Canine Celebration
How much do you know about everyone's best friend?
BY DR. MARTY BECKER and _GINA SPADAFORI Correspondent
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 "Bow- Wow: Curiously Compelling Facts, True Tales & Trivia Even Your Own Cat Won't Know" (HCI, $15). Enjoy!

• 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 drugsniffers. Dogs really stepped up in World War I, when more than 15,000 of them served as guard dogs, messengers, sentries and ratkillers 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.

Merit badges for good dogs

Dog Scouts of America has to be one of the more clever ideas I've ever seen, with a Web site (www.dogscouts.com) that lives up to its potential.

The idea behind the site is that dogs don't get enough exercise of their minds and their bodies (true), and that doing things with your pet can be great fun for you both (doubly true). As one might guess, the site offers guides for plenty of wonderful activities, from backpacking to obstacle courses and "naked obedience" (the dog is naked, not the person).

Of course, adorable merit badges mark each skill mastered at each progressively more diffi- cult level. The entire DSA manual is online and free to access. There's also a lot of practical advice on training and problem-solving.

Troops can be found in many states, as well as Canada and Japan. Join the fun!