Fascinating Canines

01

Laika

Soviet engineers gave Laika a one-way ticket in Sputnik 2, 1957 — her cabin had no re-entry capsule. She died within hours of launch from overheating, not the planned euthanasia. The USSR announced her alive for days.

02

Xoloitzcuintle

The Xoloitzcuintli — hairless, wrinkled, warm to the touch — was bred by Aztecs to escort dead souls through Mictlan's nine treacherous underworld levels. Owners were buried alongside them. The breed is over 3,500 years old.

03

Gelert

Welsh prince Llywelyn killed his hound Gelert for apparently savaging his infant son — then found the baby unharmed, a dead wolf beneath the cradle. He never smiled again. The grave at Beddgelert still draws visitors.

04

Molossian hound

Roman Molossian war dogs wore spiked iron collars and leather armor, then charged enemy infantry before the legions advanced. Some carried pots of flaming pitch strapped to their backs. Entire breeds were exported as battle hardware.

05

Cerberus

Greeks slipped honey cakes called meli into the mouths of their dead to bribe Cerberus at the underworld gate. Virgil's Aeneas carries one. The three-headed dog's middle head was considered the most dangerous.

06

Sergeant Stubby

Stubby, a Boston Terrier mix found on a Yale drill field, served 18 months in 17 WWI battles, survived mustard gas, and personally apprehended a German spy by latching onto the man's rear end until soldiers arrived.

07

Dog sacrifice

Across Rome, China, Greece, and Mesoamerica, dogs were strangled or burned at city foundations, treaty signings, and plague rites. In Rome, live dogs were nailed to crosses annually during the Robigalia festival as crop-protection sacrifices.

08

Dogs in Chinese mythology

In Chinese myth, the celestial dog Tiangou stole fire from heaven and delivered it to humanity, arriving with his tail scorched permanently black. He also devours the sun and moon during eclipses — drums must be beaten to make him spit them out.

09

Turnspit dog

The Turnspit dog — short-legged, long-bodied, now extinct — ran hamster-wheel treadmills bolted to kitchen walls for hours, rotating roasting joints. They worked in pairs, swapping shifts. By 1900, the breed had been deleted from existence.

10

Tesem

The Tesem, a sleek prick-eared hound depicted on pre-dynastic pottery circa 4000 BCE, was buried in pharaonic tombs with its own name-stele and food offerings. Amenhotep II had four interred with him at death.