--- title: Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home», a lesson of the myths course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Cats do have a brilliant twist called the righting reflex that turns them feet-down in the air, but they still get badly hurt in falls --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Myths](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/) / Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home # Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home Lesson 12 of the myths course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/1/) — Cats do have a brilliant twist called the righting reflex that turns them feet-down in the air, but they still get badly hurt in falls, especially from high windows; a clever skill isn't a superpower. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/2/) — Home is full of pet "facts" like that: wagging means happy, purring means happy, a warm dry nose means ill, a dog's mouth is cleaner than yours, old dogs can't learn new tricks. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/3/) — Each one picks out one sign and forgets the rest: a dog may wag because it is nervous, and a cat may purr because it is hurt. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/4/) — To understand an animal, look at the whole picture, and ask the owner or a vet. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/5/) — Some old ideas were never true at all, like cats sucking the breath out of babies, but the worry behind them can still lead to a sensible rule: keep pets and babies supervised. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/6/) — Cats can twist in the air to land feet first, but they can still be badly hurt in falls, especially from high windows or very short drops. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/7/) — A dog's mouth is full of germs too, just different ones from ours; neither mouth is "clean". - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/8/) — Dogs wag their tails for many feelings, including nervousness and warning, so look at the whole dog and ask the owner before stroking. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/9/) — Cats do not suck the breath out of babies; that is an old superstition (a belief with no real reason behind it), but pets and babies should always be supervised for the safety of both. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/10/) — Many dogs eat grass when they are perfectly healthy, and scientists aren't sure why; if a dog seems unwell, ask a vet. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/11/) — Cats purr when content, but also when hurt, frightened or giving birth; purring may help them calm down. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/12/) — Older dogs can learn new tricks with patience and treats; the saying «you can't teach an old dog new tricks» is mostly used about people who don't want to change. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/13/) — Hamsters run long distances each night and need a big cage with deep bedding and a big wheel. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/14/) — Rabbits are social animals and usually need a rabbit friend and plenty of space, not a lonely hutch. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/15/) — A dog's nose temperature changes through the day, so a warm, dry nose is not a reliable sign of illness; eating, drinking and behaviour are better signs. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/12-cats-dogs-and-animal-facts-at-home/16/) — Advice on a pet-shop label isn't always the best; animal charities and vets give care guides. - ← previous: [Animals in the sea and the river](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/11-animals-in-the-sea-and-the-river/) - next →: [Earth from space](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/13-earth-from-space/) - ↑ back to [Myths](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/)