The oldest breeds.
The most old breeds appeared to be Shar-pei, Pekingese and Siberian Husky. And the Pharaoh's dog, who's images can be found with some Egyptian antiquities - is actually a modern breed, "updated" in the last century.
The Aztecs of ancient Mexico were breeding Chihuahuas (another very old breed) as a food for larger predators, which they were keeping in their zoos.

The biggest dogs on Earth
belongs to the breeds of English Mastiff and St. Bernard. Record of the heaviest dog belongs to the English mastiff Zorba (1989) - 155,6 kg. But the most huge dog is possibly the Irish Wolfhound, the representative of this breed once had a length of 80 cm at the withers.

The rarest breeds.
The most rare breed of dogs is the Chinook, which was originally bred in New Hampshire in the early beginning of XX century to be used as a sled dog. Even at the peak of it"s popularity the number of dogs of this breed was less than 300, and by 1966 had fallen to 125. 12 years later, there was 28 dogs of this breed left, but since then their number was more than doubled thanks to the efforts of the Association of Chinook Owners.
Cao Fila De Sao Miguel and the Hairless Terrier are also very rare breeds.

The highest dog in the world is higher than 2 meters.
The three years old Great Dane from Sacramento (California, USA) was named the world's highest dog. Male named Gibson standing in a vertical position is up to 2 meters and 10 centimeters high.

The smallest adult dog
was a representative of Yorkshire Terriers (1944) - his weight was 113 grams. In addition to the Yorkshire Terriers, another very small breeds are Chihuahuas (12.5 cm at the withers) and Toy Poodles.

Dog from the destruction of Pompeii time.
When in Pompeii were excavated dwellings affected by the eruption of Vesuvius 79г. BC, the scientists discovered the skeleton of the dog, who was laying over the skeleton of the child. The dog came to the defense of the little master in times of danger.

The first dog in space
was Laika, launched on the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 in 1957.

Dogs - actors.
Lassie, the Collie, was a real dog-star of many films and television series. Her debut was in 1942 in the film "Lassie Come Home".
Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd starred in 19 films and died in 1932.

The world's first dog - movie star.
Dog Rover was shot in 1905 for the film, directed by Cecil Hepuert "Saved by Rover".

Dog - King of Norway
The dog named Saur actually stood at the head of the country in the 11 century for almost three years. Norwegian king, annoyed by the people who were surrounding him, refused from the throne and demanded that the court and the queen would provide all necesary favors to the dog, as if he was a king.

Greek dog
named Soter was one of 50 watchdogs of ancient Greece, which had to help warriors to attack the enemy in the battle, he was the only survivor of all, and ran to the gates of Corinth to warn people about the coming danger.

Colour vision is absent in dogs.
Dogs do not have full color vision. Guide dogs can not distinguish the red light from green, so they are oriented by the flow of traffic. Greyhound and Borzoi have the best vision among the dogs.

Features of dog's vision.
Dogs can perceive a moving objects better than people. However they can see allot less details of the object. If the object is far away and static, then it will be practically invisible for the dog. Scientific researches have shown that the dog can not see his owner, if he is standing at a distance of 300 yards and he is not moving. On the other hand the dog is able to see a human, who is standing a mile away and swinging his hands.