‘A house is not a home until it has a dog’

Loyal and loving, dogs are great fun and, as JA Wine reveals, a rich source of fascinating facts
It is thought that man’s long association with the dog began about 15,000 years ago. However, wolf bones found alongside human artefacts have led to speculation that the bond between man and his canine companion may stretch as far back as 100,000 years. It is probable that hungry wolves were drawn to human tribes for food and company. The more cunning animal learnt how to beg, and eventually to sit and stay and a form of selection occurred. There are now hundreds of breeds of dog, with 800 recognised by kennel clubs across the globe, covering a wide range of sizes, colours and temperaments. Here are a few of the many reasons we love them so much… 

JA Wine

DOGS THAT DO NOT MOULT

  • Bedlington terrier
  • Poodle
  • Wire fox terrier
  • Yorkshire terrier
  • Portuguese water dog
  • Bichon frisé
  • Maltese
  • Afghan hound
  • Kerry blue terrier
  • Tibetan terrier

BARKING MAD FACTS

The Basenji is the only barkless dog in the world.

A Dutch man was ordered to pay a dog tax for a non-existent dog. The confusion was caused by a computer-controlled doorbell, which barks like a dog.

Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or brown dog. So the saying goes: ‘Touch your toes, Touch your nose, Never go in one of those, Until you see a dog.’

Superstition says that to cure a cough you have to take a hair from the coughing person’s head, put it between two slices of buttered bread, feed it to a dog and say: ‘Eat well you hound, may you be sick and I be sound.’

Legend has it that when 57-year-old Lord Carnarvon was taken ill during the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb and died in Cairo a few days later, back on his estate in England, his favourite dog howled and dropped dead.

JA Wine


THE WORLD’S TALLEST DOG

The most recent dog to have the honour of making it into the record books as the world’s tallest dog is a 7ft 4in Great Dane known as Zeus. Weighing in at 155lb, Zeus eats 30lb of food every two weeks. Passers-by have been known to quip, ‘Is that a dog or a pony?’ and the dog is so tall he can drink water straight from the tap in the kitchen sink. Although four-yearold Zeus looks fierce, he is trained as a ‘therapy dog’ and visits the sick and elderly in nursing homes. Zeus likes to sleep on his owners’ bed.

Wisdom in defence of small dogs


‘I hope if dogs ever take over the world and they choose a king, they don’t just go by size, because I bet there are some chihuahuas with some good ideas.’ Jack Handey

‘Chihuahua. They’re good. If you lose one, just empty your purse.’ Jean Carrol 

‘A Pekinese is not a pet dog; he is an undersized lion.’ AA Milne


SMALLEST DOG IN HISTORY

The smallest dog in history was a tiny Yorkie from Blackburn, England. When fully grown, this little dog was 2.5in tall and 3.75in long. He weighed only 4 ounces and was approximately the size of a matchbox.

Twenty most popular dogs in the UK

  • Labrador retriever
  • Cocker spaniel
  • English springer spaniel
  • German shepherd
  • Staffordshire bull terrier
  • Cavalier King Charles spaniel
  • Golden retriever
  • West Highland white terrier
  • Boxer
  • Border terrier
  • Rottweiler
  • Miniature schnauzer
  • Lhasa Apso
  • Shih-tzu
  • Yorkshire terrier
  • Dobermann
  • Bull terrier
  • Bulldog
  • Weimaraner
  • Whippet

JA Wine
TRUE TAILS

The well-to-do once put their lapdogs under their bed covers before retiring, in the belief that bedbugs and ticks would hop on to the dog.

People in ancient China stayed warm by carrying toy breeds up their sleeves.

President Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice, was given a black Pekinese by the last empress of China.

Elizabethan ladies kept their dogs on their laps for warmth. 

The Welsh corgi has been called Ci Llathaid, meaning ‘yard-long dog’.

The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae – ‘island of dogs’.

The Dobermann pinscher is named after German tax collector Louis Dobermann, who developed the breed in the 1860s.

King Charles I so adored small spaniels that the King Charles and the Cavalier King Charles spaniels are named after him.

DOGS AND THE AFTERLIFE

Dogs are closely associated with the afterlife. The Eskimos believed that the aurora borealis were teams of sled dogs carrying the souls of the dead from the earth; in ancient Mexico, a yellow dog was specifi cally bred to guide its owner to the place of the dead. The Greeks believed that the gates to the underworld were guarded by Cerberus, a fearsome three-headed dog; similarly, in Norse mythology, Garm, a four-eyed dog, was the guardian of Hel. The Egyptians’ dog-headed god Anubis was associated with judgement after death.


Extracted from Dogs’ Miscellany by JA Wines, published by MOM Books, priced £9.99