• Dogs are the key to exercise motivation. A survey from the United Kingdom found that 3,000 dog owners spent an average of eight hours and 11 minutes weekly exercising their pets. The survey also looked at 2,000 petless people and found their average weekly exercise at only one hour and 20 minutes. Even more, 86 percent of pet owners said they enjoyed walking their dogs. Dog owners were also less likely to come up with excuses not to exercise than those who don’t own dogs. Only 16 percent of people said they enjoyed working out in the gym.

• The world record for the most tennis balls held in the mouth of a dog is five, a record held by Augie, a golden retriever from Dallas who successfully gathered and held five regulation-sized tennis balls.

• A horse’s whinny not only provides information on sex, height and weight, but also plays an important social role. According to a study in the journal Animal Cognition, the whinny is more important than visual cues to horses. Whinnies vary in frequency according to sex, with stallions having lower-pitched frequencies, and mares and geldings having a higher frequency. Horses were also able to identify the social status of the horse neighing, whether or not the study horse knew the neighing horse. Horses recognize their equine friends as long as they are within hearing distance.

Dogs are the best exercise partners, and they make people want to get moving. • Egyptians revered cats for their relation to their cat goddess, Bastet. Whenever a cat would die, ancient Egyptians were said to shave their eyebrows in mourning. — Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon

About Pet Connection

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by “Good Morning America” veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori.

On PetConnection.com there's more information on pets and their care, reviews of products, books and “dog cars,” and a monthly drawing for more than $1,000 in pet-care prizes. Contact Pet Connection in care of this newspaper by sending e-mail to petconnection@gmail.com or by visiting PetConnection.com.