Did You Know? 8 Surprising Facts About Your Dog

July 19 2026, by Michael van Wassem, 5 min reading time

Why does your dog turn in circles before lying down, and does he really dream? 8 surprising, evidence-based facts about your dog's behaviour.

Your dog does things every day that feel completely normal but are, on closer inspection, pretty remarkable: turning in circles before lying down, twitching through a dream on his bed, or yawning the moment you do. Behind this behaviour often lies thousands of years of evolution, a nose that works like a supercomputer, or a simple form of social bonding. Eight facts that might change the way you look at your own four-legged friend.

1. A nose with superpowers

A dog's nose contains up to 300 million scent receptors, compared with around 5 to 6 million in a human. The part of a dog's brain that processes smell is proportionally about forty times larger than ours. Dogs even have an extra scent organ, the vomeronasal (Jacobson's) organ, which picks up scent trails and pheromones we could never detect. That sense of smell is also put to practical use: specially trained medical detection dogs can be taught to recognise a drop in blood sugar in people with diabetes, and researchers are studying whether certain diseases can be detected through breath.

💡 Want to put that nose to good use? A KONG Rewards Shell lets your dog use his sense of smell in a fun, satisfyingly tiring way.

2. Why does your dog turn in circles before lying down?

This instinct likely comes from wild ancestors who, before settling down to sleep, flattened tall grass and checked their immediate surroundings for danger, such as snakes or insects. Even dogs that have never slept outdoors show this behaviour - it's deeply wired into their genes, even when the bed has been soft and safe for years.

3. Do dogs really dream?

Researchers studying the brain activity of sleeping dogs have observed patterns during REM sleep that closely resemble those of dreaming humans. Twitching paws, soft whimpers or a moving nose during a nap strongly suggest that dogs do dream - most likely about familiar things like running, playing or sniffing.

4. What the direction of a wag reveals

Italian researchers discovered that dogs wag asymmetrically: when they see something pleasant, such as their owner, the tail swings slightly more to the right. When faced with something tense or unpleasant, like an unfamiliar, dominant dog, it swings more to the left. Other dogs can genuinely pick up on this difference. So a wagging tail doesn't automatically mean "happy" - the context and the rest of the body tell the real story.

5. Yawning is contagious, even between humans and dogs

Just as it is between people, yawning appears to be contagious between humans and dogs. In studies, dogs yawned noticeably more often after watching a person yawn, and the effect was stronger with their own owner than with a stranger. Scientists see this as a possible sign of social bonding and empathy between the two species.

6. Why dogs lick so much

The odd lick here and there is part of everyday contact, but excessive licking - of you, of themselves, or of objects - can also have a self-soothing effect. Producing saliva and repeating the motion has a calming effect, similar to a form of stress relief. That's why dogs enjoy licking and chewing on something for a long time, especially when they need a moment to themselves.

🐶 A filled treat-filled KONG is perfect for this: prolonged, focused licking and chewing keeps your dog happily occupied in a relaxed way.

7. Why dogs barely sweat

Humans cool down by sweating all over the body, but dogs have hardly any sweat glands - just a few scattered ones in their paw pads. Instead, they cool down mainly by panting: rapid breathing evaporates moisture from the tongue, mouth and nose, lowering body temperature. This is exactly why dogs are so much more vulnerable to overheating in warm weather than we are.

8. Does your dog see the world in colour?

Dogs aren't colour-blind, as was long believed, but they do see a more limited range of colours than humans. They're dichromats: their eyes mainly distinguish blue and yellow tones, while red and green are difficult for them to tell apart - similar to red-green colour blindness in humans. A bright yellow toy in the grass will therefore stand out to your dog far more than a red one.

What can you do with these facts?

These facts are fun to know, but also useful. A dog with a nose like a supercomputer thrives on scent work, and a dog that calms down through licking and chewing benefits from an interactive treat ball that makes him work for his reward. Hide a few tasty treats during playtime now and then, and you'll combine scent work, mental effort and a small reward in a single activity. That way, you make the most of exactly the qualities your dog is naturally good at.

In short

From a nose with 300 million scent receptors to a tail that gives away secrets: your dog's behaviour is full of small scientific wonders. Knowing these facts doesn't just help you understand your dog better - it also lets you respond to him more thoughtfully, whether that's with a scent game, a filled treat toy, or simply paying a little more attention to that wagging tail.

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