know

that Doberman Pinschers came about in the 1800s because a German guy man named Louis

Dobermann decided he needed some extra protection for his job? He was, it rather goes without

saying, a tax

collector.

And that’s the first of many facts about dogs that I’m going to share with you today.

LET’S GET

STARTED!

So Snoop Dogg got that name from his mom who compared him to Snoopy...MEREDITH. Facts

about dogs, not about Snoop Dogg.

Ok actual dogs, in 1942, William Randolph Hearst wrote an elegy that was published in

Time

Magazine. It was for his toy dachshund. Rest in Peace, Helen.

Picasso also had a dachshund. His name was Lump and he made frequent appearances in

Picasso’s work.

Speaking of which, "dachshund" means "badger dog" in German. They were bred to help

with hunting: they have a long body that was used to get badgers and other animals from

their

burrows.

Onto presidential dogs: Warren G. Harding's Airedale, Laddie Boy, had his own seat at

Cabinet

meetings. He was also pretty famous. The New York Times ran many stories about him with

headlines like “Laddie Boy a Newsboy” and “Laddie Boy Gets Playmate.” And “We’re

Running

Out of Things to Write About Laddie Boy.” Maybe instead you could have written about

Harding's disasterous presidency.

FDR's Scottish Terrier, Fala, was an honorary private in the Army. Speaking of Fala, at

a

campaign dinner in 1944, Roosevelt went on a rant about how the Republicans made up a

story

that he had left his dog in the Aleutian Islands and sent a Navy destroyer to go pick him up

--

costing taxpayers $20 million. Roosevelt referred to the story as “libelous statements about

my

dog.”

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev once gave a dog to JFK’s daughter, Caroline. The dog’s

name

was “Pushinka,” Russian for “Fluffy.” Pushinka’s mom was none other than Strelka,

one of the

first animals to orbit the earth.

While George H.W. Bush was in office, his dog Millie had a litter of puppies at the

White House.

One of these puppies, Spot, would later move back into the White House when George W. Bush

took office.

The Beatles were also dog lovers. In fact, Paul McCartney once said, “If you ever play

Sgt.

Pepper, watch your dog.” The band put a dog whistle sound during the song “A Day

in the Life,”

so you won’t hear it, but your dog might.

The golden retriever that played Comet for a full six seasons on the great american television

program Full

House also played Buddy in Air Bud, one of the greatest movies of all time.

Terry the Cairn terrier who was toto in the Wizard of Oz

Got paid $125 per week, compare that

with the one hundred dollars a week that the munchlkins earned.

~~~~∆∆∆∆ ~~~~ Moose the Jack Russell from Frasier received

more fan mail than any of the other actors. I bet

Kelsey Grammer hated that.

At the height of Rin Tin Tin’s fame for his work in silent films, a chef prepared

him a daily steak

lunch. While he ate, classical musicians played to aid his digestion. Cover Alex’s ears,

Mark. I

don’t want her to hear that.

Poodles have a reputation for being spoiled, but their haircuts are actually very functional.

were bred as hunting dogs — to retrieve birds who had fallen in water. Their coats

were mostly

shaved for swimming, except for strategic areas left for warmth.

They do have famously warm coats, you are a very bad person Cruella DeVille. Why did

we put you next to Lincoln, he's an American hero. Im moving you, you're going next to

the troll face and Napoleon.

Speaking of dogs with jobs (not to be confused with the Disney Channel show Dog with a Blog),

corgis were prized for their herding abilities. Despite their strange body type, they herded

cattle,

sheep, and even ducks and geese.

Pekingese dogs were bred to be the emperor's bodyguards in Ancient China. Miniature

Pekingese were named “Sleeve Pekingese” for how they were carried: in the large sleeves

of

the robes worn by members of the Chinese Imperial Household.

Belgian Malinois Shepherd Dogs have historically been police dogs — sniffing out explosives,

narcotics, and so on. More recently, they have been trained to smell prostate cancer.

Dogs can also be trained to sniff out bootleg DVDs. Plus, some are used to track down

smuggled phones in prisons. Watch out Orange is the New Black people.

This is possible because dogs have a sense of smell that’s between 10,000-100,000 times

more acute

than a human’s sense of smell.

Moving onto seeing eye dogs, the idea originated in Switzerland to help blind veterans. Seeing

eye dogs are also trained to go to the bathroom on command.

For the record, Jack Russell terriers were, in fact, bred by a man named John (Jack) Russell.

Which isn’t that weird when you consider how many things dogs have in common with people.

Like, dogs who bark continuously can also get laryngitis. They can be left or right

handed (or

pawed). And they also have different blood types.

Dogs even process voices much the same way humans do, which allows them to detect

emotions. But studies indicate that they actually don't feel guilty those looks you know so

well from “Dog

Shaming” blogs are just a response to the owner's displeasure.

But, they do feel envy if they feel another dog is being better rewarded for the same

trick. Also a thing with humans. Like remember when Kim got the Bentley and all the othe

Kardashian sisters were like "we're also professionally vapid"

In the 1800s, a “dog power” device was invented — a dog would walk on a treadmill

that ran an

appliance like a washing machine or butter churner.

Here's a crazy fact: The smaller a dog is, the more likely it will have dreams. Also,

big dogs have shorter life

expectancies because they age faster.

A Chinese study found that people who own dogs get better sleep at night and are sick

less

often. But they’re also more likely to have to clean up vomit regularly. That wasn’t

actually part

of the study. Just a fact that I happen to know Anyway, dog owners are also less likely

to suffer

from depression than non-pet owners.

Some of those dog owners take that affection pretty far. An estimated 1 million dogs in

the U.S.

have been named the primary beneficiary in their owner's will.

Speaking of which, in 1991, German Countess Carlotta Liebenstein left around $106 million

to her German shepherd, Gunther III. Most of this went to his heir, Gunther IV, so in

2000, he

bought an eight-bedroom mansion in Miami that once belonged to Madonna.

Dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 words and gestures. The average dog is as

intelligent as a two-year-old child. So I bet they buy a lot of Baby Einstein videos

when they get

all that sweet will money.

In 2010, a border collie named Chaser made news because researchers from Wofford College

had taught her to recognize 1,022 words, including many commands as well as hundreds of toy

names.

That reminds me of my dog Willy, who knows the word "treat"

Most pregnant Boston terriers and bulldogs have to deliver via caesarean section. In

fact,

up to 92% of Boston terrier deliveries are now c-sections.

In the 1860s, two stray dogs named Bummer and Lazarus roamed the streets of San Francisco.

They became a fixture in local newspapers and they were allowed to keep roaming in spite

of

the city’s anti-stray dog rules. It also didn’t hurt that they were expert ratters.

So I guess it’s cats:

1, rats: 0.

The Norwegian Lundehund has six toes on each foot. By the way, they were bred to hunt

puffins in Norway, which is how they got that name. Lunde is the Norwegian word for “puffin”

and “hund” means “dog.”

According the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest dog is a Great Dane named Zeus.

He’s 44 inches tall and reaches 7-foot-4 when he’s standing on his hind legs.

Finally, I return to my salon to tell you that in 2003, Ozzy Osbourne saw the family

Pomeranian,

Pip, being attacked by a coyote in the garden. He heard the dog screaming and physically

wrestled the coyote -- rescuing Pip from its mouth. and engaging in the most aerobic exercise

Ozzy Osbourne has seen since at least 1978

If only a nearby fan could have wrestled Ozzy Osbourne to the ground he could have saved

that bat.

Thank you for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these nice

people. Every week we endeavor to answer one of your mind-blowing questions. This week’s

question comes from TheGiantsFan0987 who asks, “Why do grading scales skip the letter E

in

the United States?”

Well, first off the giants suck, secondly the grade “E” WAS used. The first school

in the U.S. to use a grading scale

like the one we see today was Mount Holyoke, and they used the letters A-E, A being the

highest grade and E being the lowest. But, they worried that parents or students might

think “E”

I wanna apologize Giants fans, I'm a Cubs fan, I'm just jealous

stood for “excellent” instead of being the lowest grade possible. Now, “F” can

be interpreted as

standing for “fail.” By the 1930s, “F” had replaced “E” in most grading scales.

because you know, it's not excellent.

And by the way, go Giants! Mark, are the commenters going to yell at me for pandering?

If you have a mind-blowing question you’d like answered, leave it below in comments.

again for watching and as we say in my hometown, don’t forget to be awesome.