There's knowledge that changes lives. And there's knowledge you want to tell someone at three in the morning who actually wants to sleep.

This article is for the second category. Everything here is true. Scientifically proven. Completely useless. And somehow – if you think about it long enough – not.

 

Dogs dream. Really.

Ezra lies in his spot. His paws twitch. His mouth makes small movements. Sometimes a soft woof. He's hunting. In his dream.

Brainwave measurements show that dogs dream just like humans do — the same sleep phases, the same REM sleep (the phase where dreams occur). Puppies dream more frequently — presumably because they have so much new information to process during the day. Small dogs dream more often than large ones.
What does Ezra dream about? Probably about the URL. About the ball. About Andreas. Maybe even about mangoes. What he definitely doesn't dream about: the watering can.

Dogs do their business in a north-south direction

Scientists analyzed 7,000 observations and found that dogs orient themselves to the Earth's magnetic field when defecating and urinating. They prefer the north-south axis. Similar behavior has also been observed in cows, deer, and foxes. The Earth pulls. Everyone feels it. Only we humans don't anymore.

This means: Ezra in front of the equestrian statue in Vienna — completely unfazed by tourists and pigeons — probably first briefly checked the cardinal direction. And then decided: this is good. North-south is right. 😄

The nose print is unique – like a fingerprint

Every nose print is unique — the patterns of ridges and bumps are not the same on any two dogs. There are even special nose print kits for dogs — you take the print and can have a pendant made from it.

What Ezra's nose can do: up to 220 million olfactory cells (we have five million). He can smell if someone is afraid. He can smell diseases. He can smell a drop in insulin in humans before they even notice it themselves. He smells the watering can from afar. Immediately. Always.

 

Paul McCartney hid a frequency for dogs in a Beatles song

At the end of 'A Day in the Life' — the final song on Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — Paul McCartney inserted a frequency in 1967 that only dogs can hear. A whistle beyond human hearing.

Why? Because he could. Because he loved his dog. So, if you put on Sergeant Pepper and your dog suddenly perks up, cocks its head, and looks confused – that's Paul McCartney. Saying hello. From 1967. 🎵

Left-pawed and right-pawed dogs actually exist

About 90 percent of humans are right-handed. For dogs, it's more balanced — about a third are right-pawed, a third are left-pawed, and a third have no preference. And — here's the best part — left-pawed dogs are said to be creative and constantly surprise their owners.

How do you find out? You observe which paw comes forward first when they jump. Several times. If it's always the same — that's their favorite paw. Is Ezra left-pawed or right-pawed? That's homework for me. 😄

 

Dogs roll in smelly things - and that's on purpose

Ezra comes back from his walk. Happy. Radiant. And smells like... something we'd rather not describe in detail. That's no accident. That's evolution.

Wolves mask their own scent for camouflage. The smellier the source, the better — the terrain then smells like the environment instead of like a wolf, making hunting easier. Ezra doesn't need camouflage. He no longer hunts prey. But the program still runs. 40,000-year-old DNA. Just like that.

Dog days have nothing to do with dogs

The hottest days of the year are called "dog days" — but not because dogs suffer in the heat. It's because of a star. Sirius — the brightest star in the night sky — belongs to the constellation Canis Major and was therefore called the Dog Star. The Greeks and Romans noticed that Sirius rose with the sun during the hottest summer weeks. And concluded: the Dog Star causes the heat.
Completely wrong. Completely logical for 400 BC. And uncorrected ever since.

 

Dogs sweat through their paws

It's a common myth that dogs don't sweat at all. They do sweat — but almost exclusively through the pads of their paws. That's where the sweat glands are located. Dogs use panting for cooling — rapid inhalation and exhalation causes moisture to evaporate from the tongue and cool them from the inside.
The damp paw prints Winnie leaves on the carpet after a summer walk — that's sweat. Officially. Scientifically. Winnie sweats on the carpet. 😄

 

Dogs understand up to 250 words

The average dog understands about 165 words and gestures. The smartest — Border Collies, Poodles, Labrador Retrievers — can reach up to 250. This corresponds to the language comprehension of a two-year-old child.

A two-year-old child who never says no if you asked them if they wanted to go for a walk. Who never complains if the food isn't warm enough. Who never explains why they don't like the watering can. In some ways, clearly the better toddler. To be understood as a metaphor.

 

The Ewoks from Star Wars are modeled after a dog

George Lucas — creator of Star Wars — modeled the Ewoks after his family dog. Indiana was an Alaskan Malamute. Big, fluffy, dignified. Indiana also inspired the name of Lucas's other famous hero: Indiana Jones.

So, dogs shaped 20th-century pop culture. Without knowing it. Or maybe they did. One never knows.

 

Famous people and their dogs — a small hall of fame

Queen Elizabeth II — and her Corgis

The Queen owned over 30 Corgis in her lifetime — all descendants of Susan, the Corgi she received for her 18th birthday, who even accompanied her on her honeymoon. A biographer once wrote: the Queen likes dogs, horses, men and women — in exactly that order.

Lady Diana called the Corgis 'walking carpets' because they always bustled around the monarch. The Corgis had their own room in Buckingham Palace — the Corgi Room — their own staff and a chef. The Queen personally gave them gifts at Christmas. The vets advised against raisin buns with cream and strawberry jam. The Queen had them served anyway. On a silver platter, of course. 👑

 

Peggy Guggenheim — and her Lhasa Apsos in Venice

Peggy Guggenheim — patron of Dalí, Picasso, Pollock, and Kandinsky — traveled through Venice in her private gondola. Always with her Lhasa Apsos on board. Her grave and the graves of her 14 beloved dogs are located on the grounds of the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni — today the Peggy Guggenheim Museum on the Grand Canal. She wanted to lie beside them in death too. That was her wish. And it was fulfilled.

 

Otto von Bismarck — and his Great Danes

Bismarck loved dogs with an intensity that sometimes unnerved his contemporaries. His Great Dane, Tyras, tore the trousers off the Russian Prince Gortschakow in 1878 — because the prince gestured too wildly. Bismarck barely apologized.

 

 

Frederick II of Prussia — and Biche

Frederick the Great had a Whippet named Biche, who was given to him in 1744. His last wish: to be buried next to her. It was not until 1991 — 205 years after his death — that this wish was fulfilled. He now lies next to Biche on the terrace of Sanssouci Palace.

 

Karl Lagerfeld — and Choupette (yes, a cat — but too good to leave out)

Karl Lagerfeld didn't have dogs. He had Choupette — a Birman cat with her own bodyguard, two assistants, her own iPad, and a penchant for caviar. In 2014 alone, she earned three million euros from advertising campaigns. Lagerfeld said: 'She stole my heart.' And: 'I would marry her if I could.' After his death, Choupette inherited a significant portion of his fortune.

 

Paris Hilton — and Tinkerbell

Paris Hilton made the Chihuahua the It-Bag alternative of the 2000s. Tinkerbell wore designer clothes, traveled in a Louis Vuitton bag, and was on more magazine covers than most models. Paris Hilton even wrote a book from Tinkerbell's perspective. Tinkerbell passed away in 2015. Paris Hilton mourned publicly. And then bought more Chihuahuas.

Famous movie dogs — another gallery of honor

Inspector Rex — Austria's most famous German Shepherd comes from Bavaria

Since 1994, Rex has been investigating in Vienna. Over the course of 30 years, at least 19 German Shepherds have participated — eight official main actors and at least eleven stunt and backup dogs. The new Rex's real name is Capo — trained by the Film Animal Ranch in Bavaria.

He eats sausage rolls — with unseasoned sausage, of course, we streamed it ourselves. And he's afraid of water and runs away when he's supposed to be bathed. The 'Viennese police dog' — from Bavaria, hates baths, loves sausage rolls. Somehow endearing. 😄

Since April 13, 2026, he's back — six new 90-minute feature films on ORF and SAT.1. Filmed in Vienna and Lower Austria. We really love our planet. 🐾

 

Lassie — actually a male dog

Lassie is the most famous female dog in film history. She was played by a male dog named Pal — whose descendants were seen on screen for decades afterwards. Lassie has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

Rin Tin Tin — the first four-legged movie star

Rin Tin Tin, a German Shepherd, was discovered in a bombed-out stable in France by a US soldier during World War I — and later became one of the biggest movie stars of the 1920s. According to legend, he received the most votes for Best Actor at the first Academy Awards in 1929. The Academy found that less amusing and awarded the prize to a human.

 

Toto — earned more than Dorothy

Toto from The Wizard of Oz — played by a female dog named Terry — earned $125 a week on set. Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, received $500. For an animal in the 1930s, this was revolutionary. For Judy Garland, it was an insult.

 

Marley — the world's worst dog

Marley from 'Marley & Me' is considered the most disobedient movie dog of all time. He eats furniture. He breaks leashes. He doesn't survive a single obedience training session. And in the end, all of America cries.

 

Idefix — the Pacifist

Idefix from Asterix is the only dog in world literature who cries when a tree is cut down. A dog with more environmental awareness than most humans.

And finally — the most beautiful quotes about dogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Conclude

Knowledge makes one happy. Even if you never need it. Perhaps especially then.

And on the next walk, when Ezra stops, turns, pauses briefly — then we know: he's checking the cardinal direction. North-South. All correct. Then we can go. 🐾🧡

 

And if you now want to read about zeolite as a feed additive for dogs, we would be delighted:

🔗 🐕 Effect, Application, Experience - Overview & Guide to Zeolite for Dogs
🔗 🐕 Dosage and Application of Steinkraft Zeolite in Dogs. A Guide for Dog Lovers.
🔗 Questions about Zeolite and its Answers on our FAQ page
🔗 What is Zeolite? – Origin, Effects & why Quality is Crucial
🔗 About Us - This is Steinkraft Zeolite