Canine Celebration
How much do you know about everyone's best friend?

By DR. MARTY BECKER and GINA SPADAFORI
Universal Press Syndicate

This week, we're again sharing excerpts from two of our three new books. Here, we go to the dogs with fun canine facts from "BowWow: Curiously Compelling Facts, True Tales & Trivia Even Your Own Cat Won't Know" (HCI, $15). Enjoy!

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We can't come to your home to autograph your books, but we're offering the next best thing. For a free cardstock bookmark autographed by Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori, send a self-addressed, stamped, legal-sized envelope to Pet Connection, Universal Press Syndicate, 4520 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64111. Please indicate if you'd like a "MeowWow" or "BowWow" bookmark and allow six weeks for delivery.

  • Dogs today are more likely to be given human names: Sam, Sadie, Molly, Max. But it wasn't always so. At least two names -- Rover and Fido -- were once so popular that they now serve as synonyms for the word "dog."

    • These names were of the descriptive variety, revealing the traits a dog had -- or those his owners hoped he'd have. Rover is pretty obvious, a term from the days before leash laws became more common than now. But Fido? Its roots are Latin and suggest a dog of unflinching loyalty and courage (rather like the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, Semper Fi, for "always faithful").

  • The phrase "Beware of Dog" is so old that its Latin equivalent -- cave canem -- has been found on signs in Roman ruins. The word "watchdog" isn't quite so old; the first mention of it is by William Shakespeare, in "The Tempest."

  • The idea that a dog's saliva has healing powers has been around at least since the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose physicians believed it to be an antidote for poisoning. Later, St. Roch was often pictured with a dog licking a sore, reflecting the belief that the patron saint of plague victims knew something about a cure and that his dog's saliva made him healthy.

    • Modern medicine, no surprise, doesn't look kindly on such theories. And by the way: Dogs are attracted to open wounds because the serum from them is sweet.

    But listen to your doctor: Soap and water, a dab of topical antiseptic and a Band-Aid are much better treatments for any cut.

  • Dogs have always gone to war, serving as everything from spike-collared attack forces to munitions haulers, from messengers to modern-day sentries and bomb- and drug-sniffers. Dogs really stepped up in World War I, when more than 15,000 of them served as guard dogs, messengers, sentries and rat-killers for Allied forces.

    • Many a soldier has owed his life to a dog, and many have never forgotten that debt. Organizations of former military dog handlers remain active, and among their goals is the construction of memorials to the animals that served so bravely.

  • President Harry S. Truman once said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." There's no doubt U.S. presidents have always gravitated toward the canine set, probably both for reasons of companionship and politics. (The latter because Americans have always seemed to appreciate a man who can appreciate a good dog.)

    • The father of the country set the tone for this canine adoration: President George Washington was known for his love of foxhounds, and the genes of his prized pack are probably in some of these hounds even today.

    Dr. Marty Becker, the popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," has been writing a syndicated newspaper column for more than a decade. Becker is also the host of "The Pet Doctor With Marty Becker," which airs on PBS stations around the country. He has appeared on Animal Planet and is a frequent guest on national network and cable television, and on radio shows.

    Gina Spadafori is the award-winning author of top-selling pet-care books, and a consultant to the Veterinary Information Network. Her Web log and column archives can be found at www.spadafori.com.

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