We can’t tell you how to housebreak your dog, but we can answer some other lingering questions.
1 Why Do My Dog’s Feet Smell Like Corn Chips or Popcorn?
Don’t worry! “Frito feet,” as the fragrant paws are sometimes known, are perfectly natural, and the explanation has nothing to do with stomping around in corn chips. First, consider this: The skin of most animals is home to a lot of microbes. Even a relatively clean human has around a hundred thousand bacteria on every square centimeter of his skin. Like we said, a lot of bacteria.
Dogs’ feet are a great place for bacteria and yeast to take up residence because there’s a lot of moisture and little to no air circulation in the folds and pockets of skin between toes and foot pads. In fact, bacteria flock there and reproduce with exuberance.
All these microorganisms give off their own distinct odors. The popcorn/corn chip smell on some dogs could be the fault of yeast or the bacterium Proteus, which are both known for their sweet, corn tortilla smell. Or it could be the bacterium Pseudomonas, which smells a little fruitier, but pretty close to popcorn to most noses.
These little critters are an integral part of life on Earth, and there are worse things the bacteria could be doing besides making your dog smell like delicious snacks.
2 Is My Dog’s Mouth Really Cleaner Than My Own?
Comparing a dog’s mouth with a human’s mouth is sort of like comparing apples and oranges—really filthy apples and really filthy oranges. Both species’ mouths are hot, damp places teeming with roughly equal populations of bacteria. Neither would be described as clean, and any question of comparative cleanliness is irrelevant because so much of that bacteria is species-specific. Most of the germs in your dog’s mouth aren’t going to be a problem during a big, wet doggie kiss. You’re more likely to run into trouble kissing another human than you are a dog, because bacteria from a person’s mouth will feel equally at home in yours.
Dalmatians take their names from Dalmatia, an Adriatic region that lies mostly within modern Croatia.
Of course, not all bacteria is species-specific. Dogs and humans can and do transmit some germs to each other via the mouth, so if your dog is the type that likes to lick faces (is there any other type?), there are a few precautions you can take. One, try to keep your dogs from picking up any external bacteria by keeping them out of the trash can (and away from rancid food) and away from wild animals (lest they contract rabies). Two, keep them healthy: up-to-date vaccines, good external and internal parasite control, regular teeth brushing, and the like. Once you do all that, pucker up!
3 Why Don’t Dogs Get As Many Cavities As People?
This one’s simple. Cavities are largely the handiwork of the bacteria Streptococcus mutans. These bacteria feed on sugar, which is far more common in a human’s diet than a dog’s. Hence S. mutans prefers to live in our mouths, not Fido’s.
Cocker spaniels got their name from English hunters. The little dogs were aces at tracking down woodcocks.
The secret to catnip is nepetalactone, a volatile oil stored in tiny bulbs on the leaves, stems, and seedpods of the plant. When nepetalactone enters a cat’s nasal tissue, it binds to olfactory receptors at the olfactory epithelium. Sensory neurons are stimulated and cause neurons in the olfactory bulb to send signals to the brain. Scientists still don’t have a complete neurological explanation for cats’ behavioral reaction, but the prevailing theory is that nepetalactone mimics a cat pheromone.
Don’t worry if your kitty’s not cuckoo for catnip, though. It doesn’t hold power over all felines. Response to catnip is genetically inherited, with about 70 to 80 percent of cats exhibiting the typical response to the plant. Of those, kittens younger than six months and very old cats are less likely to respond.
While catnip is related to marijuana, a 1988 New York Times article clearly stated, “[M]arijuana gives no pleasure to cats.”