How Can You Not Love That Face? Quiz

Answer: U.S. Marine Corps

The English bulldog is the official mascot of the U.S. Marine Corps, with many bases having a member of the breed on site as their regimental talisman. The nickname sometimes used for a U.S. Marine, "Devil Dog", is perhaps based on the service's mascot.

Numerous U.S. universities also use the English bulldog as their official mascot, amongst them Yale, Georgetown, Mississippi State, Georgia and The Citadel.

Answer: Sir Edwin Landseer

Born in London in 1802, Edwin Landseer many be best known for his lion statues that surround Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London. Many of his animal paintings are equally famous: his stag in "Monarch of the Glen", horses in "The Arab Tent", cattle in "The wild cattle of Chillingham" and, of course, dogs in works such as "Doubtful Crumbs" and "A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society".

Answer: Babe

"Babe" starred James Cromwell as Arthur Hoggett, owner of Fly the border collie. Fly is voiced by Miriam Margolyes, famous for her performances in "Black Adder" and as Professor Sprout in the "Harry Potter" film series.

Other notable voice actors include Hugo Weaving as Rex, Arthur's lead sheepdog and Christine Cavanaugh as the piglet who is the film's title character. Ducks, cows, sheep, roosters and horses all get provided with voices here.

Answer: Best Actor Oscar

Rin-Tin-Tin was ideally suited to the films of the 1920s, silent as they were at the time. It is perhaps not that surprising, therefore, that he polled the most votes in balloting for the first Best Actor Oscar. In the end, though, the Academy decided that the award had to go to a human actor, and thus is was Emil Jannings whose name goes down in history as the first Best Actor winner.

Rin Tin Tin's lasting legacy, perhaps, is that the German shepherd is now the second most popular breed in the U.S. after the Labrador. The breed also scores highly on intelligence tests, finishing only behind the border collie and the poodle.

Answer: 43 mph (70 kph)

Few land mammals can accelerate faster than a greyhound. One that can is the pronghorn antelope, built for predator evasion, which reaches its top speed of around within a couple of strides. The fastest out of the blocks, though, is the cheetah, which can reach its top speed of 68 mph within three to four strides from a standing start. Neither of these animals can maintain their top speed for long, though, and within half a mile the antelope is down to the comparatively mundane pace of around 43 mph at which the greyhound races.

Answer: Dodie Smith

Originally bred as a carriage dog in the Dalmatia region of modern-day Croatia, the Dalmatian is today one of the world's most loved pet breeds.

Born Dorothy Gladys Smith in 1896 in the town of Whitefield in Bury, Greater Manchester in northwestern England, Dodie Smith created one of literature's all-time most villainous characters in Cruella de Vil. The 1956 novel "The Hundred and One Dalmatians" is also sometimes called "The Great Dog Robbery". Smith wrote a sequel "The Starlight Barking", published in 1967, which continues the story from the end of the first novel.

Answer: Mexico

Not only is the Chihuahua the world's smallest dog breed, but it is also one of the oldest. Dog toys in the image of the Chihuahua have been found from Mexico to El Salvador, with the earliest dating back to early in the 2nd century A.D.
Archaeological finds confirm that the breed originated in Mexico, and it is named after the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua in the central region of that country. Ironically, Chihuahua is Mexico's largest state, covering an area slightly larger than the United Kingdom.

Answer: Italy and Switzerland

The Great Saint Bernard Pass connects the city of Martigny in the French-speaking Swiss canton of Valais to the city of Aosta in the bilingual Italian Alpine region. Traveling between the two highest peaks in the Alps, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa, the Great Saint Bernard Pass follows the line of the watershed that divides the Po basin on the Italian side of the mountains from the Rhone one on the Swiss side.

At the highest point on the pass, at 8,100 feet above sea level, you will find the site of the hospice for travelers that dates back to 1049, founded by Saint Bernard of Menthon. The road today goes around the outside of the monastery complex, although visitors are more than welcome to stop and visit the kennels that house the Saint Bernard puppies, some of which are already the size of a small horse. I've driven the pass and stopped to see the dogs, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the area.

Answer: Richard Nixon

King Timahoe was a gift from the White House staff given to President Richard Nixon on his 56th birthday in 1969. He remained as Nixon's pet throughout the next five years in the White House and until his death in 1979.

Other famous Irish setters include Mike, a pet of U.S. President Harry Truman; Milord, which belonged to Czar Alexander II of Russia; and Shannon, who was best buddy to Beach Boy Carl Wilson. There have also been famous literary Irish setters: Redbeard was owned by a young Sherlock Holmes and Kojak was a prominent character in Stephen King's "The Stand". T-Bone was the official mascot of the Pace University Setters sports teams, whilst Thunder performed the same role for the Thunderbirds of the University of British Columbia.

Answer: Digby

The film was "Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World" and the title role was played by Fernville Lord Digby, who at the time was the reigning 'Dulux Old English Sheepdog'. Dulux, the paint-manufacturing company, had been using Old English Sheepdogs to advertise their brand since 1961.

There are numerous other examples of famous Old English Sheepdogs in film, TV and literature. Barkley appeared regularly on "Sesame Street" and Barney, voiced by Tim Brooke-Taylor, was the title character is an English children's TV series of the late 1980s. Paul McCartney owned an Old English Sheepdog called Martha, and even wrote a song about her: "Martha My Dear" which appeared on "The White Album".