“Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit,
you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
Mark Twain
Courtesy of TED-Ed:
The dog is humanity’s oldest and most loyal friend and companion since the beginning of time. Changes during the course of Earth’s evolution, at least 32,000 years ago, resulted in nomadic tribes needing to seek an alliance with dogs. They would guard them against predators or other tribes intent on a violent encounter. They hunted together, the children played with puppies, and later on, when people acquired livestock, they would help the herdsmen. There are realistic drawings of dogs in caves dating from the 3rd-2nd millennium BC.
To ancient tribes all over the world, the dog would also represent a spiritual link with their forefathers who would take on the appearance of a dog. Those tribes were not connected in any way, living in different parts of the globe, yet their elders would tell similar stories about the legend that had humans and dogs closely related. The natives of Alaska believed that their ancestors had been huskies, others in Indonesia, China and Scythia, all believed that they descended from dogs.
The ancient Egyptians believed that when they died, they would be going to the Duat, the Kingdom of the Dead. The ruler of the Kingdom of the Dead was Anubis, a man with the head of a jackal or a dog. It was Anubis who would lead a dead Egyptian to a place of judgment. On the way, they would pass stone statues and columns entwined with living snakes. In the last chamber, the dead would have to undergo the judgment of their life’s deeds. On the one side of the scales, there would be a feather, on the other the dead man’s heart. If his heart wouldn’t outweigh the feather, he would be pronounced worthy of resurrection, of further life. His soul would be sent to paradise, and his body to be embalmed. Anubis was thought to have invented embalming himself and the priest who did the embalming would wear a dog’s mask during the procedure.
The hunting dogs of the pharaohs and nobility were highly respected and when they died, they were embalmed and buried in their own cemeteries. The first dog that we know of from those ancient times is the dog described on his sarcophagus as “The hound Abuwtiyuw, favourite of the Pharaoh”, found in the cemetery in Giza.
In ancient Greece, dogs were not given the status of deities but would accompany the gods in the same way as they did humans. Dogs were often depicted accompanying Hermes, the patron of travellers. He was also the guardian of secret knowledge and lead the dead soul to the next world, with which the dog was linked. The Greek goddess Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology), was always surrounded by dogs while hunting, as was the goddess of the night, Hecate, also seen hunting with dogs.
When an ancient Hindu died, his body would be cremated on a funeral pyre and the mourners in the procession were singing to Yama, the ruler of the underworld:
“We send him to you
under the protection of the two loyal hounds
The four-eyed guardians of the roads…”
The hounds were dogs of noble pedigree, their mother being a personal dog of the main deity of ancient Hindus, the goddess Indra.
In Iran, the Zoroastrians, followers of the ancient Iranian religion, had an interesting way of obtaining the goodwill of the dog that guides the souls of the dead into the next world across the pernicious Chinvat bridge. A righteous man would cross easily and enter paradise, but a sinner would slip off into the abyss of hell. In the hope of help from the dog at that crucial moment, each Zoroastrian would try to feed some canine at least once a day in their lifetime.
In ancient times the calendar created thousands of years ago in South-East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, and a few other countries, always included the dog. The eleventh year of each cycle is the Year of the Dog. It is believed that people who are born in these years are loyal, determined, responsive and dependable to fulfill their obligations, but also unsociable and not inclined to express their feelings openly.
The ancient Roman calendar was based on the movements of heavenly bodies. The Romans didn’t see just stars in the night sky, but whole scenes and pictures that included a pair of hounds straining on a huntsman’s leash, called the constellation Canes Venatici – the ‘hunting dogs’. Close by, a small dog is resting – Canis Minor. Over there a dog sitting down – Canis Major. The brightest star, Sirius, in summer made Rome so hot that the city’s institution would take a break from work – the ‘dog days’.
The ancient Sumerians called Sirius ‘the dog of the Sun’. The ancient Egyptians worshipped Sirius, and Greeks would follow suit making sacrifices in the hope that the blistering heat would not damage their crops.
The Chinese would not make any important decisions without consulting a calendar. For example, there could be no marriage of two people born under two incompatible signs, say – those born in the Year of the Dog and those born in the Year of the Rooster. The early Chinese calendar shows the rooster running away from the dog.
Medieval knights were often represented on their sarcophagi with their feet resting on a dog, in order to show the Christian promise to the Lord to follow faithfully as a dog follows his master.
In present times dogs are often present in our vocabulary, from the affectionate saying ‘you old dog’, and ‘dog-like devotion’, to ‘barking up under the wrong tree’ and ‘barking mad’, and ‘go see a man about a dog’ which suggests a desire to cover up one’s real actions. It is an excuse offered if one wishes to be discreet and avoid giving the true reason for leaving the room. The phrase originally referred to betting on dog racing. The commonly used phrase ‘every dog has its day’ originated from Shakespeare’s Hamlet –
‘Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and the dog will have his day.’
It means that everyone will have a chance one day; everyone will have a moment of success or of being important. Another phrase ‘the hair of the dog‘, refers to a remedy after a hangover. Another one is ‘dog-tired’.
The First Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole coined the saying ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’
The former Prime Minister Boris Johnson when in office welcomed to Number 10, his new assistant, a puppy called Dilyn, that was rescued from a puppy farm. As it had a defect, he was going to be put down. Rescued, and now in perfect health after medical treatment, Dilyn is a great presence on social media and has a massive following.
Dogs are included in the family lives of ordinary people and the lives of the greats. The Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC has a bronze of the President’s best-known companion, a Scottish terrier called Fala.
It is noted that about 1 million dogs in the United States are the beneficiaries of their owners’ wills. One epitaph on a dog’s gravestone in Maryland states:
“Major”, born a dog, died a gentleman.”
A few writers, dog lovers, wrote their thoughts about dogs:
Plato – ‘dog has the soul of a philosopher.’
James Thurber – “The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to his level of sagacity but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.”
Aldous Huxley – “To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.”
Woodrow Wilson – “If a dog will not come to you having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.”
Milan Kundera – “Dogs are our links to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring – it was peace,”
Groucho Marx – “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend, inside a dog it’s too dark to read.”
Phil Pastoret – “If you think that dogs can’t count, try putting three biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.”
Dean Koontz – “Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.”
John Steinbeck wrote about his travels with his dog, Charley in the book ‘My Travels with Charley’. It was his last written work before he died.
An interesting fact: during the sinking of the Titanic two dogs, a Pekingese and a Pomeranian, survived because they were lucky enough to find places with their owners in the very few lifeboats that left the ship early. A third dog, a big Newfoundland, had also survived by swimming by the side of another lifeboat to which it was instrumental in guiding eventual rescues.
The St Bernard dog was named after the Great Saint Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps where the dogs were trained to seek out and rescue travellers caught in winter emergencies, like an avalanche. Some carry a miniature barrel of brandy to help revive the traveller.
In present times dogs are indispensable to us in so many ways. Firefighters rely on dogs’ help in tracing the cause of fires, border control officers rely on a dog’s superior (to human) sense of smell to find hidden caches of drugs, blind people can lead independent lives, guided safely by their dogs, deaf people can continue to work in places like schools, which would not be possible without their dogs, children with autism or people with a variety of mental health issues blossom when they have the close companionship of their dogs – and that is only a few examples of how much dogs do for us. There are many books that describe the profound effect that the love of a dog has on those bereaved or in turmoil. One of the best is a book by Bel Mooney “A small dog saved my life.” I wrote in another post about a Jack Russell terrier, called Popsie by his previous owner, who helped my daughter during her dark moments. Here is Popsie, the greatest stress-relieving therapist looking at you.
In a special category are the books describing the bravery of dogs of war. Many stated clearly that these dogs saved their lives not only on the battlegrounds of Iraq, Afghanistan or other warzones, but crucially after their return to civilian life, often severely disabled, but with their best friend, their dog, by their side. One such story is that of Lucca, a highly-skilled military dog, trained to sniff out deadly explosives on the battlefields, and putting her life on the line of duty. Her devotion to the soldiers who relied on her for survival earned her the Dickin Medal for bravery in war.
I must mention again ‘fabulous Finn’ who saved the life of police officer, Dave Wardell. The dog suffered incredible injuries but survived and is adored by Dave who regards Finn as a hero. They live now together in happy retirement and their actions brought the new law: Finn’s Law.
I would like to finish this post (I could go for much longer!), by showing how inspiring dogs are in providing us with much-needed entertainment. Photographer Dan Borris and his yoga teacher wife, Alejandra came with an ingenious idea of doing yoga with rescue dogs. With a little help of camera trickery, the dogs become pin-ups. Here is Dotty, a Dalmatian showing off the lotus position, while her friend is perfecting the hind leg twist.
Two ingenious New Yorkers, Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers, created a series of books about dogs that are made of fruits and vegetables. Here are some of their wonderful creations:
And finally, a great British eccentric at his inventive best – amateur photographer, Chris Porsz, a paramedic, has been taking quirky pictures of dogs for the past forty years. He travelled to many cities across the world and took hundreds of photographs for his book “Barking.” The picture below was taken in Union Square in New York of a dog leaping through the air to catch a ball. I particularly love his methods of encouraging the dogs to do crazy things – Chris says: ‘Most of my pictures are candid, but I often find some of the best have been when a dog sees me and reacts. I look for eye contact and sometimes even do a little bark or woof to encourage them.’ Priceless!
Recently I read this remark that I find most compelling: ‘I strive to be the man my dog thinks I am.’
Created to celebrate the Year of The Dog, “A Joy Story: Joy and Heron” (courtesy of JD.com, Inc.):
naturetails 
Very pleasantly surprised to see this dog post as good as or possibly even better than your excellent cat post last week. Wonderful praise of all things dog. 🐩🐕🦮🐕🦺🐶
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Thank you, dear Pat, for not only your lovely comments but being again the very first to read and comment!
I rescued a few dogs in my life, and knowing how devoted they are to us, I loved the dogs from my early childhood.
Thank you, Pat, again, and I greatly appreciate your making my day!
Joanna
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Joanna, that’s again a fantastic post on “Dogs” 🐕 after your recent post on Cats! I truly enjoyed the posts learning so much about the lovely animals ! Thank you so much for sharing please 🙏
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Thank you, Dhirendra, for your generous comment! I am glad that you like dogs and
appreciated my post about them.
Thank you, Dhirendra, again, your praise is much liked!
Namaste!
Joanna
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It was a pleasure to read your eloquent ode to canines.
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Interesante artículo y cuán importante era, es y serán los perros en la vida misma y en la construcción de la vivencia en la historia personal de cada persona o familia.
Me encantó disfrutar tu publicación.
Te envío un abrazo con todo cariño, Joanna.
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What a delightful post Joanna, I really enjoyed it. Thank you, once again, for your great research.
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Thank you, Peter, for your lovely comments! I am very happy that you liked this post interesting too! Greatly appreciated!
Joanna
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Thank you, Lincol, for as far as I can understand, wonderful comments! Your praise is greatly appreciated! It is good to know that you like dogs too.
Joanna
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The Joy story…very sweet. I have always loved dogs, any shape or size. As a kid I loved St Bernard’s, perhaps because of Peter Pan. Then it was Cocker Spaniels because of Lady and the Tramp and I lived with my aunt’s Cockers for a long time. I have read countless dog books. Now I just look for dogs out walking or in cars. They are indeed wonderful creatures and you have written a very nice piece to honour them. Many thanks.
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Thank you, Carolyn, for your lovely comments! I always loved the dogs too!
Writing about those we love is a great pleasure. My admiration goes to the late Doris Day, and I just wish I could save as many dogs as she did.
Joanna
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🙏
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Goodness me Joanna, what a wealth of information you’ve put together about dogs here. Who would have guessed there was so much to know. Now tell me I’m wrong, but is that not a picture of the dog you asked me to give a rub in Oxford Cathedral alongside the knight?
All the dogs here are special, but none more so than Popsie from what I can tell. There must be a story in there somewhere. Another fabulous post as always Joanna.
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Thank you, Malc, for your wonderful comment! As I have said before, you do know how to lift my spirit! You are right, Malc,, that is the knight and his dog sleeping through centuries at Christ Church
Cathedral that I love so much! Also, there is a story or even two connected with dearest Poppsie, who is recovering from the successful operation on cancer. I had stories about rescuing dogs but as they were sad, I didn’t include them.
Thank you, Malc, again!
Joanna
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It’s always so sad when pets, rescued or otherwise, come to the end of their life, but I’m pleased to see that Pop(p)sie is recovering.
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Thank you, Malc, a lick from Poppsie, and a hug from me!
Joanna
PS. Do you speak Spanish?
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Thanks Joanna :-), and no I don’t speak Spanish apart from a few useful phrases
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Thank you! Same with me!
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😎
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Wonderful! Joanna, this is such a lovely post with all the stories and history you refer to. Even with all those great doggie pictures the one that stole my heart was Popsie; who could resist those eyes! 💓💌🌹🙋♂️
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Thank you, Ashley, for your wonderful comments! One can write so much about nature and animals! Dearest Poppsie is recovering after the successful operation on cancer.
It was 4 weeks ago and he is much better but it was a very worrying time for all of us,
He was so brave, a little hero!
Thank you, Ashley for all the hearts and other gifts, all greatly appreciated!
I hope all is peaceful at home…
Joanna x
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Thank you so much, Joanna, for a complete treatise on dogs ranging from various civilisations to phrases, quotes, and books. It was interesting to go through unique beliefs and practices followed in Egypt, Greece, Iran, China, Rome etc. including India (Hinduism).
In Mahabharat, when Pandavas began their ascent to Meru hill as part of their final journey, all fell down one by one. Finally only Yudhishthir was left with his dog. King of heaven Indra stopped him from entering heaven with his dog, but Yudhishthir refused to enter without his dog. Then Indra disclosed, “The dog is Dharma from whom you have descended.” And the dog transformed into the God of Dharma. Only one thing I would like to add here is that Indra is God (King of gods and heaven). You have also talked about matchmaking which is still done by Hindus by matching horoscopes.
Iranian (earlier Persian) zoroastrians (also called Parsee) emigrated from Persia to India to escape religious persecution by the Muslims after the Arab conquest. Now they are Indians only.
Once I had shared a story of Clark family of Scotland who had a dream to be on the very first voyage of Titanic. The entire family was excited, but just seven days before the departure, one of his sons was bitten by his dog, and the boy was quarantined for 14 days. The family’s dreams were shattered, as tickets were non refundable. They started cursing the dog. But when they heard the news of ship sinking, they hugged the dog and thanked him for saving the entire family.
The final quote “I strive to be the man my dog thinks I am” impressed me a lot, and Popsie, of course. Collecting so much information from various sources is a tedious and commendable job, but you do it every week. Thank you so much, Joanna for your efforts that you put in.
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Thank you, Kaushal, for your, as always, wonderful comments! Your additional details are very important to me, and awaited anxiously. Poppsie stalled many hearts, and is now on the way to full recovery after the successful operation for cancer. We were all very worried but he was brave, our little hero!
No wonder, I feel a pull towards Dharma! And Hindu mythology is brilliantly interesting!
Thank you, Kaushal, again! Your words are greatly appreciated!
Joanna
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PS, With readers like you, Kaushal, nothing is ever trouble!!
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It’s my pleasure, always! You’re welcome, Joanna!
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Thank you so much!
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Dogs are such truly amazing animals! Love these histories and photos. ❤
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Thank you, Layla, for such a nice comments! All greatly appreciated!
Joanna
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Thank you for such an interesting post about dogs, Joanna! The pics are a visual treat, and I learnt many things I did not know before – for instance that some cultures regard dogs as their ancestors. That makes a lot of sense to me! Btw, I was born in the year of the dog, but I love dogs and cats equally.
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Thank you, Harini, for your wonderful comments! I do hope that Topshe saw the last story about the little dog helping young chicks to be fed, while assisting his human friend when he was fishing…
Thank you, Harini, again, your words are greatly appreciated!
I too love all animals, but my middle name is Nature, so of course, I would.
Thank you 100 times for the poem written by the Irish monk in the 9th century, that you were kind to send me!
Joanna
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Topshe refuses to watch movies, but she is very interested in chickens, and not in an eating sort of way!
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I wonder how she plays with them?!
It is a rhetorical question, I will use my imagination…
Joanna
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What an informative and heartwarming post, Joanna! I especially enjoyed the historical aspects of this post. I love both cats and dogs. My heart goes out to Popsie. Best wishes for more healthy, happy years! ❤
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Thank you, Cheryl, for your wonderful comments! I am elated that Poppsie made such an impact on all readers. We hope he will now have a good chance of living happily with his beloved family, after having a bad start. Never taken for walks, kept in cage because carers didn’t like a dog around, the old man smoking all the time, and dreadful dry food.
He now lives in a paradise, and adores everyone and everything.
Thank you, Cheryl, for the good wishes to Poppsie, the brave, I will make sure he knows about them!
Joanna
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Joanna, your post on “Praise of Dogs” is another winner. From the history of their domestication to their presence in religion, astronomy. astrology as well as our everyday conversation, you have covered the gamut of their influence on our lives. And of course, the fact that Jack Russel’s (more often Parson Russel Terriers in the UK) now reign over Corgi’s on the British throne has not escaped me!
Where would we be without the presence of Canis lupus familiaris – they truly do make our lives whole! Stewart
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Thank you, Stewart, for finding time to read my post and your wonderful comments.
I love all animals, and after writing a week before about cats, it had to be about dogs this time. I hope you were impressed by “those eyes” in Poppsie, a rescue dog my daughter adopted. It was great to read about your travel, except the caption under a photo – Man and his Dog, perhaps it should read, Dog and his Man.
Thank you again, Stewart, your words greatly appreciated1
Joanna
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Oh my gosh Joanna, you really know how to research your posts. Who knew that you would collected a variety of information for an interesting report on these pampered pooches? Love your title “In Praise of Dogs – Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole” by the way. It touches your heart. Thanks for sharing my dear. 🤗💖😍
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Thank you, Kym, for your wonderful comments! With readers like you, it is a pleasure to write well researched post. Your words made my day, and are greatly appreciated!
Joanna
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PS. Thank you for the hearts!
Joanna x
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Oh my dear Joanna, you are so very welcome. I appreciate the time and effort you put into what you write! Thank you! 😍🙏🏼🥰
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Awwww, you are welcome dear. It’s heartfelt indeed. I appreciate you! 💖💞💖
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Thank you, dear Kym! You are a delight to have as a reader! xxx
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I appreciate you too! xxx
Joanna
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Oh, my pleasure Joanna! Thank you! 🥰💖😍
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💖💖💖
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It was nice to learn more about dogs because, as you know, I spent most of my life being scared of them so it was nice to learn about how great of a companion they are. I definitely know from the blind community how invaluable they are to them as guide dogs. Thanks so much for sharing!
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Thank you, Simone, for your lovely comments, and for appreciating the dogs importance in life of many people. I hope you have now a better experience on your walks, and remember it is the owners who arear fault rather than a dog.
Joanna
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I would agree with Mark Twain!
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Thank you for your kind comment! One could not argue with the great Mark Twain!
Joanna
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Joanna, kindly find time to go through my latest blog on “Pushkar” 🙏🙏🙏
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