Aside from being the world’s popular pet, dogs are also among the smartest creatures in the planet. In fact, their intelligence contributes remarkably to the genuine delight that they bring to their owners. Here are some discovered facts about canines that might amaze you in one way or another:

• Smiling at a dog causes him to think you are baring your teeth to show aggression.

• Newfoundlands have webbed feet, making them great swimmers and divers.

• The Bloodhound doesn’t need to smell blood to find someone who is lost. It is said that his name instead means blooded hound, or aristocratic.

• Dogs are capable of locating the source of a sound in 6/100ths of a second by using their swiveling ears like radar dishes.

• The first search and rescue dog on the scene at the World Trade Centre 9/11 in 2001 was Bear, an 11 year old Golden Retriever. He began recovery efforts immediately working 18 hours days in the beginning.

• The most successful mountain rescue dog ever was a St Bernard named Barry, who lived during the early 1800’s and saved 40 lives.

• Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears. Unfortunately the likes of bulldogs only have 10 due to their breeding.

• It was recently discovered that dogs do see in colour, just not as vivid as the colour that humans see.

• Dogs first distinguish objects by movement, then brightness, and finally by shape.

• Dogs have a sense of smell that is one of the keenest in nature. Humans might smell a pot of stew cooking on the stove, but a dog can distinguish the smells of each individual ingredient, from the beef itself to the potatoes.

• Whippets can reach a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour.

• Many dogs’ eyes reflect the color green in the dark, but some also reflect orange or red.

• The Poodle haircut was originally meant to improve the dog’s swimming abilities as a retriever, with the pom-poms left in place to warm their joints.

• Lastly, did you know that when a puppy is born, he is blind, deaf, and toothless? It’s pretty much surprising how puppies grow up to be skilled and smart creatures.

Some capabilities of canines are innate, while some are acquired in dog trainings, like “How Smart Is Your Dog?”,a self-scoring intelligence test for dogs, developed by Dr. Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia. It is designed primarily to determine a dog’s IQ from the series of tests included in the package.

It would be best to train your puppy while they’re still young. So they’d grow up to be as intelligent as you are… or who knows, with “How Smart Is Your Dog?”, perhaps your puppy could even outsmart you.