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I want to dedicate this blog to 'man's best friend' which is a dog and sometimes the natural 'enemy' of a cat and which always bullies and chases cat. Just to show no hard feeling for a dog. 

Did You Know?

1. Man's best friend

This is one of the best term describing a dog, however, that reference is basically can refer to any animal that performs valuable service to humans. The affection for dogs as pets is pretty recent trend. Previously, dogs were mostly used as hunting dogs and defense dogs rather than pets. However, in 1870, the phrase 'a dog is a man's best friend' became popular because of a case in Warrensburg, Missouri, when a farmer shot his neighbour's dog. The lawyer George Graham Vest gave a moving speech and later known as the Eulogy to a Dog.

However, based from another source, it was said that the expression 'a dog is a man's best friend' first appeared in the The New-York Literary Journal, Volume 4, 1821, fifty years earlier than the Eulogy to a Dog.

2. It's a dog's life

It's an expression to describe that life is hard and unpleasant. This expression is mostly based on previous existence of dogs in people life. Dogs were never be considered as pampered pets previously. They were kept as hunting dogs, watch dogs and defense dogs. These dogs most of the time were not allowed into the owner's house. They were kept in kennels, fed scraps, worked hard and often died young. 

But I wonder, with the power of Hollywood celebrities whom making their dogs as pampered pets, they even put them in dresses, is the expression of 'it's a dog's life' as a hardship still applies?

3. A year in a dog

Did you know the statement that a year in human calendar means seven years in doggy life? This statement is only a myth, and no truth in it. The correct estimation of dog's life in comparison to human's years is as stated below:-

And just for fun, this is the conversion calculator on how to calculate your age in dog's years and vice versa. 

I know there are more fun idioms and phrases related to dog. Can you suggest and add some of them?

I've added a bunch of idioms related to dog thanks to my friends sewar, I am Vietnamese and Y.N. I never thought that dogs' related idioms are so many. Hmm.. Can you add any more?

1- Dog day of summer -  The hottest and most humid day of summer.

2- Dog eat dog world -  A way of life marked by fierce competition in which people compete ruthlessly for survival or success.

3- Go to the dogs - To decline in look or health; to be ruined or destroyed.

4- Let sleeping dog life - To not make trouble if you don't have to.

5- Raining cats and dogs - To rain very heavily.

6- Sick as a dog - very sick.

7- You can't teach an old dog new tricks - people who find it difficult or impossible to change their ways or adjust to new ideas.

8- Dog's dinner/breakfast - something that has been done very badly

9- A dog and pony show- a show or other event that has been organized in order to get people's support or to persuade them to buy something.

10- Be like a dog with a bone- to refuse to stop thinking about or talking about a subject.

11- Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion - It is better to be the leader of a less prestigious group than to be a subordinate in a more prestigious one.

12. Dog-tired - Extremely tired

13. Dog-eared - To turn down the corner of (the page of a book). To make worn or shabby from overuse.

14. Dog-paddle - A prone swimming stroke in which the head is kept out of the water and the arms remain submerged and are alternately thrust forward and pulled back while the legs kick.

15. In the dog house - Get a lot troubles

16. Be like a dog with a bone - To be relentless, to never stop.

17. Tail wagging the dog - a small part is controlling the whole of something.

18. Love me love my dog - A way of saying that you should love everything, and accept everything about the person you love.

19. As mean as a junk yard dog - A way of saying that a person is very mean.

20. A shaggy dog story - a story that can be funny, but usually ends up being ridiculously lengthy.

21. Every dog has its day - A way of expressing that it is inevitable that everyone will have at least one moment of glory in their lifetime.

Other Did You Know Series :-

1. Did You Know?;   2. Did You Know - Continuation;   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation;   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!;   5. Did You Know - Gosh! Will it never ends?;   6. Did You Know - Oh No! Not Another One!;   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!;   8. Did You Know? - Another One?;  9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?;   10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!;   11. Did You Know? - John Has it All?;   12. Did You Know? - Is this a Swan Song?;  13. Did You Know? - It's All in the Myth!;  14. Did You Know? - This is Random