Ever Wonder if Poodles Existed in the Wild?

The thought of wild poodles contending with the forbidding elements of nature makes us shudder. It’s hard to imagine a toy poodle surviving torrential rainstorms or blistering droughts in the desert, or slaughtering prey for its dinner (unless its prey was canned dog food). Or even getting its haircut messed up.

For that matter, what animal would make a toy poodle its prey in the wild? We have our doubts that it would be a status symbol for one lion to approach another predator and boast, “Guess what? I bagged myself a poodle today.”

If something seems wrong with this picture of poodles in the wild, you’re on the right track. We posed our Imponderable to the biology department of UCLA, and received the following response from Nancy Purtill, administrative assistant:

The general feeling is that, while there is no such thing as a stupid question, this one comes very close. Poodles never did live in the wild, any more than did packs of roving Chihuahuas. The popular breeds of dogs were derived from selective breeding of dogs descended from the original wild dogs.

Sally Kinne, corresponding secretary of the Poodle Club of America, Inc., was a little less testy:

I don’t think poodles ever did live in the wild! They evolved long after dogs were domesticated. Although their exact beginnings are unknown, they are in European paintings from the fifteenth century [the works of German artist Albrecht Dürer] on to modern times. It has been a long, LONG time since poodles evolved from dogs that evolved from the wolf.

A Brief History of the Poodle

Bas-reliefs indicate that poodles might date from the time of Christ, but most researchers believe that they were originally bred to be water retrievers much later in Germany. (Their name is a derivation of the German word pudel or pudelin, meaning “drenched” or “dripping wet.”) German soldiers probably brought the dogs to France, where they have traditionally been treated more kindly than Homo sapiens. Poodles were also used to hunt for truffles, often in tandem with dachshunds. Poodles would locate the truffles and then the low-set dachshunds would dig out the overpriced fungus.

Dog experts agree that all domestic dogs are descendants of wolves, with whom they can and do still mate. One of the reasons it is difficult to trace the history of wild dogs is that it is hard to discriminate, from fossils alone, between dogs and wolves. Most of the sources we contacted believe that domesticated dogs existed over much of Europe and the Middle East by the Mesolithic period of the Stone Age, but estimates have ranged widely-from 10,000 to 25,000 B.C.

Long before there were any “manmade” breeds, wild dogs did roam the earth. How did these dogs, who may date back millions of years, become domesticated? In her book, The Life, History and Magic of the Dog, Fernand Mery speculates that when hunting and fishing tribes became sedentary during the Neolithic Age (around 5000 B.C.), the exteriors of inhabited caves were like landfills from hell—full of garbage, animal bones, mollusk and crustacean shells and other debris. But what seemed like waste to humans was an all-you-can-eat buffet table to wild dogs.

Humans, with abundant alternatives, didn’t consider dogs as a source of food. Once dogs realized that humans were not going to kill them, they could coexist as friends. Indeed, dogs could even help humans, and not just as companions—their barking signalled danger to their two-legged patrons inside the cave.

This natural interdependence, born first of convenience and later affection, may be unique in the animal kingdom. Mery claims our relationship to dogs is fundamentally different from that of any other pet—all other animals that have been domesticated have, at first, been captured and taken by force:

The prehistoric dog followed man from afar, just as the domesticated dog has always followed armies on the march. It became accustomed to living nearer and nearer to this being who did not hunt it. Finding with him security and stability, and being able to feed off the remains of man’s prey, for a long time it stayed near his dwellings, whether they were caves or huts. One day the dog crossed the threshold. Man did not chase him out. The treaty of alliance had been signed.

Once dogs were allowed “in the house,” it became natural to breed dogs to share in other human tasks, such as hunting, fighting and farming. It’s hard to imagine a poofy poodle as a retriever, capturing dead ducks in its mouth, but not nearly as hard as imagining poodles contending with the dinosaurs and pterodactyls, or fighting marauding packs of roving Chihuahuas.

Living in a small space? Here are 13 of the Best Apartment Dogs!

When you think about common fruit flavours, grape is probably one of the first to come to mind. But as common as it is in candy and Popsicles, you’d be hard-pressed to find it in ice cream. Weird, right?

There’s actually a very legitimate reason people rarely sell grape ice cream, but it has nothing to do with the bizarre rumour that it was banned for making dogs sick (though you should check out these essential vaccinations for your dog).

Basically, grapes have high water content, which is why eating them is an easy way to stay hydrated. But it also means when you freeze them to make ice cream, they’ll turn into icy chunks. That’s all fine and dandy for an ice pop recipe, but not what anyone wants from a scoop of smooth ice cream. Plus, leaving the skins on would ruin the texture, but peeling grapes takes away most of their flavour, according to Why Do Pirates Love Parrots?: An Imponderables Book.

Getting around the ice problem is easy enough at home or a small local shop, where small batches of pureed grapes can mix into the creamy ice cream base. (Find out how other countries enjoy everyone’s favourite frozen dairy treat.) Going large-scale for a mass market, though, is when things get tricky. For instance, the Ben & Jerry’s founders used to make flavours like melon or cantaloupe, says Ben & Jerry’s PR representative Sean Greenwood. “But then, they were doing it on a two-gallon batch,” he tells Thrillist. “To try to do that on a massive scale is much more challenging.”

We know what you’re thinking: Cherry Garcia is one of the most popular flavours ever from Ben & Jerry’s. (If you love the flavour, too, check out what that says about your personality.) Grapes and cherries are both about 81 per cent water. Wouldn’t those ice-cold cherries pose the same problem?

The short answer is yes. But the fact that people go crazy for cherry means it’s worth the effort. “Most people don’t even associate grape with ice cream,” Greenwood tells Thrillist. “People grew up on cherry and vanilla—so now, they love cherry-based ice cream. Grape has not broken through the creme-de-glace ceiling, if you will.” If big-name brands did make grape ice cream—even using grape flavour instead of the fruit itself, like in some sherbets—they probably wouldn’t sell enough pints to make it worthwhile.

In fact, Ben & Jerry’s actually did try to make grape ice cream once. But it got mixed reviews from taste-testing guests at the company’s Flavor Lab, so the brand never bothered moving forward with it.

Plus: 14 Foods You Didn’t Know Were Called by Different Names in the U.K.

The Fascinating History of Cyber Monday

Black Friday shoppers have gone home with their discounted loot, even though we now know some Black Friday deals aren’t as good as they seem. Next up: Cyber Monday. Canadian spending on Cyber Monday increased by 14 per cent in 2015, making it the one of the biggest e-commerce sales day in the Great White North. But how did such a “holiday” come to be?

Thank Ellen Davis, senior vice president of research and strategic initiatives for the Washington-based National Retail Federation (NRF), who coined the term in 2005. For several years in a row, the NRF had noticed a recurring spike in online revenue and traffic on the Monday following American Thanksgiving. They believed it was because people were making purchases from their computers at work, where the Internet connections were faster and their kids couldn’t get a sneak peek at their gifts. (Here are the top 10 do’s and don’t’s of Christmas shopping.)

The group issued a press release a few days before American Thanksgiving, 2005, where they debuted the term “Cyber Monday.” According to the press release, 77 per cent of online retailers had seen their sales “increase substantially” on Cyber Monday the previous year and by NRF calculations could expect the trend to continue. Davis had considered calling the new online shopping holiday Black Monday, after Black Friday, or Blue Monday, after blue hyperlinks. But the former also refers to the day world stock markets crashed, and the latter sounded too depressing.

Long story short, the NRF was right. The New York Times report used the new term, and publicity about Cyber Monday spread. That Monday, online sales in the United States reached almost a half-billion dollars, a 26 per cent increase from the previous year. Year after year, Cyber Monday became more recognized, shoppers bought into more of its deals and discounts, but it didn’t quite live up to the promise of “Biggest Online Shopping Day of the Year.” In time, companies that track online spending began to argue that it was primarily a marketing gimmick and wouldn’t break any records, as digital promotions rarely fell on the same day. (Keep these eight simple tips for safe online shopping in mind.)

But in 2014, that all changed. That year Cyber Monday became the biggest online shopping day in America, raking in over $2 billion in sales. And each year since, the bar has been raised, with Forbes calling last year’s holiday “the biggest day in the history of U.S. e-commerce.”

So, has it lived up to the promise of “biggest online shopping day in the world?” Not quite yet. That honour goes to Single’s Day in China, when shoppers have actually spent up to $14.3 billion in 24 hours!

Check out 4 Ways to Give Truly Meaningful Gifts, According to Science!

Your mom’s advice was completely wrong. You shouldn’t treat others the way you’d like to be treated; you should actually treat others the way they would like to be treated, instead. It’s called “the platinum rule,” and using it could make people trust you more.

That’s according to Robin Dreeke, at least, a FBI agent who also happens to be a former Marine who graduated from the Naval Academy. He recently co-authored the book The Code of Trust, which gives a step-by-step approach to communicating with others more effectively. (Here’s how you can use body language to get what you want, too.)

When it comes to making people like and trust you, Dreeke says it’s important to “talk in terms of what’s important to them, in a way they can readily understand, and they’ll be more inclined to give you what you want,” according to Business Insider.

Dreeke even has some advice on how to best implement this rule. From the very first conversation you have with someone, he recommends determining the type of communicator they are. (Here are five subtle habits that make people trust you.)

While some people like to focus on people-oriented stories and anecdotes, others are more driven by tasks, processes, and procedures. And direct communicators generally think while they speak, whereas indirect communicators think before they speak. People tend to have a combination of two of these traits. Learning the way each person communicates will make your conversations more effective—and even earn you some bonus points in friendship and trust.

Ultimately, whether you want to build trust with co-workers or repair a damaged relationship at home, you’ll be more successful if you speak in a language they’ll understand. (But if you say this one word, people might trust you already.)

Plus: 16 Daily Habits of Naturally Charming People

You’ve made it. You managed to navigate your way through a busy airport without robot assistance; you breezed through security because you didn’t pack any items that might get you flagged; and you successfully boarded the plane. Now you’re comfortable in your seat in the (kind of incredibly germ-ridden) cabin, and there’s even a little bit of elbow room, as the flight isn’t fully booked for once. With the hassle behind you, you settle in with your neck pillow, pop some of these sleep-inducing songs on your iPod, and get ready to spend quality time sleeping on a plane. And you’re about to make a huge mistake that will put your health at risk, as reported by Travel + Leisure.

It’s not because of the music. It’s the shuteye part. According to MedlinePlus, falling asleep during landing or takeoff could cause serious damage to your ears. It all has to do with the rapid changes in air pressure in the cabin. (Taking a trip with a Canadian airline? Here’s how to make your flight as hassle-free as possible.)

If you’re awake, a natural response to alleviate pressure on your eardrums during takeoff and landing is to “pop” them, to maintain a pressure equilibrium. If you’re sleeping on a plane, you can’t actively work to relax those muscles and release the tension, so you can become susceptible to dizziness, ear infections, eardrum damage, hearing loss and nose bleeds. (Elevate your next trip with these innovative travel accessories.)

“A quick change in altitude affects the air pressure in the ear,” says Angel Chalmers, a British pharmacist, via Express. “This leads to a vacuum in the Eustachian tubes which makes the ears feel blocked and sound dull.”

Keep those Eustachian tubes clear and keep those eyes open for at least another few minutes. Crack open that book you just bought in the terminal!

Plus: The Best Times to Book Holiday Flights Anywhere in the World

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has stood the test of time as a literary classic. The story of a young Alabama girl learning the truth about racial injustice as her father fights it might just change your life. But how did this novel gain enough fame to become one of the most influential high school English books, beloved by students and adults alike? There might be more to its success story than meets the eye.

To Kill a Mockingbird did well when it was published in 1960, getting good reviews and selling millions of copies. However, its massive, enduring success in the years following was pretty unprecedented. It wasn’t the best-selling book the year it came out, and its author was an unknown. Yet today, you’d be hard-pressed to find a high school graduate that hasn’t read it for at least one class, and in 2009, it beat out the Bible in a survey on the most inspirational book of all time. According to Vox on YouTube, the book might owe its enormous popularity, in part, to the year it was published. (Here are the five books Margaret Atwood can’t wait to read next.)

To Kill a Mockingbird hit shelves during what historians call “the paperback revolution.” This movement was spurred by the founding of Penguin Books in 1935, when paperback books were still pretty rare, and hardcovers were the norm. Since paperback books were so much cheaper, both to produce and to buy, Penguin pushed to mass-produce them, and this trend quickly caught on throughout the U.S. The market exploded with inexpensive paperback books, many of which were…less than hyper-moral in their subject matter. (Science has figured out why you love the smell of old books.) But by 1961, the year Mockingbird won the Pulitzer, publishers of these paperback books sought to break through to the world of academia. And what better way to do that than with a recently published, well-reviewed, morally inspiring book?

In 1962, the heretofore scandalous-murder-mystery publisher Popular Library released the mass-market edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Educators had hit the jackpot—and so had the book. Between its subject matter, good writing, and its new inexpensive, widely available format, its place as a cultural icon was all but assured. If you haven’t read it—or these other classic books—yet, you definitely should!

Plus: 12 Things Only Full-Fledged Bookworms Will Understand

What is DOMS?

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) occurs after your workout is over, generally 24-72 hours once you’ve finished exercising. It’s a very common experience for everyone—from elite athletes to novice exercisers alike. Symptoms can range from slight muscle tenderness to muscle stiffness, loss of strength and swelling, and can be debilitating. For athletes, it is most prevalent at the beginning of a sports season—when hockey players hit this ice for training, for example. It is also quite common when returning to exercise after a prolonged time away.

Causes and Cures

DOMS is often precipitated by eccentric exercise—when the muscle is shortening and lengthening—such as when you run downhill, plyometrics (exercises designed to produce fast, powerful movement) and resistance training (such as lifting weights, using bands, etc.) to strengthen muscles. Research tells us that microscopic tearing of muscles fibres is the main culprit for DOMS, says Dr. Phil Chilibeck, Chair of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. “Many researchers believe it is inflammation that comes after the microscopic tearing that results in the ‘delayed’ part of DOMS. After microscopic muscle injury, immune cells go to the site of injury to ‘clean things up’ – in other words, repair the damage—which results in the inflammation and pain.”

Although time off from the gym and a full-body massage might seem appealing, heading back to the gym could be the best thing in coping with DOMS. “Repeated exposure to the same exercise stimulus will lessen the DOMS,” says Chilibeck. “Though you might feel the pain for a few days after doing an intense, unfamiliar muscular exercise, if you did the same exercise session a week later the DOMS would be less.” However, this is not to say you need to hit the gym hard. Ideally, you should target body parts that have been less affected, allowing the more affected muscle groups time to recover and build.

If you’re in a lot of pain, maximum strength ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, can be effective in relieving symptoms. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning found that ibuprofen can alleviate muscle soreness, but it won’t help with muscle recovery—in other words, even though the pain might decrease, your muscles still won’t be functioning as well for a few days after performing the intense exercise. Unfortunately, while stretching is great for improving flexibility and overall performance, a good stretch at the end of your workout won’t prevent muscles soreness, either. (Slow down and follow these 10 tips for relieving the pain of aching, sore muscles.)

One of the best things you can do to diminish the severity of DOMS is to warm up before you exercise. Although this won’t entirely prevent the onset muscle soreness after a workout, it can help reduce symptoms.

Is It DOMS or Damage?

It is important to understand the difference between muscle strain and DOMS. When you strain a muscle from vigorous exercise, you can worsen the injury if you continue to exercise. In other words, if you have severely strained a calf muscle running, you will have problems walking afterwards. If you have DOMS, your muscles will be stiff and sore, but you’ll be able to walk around, and the symptoms will go away within a few days. (Follow these tips to help speed up your metabolism.)

“With DOMS, you feel the pain in the muscle if you press down on it with your finger,” says Chilibeck.

“Your muscle strength and range of motion are diminished, sometimes for days.” Time is of the essence: If the pain doesn’t go away—if it takes you more than a week to recover—you need to get yourself checked out.

The Bright Side

Remember, DOMS is temporary and is not always a bad thing. “DOMS may be needed for muscles to “adapt” to an exercise stimulus. A muscle is broken down with exercise and when it is built back up and repaired, a greater than normal amount of muscle tissue might be the result,” says Chilibeck. (Professional wrestler and “Dad Bod Destroyer” Robbie E reveals the secret to staying fit after fatherhood.)

The best thing to know about DOMS: It is a step towards getting stronger. And, you know what they say…no pain, no gain.

This is the absolute best way to build muscle, according to science.