With an estimated 400 million canine breeds across the globe, dogs are historically man’s best friend. Even cat people can’t deny canines have been instrumental to the development of civilization and still contribute to contemporary society. Serving in every capacity from sled dogs to first responders, they have helped mankind insurmountably. But there are a few things you may not know about our four legged friends.

Intelligence
• Dogs are capable of understanding up to 300 gestures and verbal commands
• Dogs dream just like humans, as frequent running in-place and barking while sleeping indicate
• Dogs can detect when a storm is coming, which they show when acting out of sorts, thanks to barometric pressure drops

In History
• Two stray dogs taken in by American soldiers while in Afghanistan chased away a suicide bomber, saving the lives of 50 servicemen
• One of Michael Vick’s fighting dogs was rescued from the operation to serve as a comfort dog to a children’s ward
• During the Vietnam War, dogs were able to detect enemy soldiers. But because barking would give away their position, they were trained to express non-audible cues. These included everything from standing on hind legs to raising their hair
• Because Pekingese dogs were bread so small, they served as the last line of defense to ancient Chinese emperors, able to hide the animal on their person

Physical Ability
• A dog’s sense of smell is anywhere from 10,000 to 1000,000 times as acute as a humans and can smell everything up to a mile away
• More than a dozen separate muscles control a dog’s ear movements
• Dogs can see in the dark thanks to a special eye membrane