers when I am petting her - such a sweet and sensitive girl!]

38.  Dogs and cats turn in circles before lying down because in the wild this instinctive action turns long grass into a bed. [And when Claire does this in my bed, she always ends up moving the blankets off of me and over to her side!]

46.  An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their owner's will. [Primary beneficiary? I can see putting some provisions in there to ensure that your dog will continue to have a great quality of life, but as for the primary beneficiary... that's a little much, even for me.]

47.  At the end of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life", an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, was recorded by Paul McCartney for his Shetland sheepdog. [And this song has just been downloaded from iTunes...]

58.  3 dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic, a Pomeranian and two Pekingese. [All small dogs because they were the only ones allowed on the boat? Or just because they had so much energy that they could keep swimming for hours on end?]

63.  Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them. [Taking nose prints and keeping them on file should be a common practice then, wouldn't you think?!]

I've picked my top ten favorites and listed them for you, but if you want more, go here!