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Dog Facts
Delightful, surprising facts about our favorite four-legged friends.
- 01
What Colors Do Dogs See?
Dogs are not colorblind in the way we used to think. Here is what a dog's vision actually looks like — and how to use color to train and play better. Understanding canine color vision also solves everyday puzzles — why the red toy vanishes on green grass, why blue stands out, and how to choose toys, training tools and agility equipment your dog can actually see clearly. For decades, people believed dogs saw the world in shades of gray. That myth has been firmly retired. Dogs have color vision — just a narrower spectrum than ours. Human eyes have three types of color-detecting cones; dogs have two. That makes dogs dichromatic, like a person with red-green color blindness. Their world is built from blues and yellows rather than the full rainbow.
3 min readMar 8, 2026 - 02
Dog Years: The '7 Dog Years = 1 Human Year' Myth
The old 7-years rule badly misjudges dog aging. Here is what science says about dog age, why the rule is wrong, and how to estimate your dog's real age. Modern science and simple size-based guidelines give a far more accurate picture of your dog's age — and understanding real aging helps you provide the right care at every life stage. The 'one dog year equals seven human years' rule is a catchy but crude estimate, probably based on a rough comparison of average lifespans — dogs living around 10–12 years versus humans around 70–80. The rule fails because dogs do not age at a constant rate. A one-year-old dog is not a 7-year-old child; most dogs are physically mature — and often sexually mature — well before their second birthday.
3 min readFeb 14, 2026 - 03
How Much Do Dogs Sleep?
Dogs seem to sleep half the day — because they do. Learn how many hours dogs really need by age and size, why puppies and seniors sleep more, what dog sleep patterns look like, and when a change in sleeping habits is worth a conversation with your veterinarian. Adult dogs average 12–14 hours of sleep per day — far more than humans — because they sleep in short cycles rather than one long stretch. Puppies and senior dogs commonly sleep 18–20 hours, and large breeds tend to sleep more than small ones. That 'lazy' afternoon is not boredom — it is a healthy polyphasic sleep pattern. Dogs wake frequently, check their surroundings, and settle back down, which is why they need more total hours.
3 min readJul 8, 2026 - 04
The Dog's Amazing Nose: Smell Facts
A dog's nose is one of the most remarkable instruments in the animal kingdom — able to detect scents at concentrations a million times lower than humans can. Explore how dogs smell, what their noses can do that ours cannot, and how you can use your dog's superpower for enrichment and training. Humans have roughly 6 million olfactory receptors; dogs have between 125 and 300 million, depending on the breed. A dog's olfactory bulb — the brain area processing scent — is proportionally about 40 times larger than ours. Dogs also sniff in stereo: each nostril takes a separate sample, and the brain compares the two to locate a scent's direction. It is why a dog can track a trail across a field with unerring accuracy.
3 min readJun 2, 2026 - 05
Why Do Dogs Bury Bones?
Few dog behaviors are more comical — or more puzzling — than watching a dog bury a bone under the sofa cushions or dig a hole for a treasured toy. This inherited behavior makes perfect sense when you understand the dog's wild ancestors, and knowing the 'why' helps you manage it without fighting a perfectly natural instinct. Wild canids — wolves, foxes and dingoes — bury surplus kills to hide them from scavengers and to store food for harder days. Your dog carries that same instinct: a high-value treat or bone triggers the urge to save it for later, even when 'later' never comes. The urge is strongest in dogs with the most 'primitive' instincts — terriers, hounds and northern breeds — and in multi-dog homes, where competition makes dogs want to protect their treasures.
3 min readMay 6, 2026