Who doesn’t love a puppy? Bet you we’ll never not see hands going up for this question. Let us tickle you a little with some pawsome facts about puppies – you’ll be wowing your friends with your super puppy factoids in no time – you know you want them.
15 super cute puppy facts
Puppies are born completely blind and deaf
Lucky them, they’re still living in their own little world. Their eyes don’t open until they are around 2 weeks old, so before this they use their amazing sense of smell to find their Mum. She smells like love and happiness, which makes it easy for them to find. The only sense puppies have at birth is touch.
Newborn pups can’t poop!
This is most definitely something you will not have experienced with your pup, but when they’re born, Mum has to help them. Everybody deals with puppy poop at some point.
If you ever run out of puppy treats, try a raw carrot
Most puppies and dogs love them, they clean their teeth and are healthy too! We should follow their taste in treats to be honest, and leave scones and chocolates behind. But if carrots aren’t really your puppy’s thing, we’ve written an entire article reviewing treats which might be helpful to narrow your options down.
Most puppies will need to go to the toilet 15 minutes after a meal
This is one of those facts about puppies you really want to know. If you don’t want to step on a stinky puddle in your living room, set the alarm to take them to the loo! Our week by week puppy training guide gives you a good idea of when you’ll need to take them out before they “go” in.
Puppies lose their velvet soft fur to make way for their adult coat
You probably won’t notice as they lose it, but in some dogs you might see a slight colour change. Don’t worry, they keep their puppy eyes for the rest of their lives.
Puppies love fuss! Strokes, rubs, you name it – they just love it
But little did you know that being lovey-dovey with your puppy is actually a win-win situation for you too! It can help lower your blood pressure and wave that stress goodbye.
Puppies sleep a lot..about 15 to 20 hours per day!
This makes perfect sense of course – they need all the rest they can get for their brain development, muscle development and immune system. Sleep also helps them stay calm and focused and keeps that bitey monster pup at bay. Looks like sleeping longer is a fact about puppies that wouldn’t hurt to do ourselves. Our week-by-week puppy training schedule gives you a good overview of their daily schedule and when they’re most likely to go for a nap…or for a poo.
Puppy litter size is determined by breed
The larger the breed, the larger the litter! For example, Tia the Neopolitan Mastiff holds the record with 24 puppies! Just imagine.
Dalmatians are born completely spot free
Their spots appear after a couple of weeks and continue to darken for up to 18 months. Don’t go calling Cruella now, this is just a plain and simple fact about puppies.
It’s never too early to start training
From just 8 weeks old puppies can learn to sit, come and learn their names. Much smarter than you were when you were 8 weeks, right? Oh, and when you’re training, get down on the ground with your pup. They learn much better when you are down on their level. If you’re already in the training phase of your puppy, make sure to read our article on when to start training anything with your puppy – it’s a weekly overview so everything looks nice and not intimidating.
11) Puppies have baby teeth too!
Just like babies, puppies have a first set of baby teeth. We’re sure you’re all too familiar with the razor sharp, needle teeth they arrive with, but did you know they actually lose these to make way for a whole new set of adult pearly whites? Check out our article on when do puppies lose their teeth to learn more.
12) You can clone your puppy!
The first ever cloned puppy was born on 21st April 2005 and lived until he was 11 years old. Would you want to clone your puppy?
13) Happy Birthday
Puppies become adults when they turn 1, although they might not behave like it so don’t start counting the days to that first birthday.
14) That’s a lot of puppies
How many puppies do you think are born each day? It’s estimated that 1.2 million are born worldwide. Another interesting fact about puppies is that the number of pups born each day drastically overtakes the number of human babies that come into the world.
15) Puppy or Hulk?
You won’t believe this but puppies can actually be born green! I know… crazy or what? It’s caused by a pigment called biliverdin that comes through Mum’s placenta and causes the coat to have a green pigment. Don’t worry it fades after a few weeks.. Don’t see any green adult dogs wandering about do we? Well, not unless they’ve been rolling in the grass.
So there you have it, some facts about puppies that show just how pawsome our furry friends are. Whether they’re helpful or not is another discussion – but we’re pretty sure you’ll need them some day. You never know what might pop up in the pub quiz. We at least hope you have enjoyed our puppy facts; speaking of which, you might also like to read our article on another weird thing that happens to puppies…hiccups!
For more information on all things puppy and your personal puppy training journey, why not download the Zigzag app? We’ll take you by the hand for all the puppy training that’s coming your way, but you will also have access to our team of puppy experts. They’re truly fabulous and can help with training, puppy care and pretty much anything, they’ve really seen it all.
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