National Dog Day was first established in 2004 by pet advocate Colleen Paige. Now, it is an annual celebration of our beloved pets and a day of advocacy for those who are waiting for their forever homes in shelters or foster homes. In honor of our four-legged friends, let’s look at some quick dog facts!
- A dog’s nose print is unique, much like a person’s fingerprint.
- Speaking of noses, a dog’s nose has as many as 300 million receptors! For reference, a human nose has about 5 million.
- Dogs curl up in a ball when sleeping to protect their organs — a genetic instinct that lingers from their days in the wild when they were vulnerable to predator attacks during sleeping hours.
- Dogs are not actually color-blind. They can see blue and yellow!
- When dogs kick backward after they go to the bathroom, they are not covering their excrement but marking their territory using scent glands in their feet.