Dog Facts For Kids

On this page we've collected Dog Facts For Kids - even if you're not a kid, you'll enjoy this selection!

Find out about record breaking dogs: the largest, smallest, smartest dog as well as some more general facts about our favourite pets.

Photo courtesy of Daily Mail

Dog Facts . . . Largest . . .

The largest breed of dog is the Great Dane. The tallest dog ever recorded is Giant George, a Great Dane, who measured 1.092 m (43 in) tall on 15 February 2010 and is owned by David Nasser of Tucson, Arizona, USA.

The picture above shows Gibson who held the previous record of biggest dog. He is 2cm shorter than Giant George. The photo shows Gibson with Boo Boo, the smallest dog (see below).

The largest dog obedience lesson involved 257 dogs with handlers at Nestlé Purina PetCare's BonzOmerspelen in Arnhem, Netherlands on 16 May 2004.

The largest dog 'stay' involving a group of dogs all at the same time was recorded at an event called 'Super Sit' organized by the RSPCA at the Wag and Bone Show, Windsor Great Park (UK) on the 6 August 2005.

627 dogs kept their 'stay' position successfully.

The largest dog walk involved 18,113 dogs who took part in the Great North Dog Walk, organised by Anthony Carlisle (UK). The walk was held on the Leas, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, UK, on 13 June 2010.

The largest single-breed dog walk involved 700 Labradors in a charity event organised by the Kimberly-Clark company (Poland). The walk was held in central Warsaw, Poland, on 29 August 2010.

Dog Facts . . . Smallest . . .

The smallest breed of dog is considered to be the Chihuahua.

The smallest dog is Boo Boo, the Chihuahua who only measures 10.16cm tall and is smaller than Gibson's head (see above).

Dog Facts . . . Smartest . . .

The smartest dog is thought to be the Border Collie.

Chaser, a Border Collie who lives in South Carolina, United States, has the largest vocabulary of any known dog. She knows over 1,000 words. Clever dog, eh?

Dog Facts . . . Fastest . . .

The fastest dog is thought to be the Greyhound. They can reach speeds of 45 miles per hour. (Some say the fastest dog is the Whippet so let's say it's definitely between these two!)

Dog Facts . . . Oldest . . .

The world's oldest known breed of domesticated dog is the Saluki. They are thought to date back to 329 BC. Saluki dogs were revered in ancient Egypt, being kept as royal pets and being mummified after death.

The oldest age recorded for a dog is 29 years 5 months for an Australian cattle-dog named Bluey. This dog lived in Australia and worked among cattle and sheep for nearly 20 years before being put to sleep on 14 November 1939.

Dog Facts . . . Loudest . . .

The loudest bark by a dog measured 108 decibels and was produced by white German Shepherd, Daz, owned by Peter Lucken (UK) in Finsbury Park, London, UK, on 15 June 2009.

To put this in perspective, hearing damage may occur when noise is higher than 85 decibels, which is about the loudness of heavy traffic.

The loudest dog bark measured 124 decibels and was produced by 76 dogs in an event organised by Petmate, in Washington Park, Colorado, US on 7 November 2009.

Dog Facts . . . Longest . . .

The longest ears on a dog belong to a Bloodhound called Tigger who lives in Illinois, USA. The ears were measured on September 29th 2004: the right ear measured 34.9 cm (13.75 in) and the left ear 34.2 cm (13.5 in).

The longest eyelash on a dog measured 13.6 cm (5.35 in) on 27 November 2004 and belonged to Prince Albert, a Lhasa Apso dog owned by Sandra Daku of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

The longest dog tail is 24 inches, achieved by Allie, the Great Dane, in Indiana, USA, on 30th March, 2011.

Other Interesting Dog Facts . . .

• What kind of animal is a dog?

  A dog is a mammal just like us.

• Why do dogs pant?

  Dogs can lose heat through their tongues - that is why they pant when they are hot.

• How sensitive is a dog's hearing?

  Humans hear sounds in the 20 to 20,000 Hertz range. (Hertz = Hz)
  
  Dogs can hear sounds in the 40 to 60,000 Hz meaning they can hear a lot more than us.
  
  In the wild, dogs use their hearing capabilities to hunt and locate food.

• Working Dogs: First dog to detect mobile phones

  The first sniffer dog to be trained and used soley for the purpose of identifying illegal mobile (cell) phones is Murphy, a springer spaniel, who was trained by the Eastern Area Drug Dog team, UK, to identify a certain scent emitted by mobile phones.
  
  Murphy works with his handler, Mel Barker (UK), to detect such contraband items amongst prisoners at Norwich Prison (HMP Norwich), East Anglia, UK - items that can be used to plot escapes, arrange drugs deliveries or to intimidate witnesses from their trials.
  
  Murphy can tell the difference between the phones belonging to the people who work at the prison and those belonging to the prisioners.
  
  He can even find them hidden in wall cavities or wrapped in plastic bags.

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