10 amazing facts about dogs

Dogs are extremely familiar animals.

But do you know all about them?

1. Intelligent beings

Studies have shown that dogs are smart enough to understand up to 250 words and gestures, numbers up to 5, and perform simple mathematical calculations.

The average dog is as smart as a 2 year old.

2. 29 years and 5 months

According to the

, the longest-lived dog is Bluey, an Australian female.

However, in April 2019, another dog, named Maggie, also Australian, died at the age of 30, but her owners no longer had official papers, this record could not be registered.

3. David and Goliath

111.8 and 9.65 cm.

These are the respective sizes of the largest and smallest dog in the world according to the

.

Zeus is a Great Dane living in Michigan, USA, and Milly a Chihuahua from Puerto Rico.

4. Lightning fast

Greyhounds are the fastest dogs.

Indeed, it is estimated that they can run between 60 and 70 km/h.

5. Wealthy Heir

If in France it is forbidden to make your pet your heir, things are very different in other countries.

Thus, the German countess Karlotta Liebenstein bequeathed to Gunther IV, her German shepherd, the sum of 328 million euros.

More modestly, the American presenter Oprah Winfrey has already planned to bequeath 27 million euros to her five dogs.

Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "

", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.

6. The Beatles dedicated a song to dogs.

The Beatles song

contains an extremely high-pitched hiss that only dogs can hear.

This whistle was recorded on this track by Sir Paul McCartney as a tribute and to please his Shetland Sheepdog.

7. A powerful sense of smell

The canine sense of smell is incredibly strong compared to that of humans, although it varies between breeds.

Humans have about 5 million cells related to smell, while dogs have about 220 million.

8. Unique in the world

A dog's nose is as unique as a human's fingerprint, no two are alike.

9. Detect diseases

If you have some type of cancer, diabetes, or are epileptic, your dog may already know this, as studies have shown that dogs can be trained to smell these diseases.

Scientists think dogs could detect abnormal proteins.

10. Little perspiration

Unlike humans who sweat all over their bodies, dogs only sweat through the pads of their paws.

Find the magazine "Le Monde des Animaux" on newsstands and on monmag.fr (paper and digital versions, and subscriptions).

The World of Animals & Nature is a magazine dedicated to wild fauna and flora from around the world.

Through captivating stories and sublime photographs, the magazine offers a real visual safari in the heart of nature.

Hobbies

Detection dogs: heroes in the shadows

Hobbies

Do you know the borzoi, the long-haired Russian greyhound?

• Minute Animals

• Dog

• “20 Minutes” tells you all about pets

• Animals

• Hobbies