Dog Tales

All In a Day’s Work!

Dogs and Humans have formed working partnerships since the beginning of time. These partnerships are always highly successful: we love dogs, and dogs love to work with us. Check out some of the gainful employment dogs can find!

Detective Dogs
These dogs are good at finding people, from escaped convicts to lost children. Bloodhounds, with their large size (50-60 kg) are the best at covering long or difficult to follow trails. Because of their loose facial skin, they have the greatest ability to cup and catch the faintest of scents. Bloodhounds have been used to track people since about the 16th century. How much better are they than human detectives? Well, in a search, it would take 250 humans to cover the same area in the same amount of time as one Bloodhound!

Disaster Site Search
Avalanches, collapsed buildings, airplane and train crashes are all examples of sites where Disaster search dogs are employed. Best breeds for the job: German Shepherds, Labradors, Belgian Sheepdogs, Malinois, and other similar-sized breeds. Why? Well, these dogs work well off leash and are very agile, useful when your job involves scrambling around in the debris.

Mush!
Lots of different breeds of dogs have been and are used to drive sleds and carts.
People use Irish Setters, Dalmations, Golden Retrievers, etc., to enjoy mushing sports. In fact, most modern day speed and endurance mushers use mixed breeds (often Siberian crossed with Greyhound). Although they usually work in teams, a single dog weighing 60 lbs may pull 2000 lbs!

Contrary to common belief, the word "mush" is not used to drive sled dogs. Mush comes from the French word "marche" which is from the verb "marcher" which means to walk. But, for getting a team of dogs to run, the word "mush" is felt to be too "soft" a sound to be used as a command.

Herding Dogs
Herding, along with hunting, is probably one of the oldest professions for dogs. There are many breeds bred specifically for herding, and there are different styles, as well. Some breeds use what is called "eye", the tendency to stare down sheep. Dogs may be strong-eyed, medium eyed, or loose-eyed. Border Collies are an example of a strong-eyed breed. An Old English Sheepdog, in contrast, does not have much eye. Dogs may use nipping or barking to move the sheep. Corgies are well known for their ability to dart in and nip the heels of cattle, for example. Other dogs were drovers; that is, they physically butt up against the stock to move them. Rottweilers and Bouviers both were used for this type of work.

The Nose Knows

It may be hard to believe that dogs can quite easily smell things that we can't even see, but it's true! Dogs gather a lot of information about the world around them through their extremely efficient nose: they sniff other dogs to learn about their age, sex, and status, and they even sniff humans to tell if you are in a good mood, or a bad one!

Dogs respond very strongly to various odours, and a dog's fascination with smells doesn't stop with sniffing. Even dogs that have lived indoors all their lives appear to have an instinct that tells them to get dirty and roll in smelly things at the first opportunity. To us it seems to be a pretty disgusting habit, but to dogs it's a form of camouflage that helps them hide from their prey!

If you ever have to leave your dog for any length of time, be sure to leave a worn article of clothing with him or her. Your clothes carry your scent, and it is comforting to your dog.

Tell Us Your Dog Tale!
Every dog owner has a four legged hero in their household. Email us with your own heroic dog tale. We’ll publish the most funny, touching, or inspiring stories here on our site.

Spread the Word!
Spread the word about Canine Demine! Epostcards are coming soon!

	Dog Tales!
Send us your Dog Tale!	All In a Day’s Work! Dogs and Humans have formed working partnerships since the beginning of time. These partnerships are always highly successful: we love dogs, and dogs love to work with us. Check out some of the gainful employment dogs can find! Detective Dogs These dogs are good at finding people, from escaped convicts to lost children. Bloodhounds, with their large size (50-60 kg) are the best at covering long or difficult to follow trails. Because of their loose facial skin, they have the greatest ability to cup and catch the faintest of scents. Bloodhounds have been used to track people since about the 16th century. How much better are they than human detectives? Well, in a search, it would take 250 humans to cover the same area in the same amount of time as one Bloodhound! Disaster Site Search Avalanches, collapsed buildings, airplane and train crashes are all examples of sites where Disaster search dogs are employed. Best breeds for the job: German Shepherds, Labradors, Belgian Sheepdogs, Malinois, and other similar-sized breeds. Why? Well, these dogs work well off leash and are very agile, useful when your job involves scrambling around in the debris. Mush! Lots of different breeds of dogs have been and are used to drive sleds and carts. People use Irish Setters, Dalmations, Golden Retrievers, etc., to enjoy mushing sports. In fact, most modern day speed and endurance mushers use mixed breeds (often Siberian crossed with Greyhound). Although they usually work in teams, a single dog weighing 60 lbs may pull 2000 lbs! Contrary to common belief, the word "mush" is not used to drive sled dogs. Mush comes from the French word "marche" which is from the verb "marcher" which means to walk. But, for getting a team of dogs to run, the word "mush" is felt to be too "soft" a sound to be used as a command. Herding Dogs Herding, along with hunting, is probably one of the oldest professions for dogs. There are many breeds bred specifically for herding, and there are different styles, as well. Some breeds use what is called "eye", the tendency to stare down sheep. Dogs may be strong-eyed, medium eyed, or loose-eyed. Border Collies are an example of a strong-eyed breed. An Old English Sheepdog, in contrast, does not have much eye. Dogs may use nipping or barking to move the sheep. Corgies are well known for their ability to dart in and nip the heels of cattle, for example. Other dogs were drovers; that is, they physically butt up against the stock to move them. Rottweilers and Bouviers both were used for this type of work. The Nose Knows It may be hard to believe that dogs can quite easily smell things that we can't even see, but it's true! Dogs gather a lot of information about the world around them through their extremely efficient nose: they sniff other dogs to learn about their age, sex, and status, and they even sniff humans to tell if you are in a good mood, or a bad one! Dogs respond very strongly to various odours, and a dog's fascination with smells doesn't stop with sniffing. Even dogs that have lived indoors all their lives appear to have an instinct that tells them to get dirty and roll in smelly things at the first opportunity. To us it seems to be a pretty disgusting habit, but to dogs it's a form of camouflage that helps them hide from their prey! If you ever have to leave your dog for any length of time, be sure to leave a worn article of clothing with him or her. Your clothes carry your scent, and it is comforting to your dog. Tell Us Your Dog Tale! Every dog owner has a four legged hero in their household. Email us with your own heroic dog tale. We’ll publish the most funny, touching, or inspiring stories here on our site. Spread the Word! Spread the word about Canine Demine! Epostcards are coming soon!	Did You Know...? A dog's nose doesn't just dominate its face - it dominates it's brain too. Mucus carries odour molecules to tightly-folded scent membranes behind the nose. But while these membranes are postage-stamp sized in humans, they're handkerchief-sized in some dogs. And then there's the olfactory lobe, the part of the brain that processes scent information. The dog's is four times the size of a human's - despite the fact that dogs have smaller brains! With that much physical resource devoted to it, it's no wonder the dog's sense of smell is 1000 to 10, 000 times better than that of humans!