10 superstitions about dogs

Here are 10 superstitions and folklore about our canine friends...

1 According to the Ancient Greeks, dogs could foresee evil.

2 A newborn baby licked by a dog will be a quick healer.

3 A dog which gives either a single howl or three howls and then falls silent is said to be marking a death that has just occurred nearby.

4 In Scotland, a strange dog coming to the house means a new friendship is about to start.

5 In England, meeting a spotted or black and white dog on your way to a business appointment is considered to be lucky, and will bring you success,

6 Good luck will come to anyone followed by a stray dog – except on rainy nights, when it will bring bad luck.

7 In medieval times it was believed that if a dog howled when a baby was born, it would have an unhappy life.

8 Seeing three white dogs together means you'll be lucky.

9 A dog eating grass foretells rain.

10 In the USA, a dog sleeping with its tail straight out and paws upturned is supposed to foretell the arrival of bad news: the direction the tail is pointing in indicates the direction the bad news will come from.

• Taken from 'Haunting Hounds' by Karen Bush and Claire Colvin..