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    A Dog-Lover's Miscellany
    A Dog-Lover's Miscellany
    A Dog-Lover's Miscellany
    Ebook329 pages2 hours

    A Dog-Lover's Miscellany

    By Mike Darton

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    About this ebook

    An irresistible pot-pourri of canine facts, embracing the essential, the trivial, the intriguing, and the extraordinary. The perfect coffee-table collection to paw through at random, herein you will discover such treats as dog epigraphs; the origins of dog names; an international guide to the word dog ; the oldest dog; weights and breeds; Aesop s fabled dogs; and the story of the dogs on the Titanic. It is, in short, the perfect companion for your perfect companion.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIvy Press
    Release dateSep 1, 2014
    ISBN9781782401902
    A Dog-Lover's Miscellany
    Author

    Mike Darton

    Mike Darton is a writer and editor with a passion for words, a love of animals, and a fascination with animal-related words and phrases.

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      Book preview

      A Dog-Lover's Miscellany - Mike Darton

      THE DOG FAMILY

      The family Canidae includes dogs, jackals and foxes, and currently comprises 13 genera and 37 recognized species, classified as below:

      * In the Latin names of the other genera, the element cuon or cyon represents the ancient Greek kuōn dog.

      THE DOG’S SENSE OF TASTE

      Dogs have fewer taste buds than humans – probably 1,700–2,000 altogether, compared with humans’ 9,000 – which is why humans (with some exceptions) tend to be much choosier about what they eat and why dogs in general distinguish only between what they like and what they find disgusting. Indeed, dogs are said to have six times less taste discrimination than humans – but to make up for that (and more) by using their phenomenal sense of smell in combination. (Even in humans, taste is believed to be fundamentally involved with smell.)

      THE SYMBOLIC DOG

      In statuary, and particularly on monuments and tombs, the dog may be placed at the feet of a woman to symbolize (her) affection, loyalty and fidelity – just as a lion is placed at the feet of a man to signify (his) courage and magnanimity. The medieval Crusaders were often represented on their sarcophagi with their feet resting on a dog, in order to show that they followed the Christian precepts of the Lord as faithfully as a dog follows at the heels of his master.

      THE TALBOT: AN EXTINCT BREED

      Among the list of 21 famous dog breeds that over the centuries have for one reason or another become extinct is the Talbot. The Talbot was an enormous hunting dog brought by the Norman conquerors to England in 1066, where it became popular for the grand seigneurial hunts of stags in the forested parks of aristocrats. This popularity continued until at least 1500, by which time the dog had been given the name of the lordly English Talbot family who were famous for keeping such animals. But the dogs required vast quantities of food and constant care, and as such hunts gradually ceased, so the dogs died out. Always depicted with a protruding tongue, the dog’s picture is among the heraldic devices on the coat of arms of the town of Sudbury, Suffolk, England. A Talbot is additionally the mascot for the School District of Hampton Township, Western Pennsylvania, USA.

      THURBER ON CANINE WISDOM

      The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.

      JAMES THURBER (1894–1961) US humorist

      ASSEMBLING A DOG

      The following parts are required:

      THE CROUP – the hinder top part of the trunk of the body – derives as a word in English through Norman French from Old Germanic, and in a horse is where the pillion passenger or assistant huntsman used to sit behind the hunter, handing him his weapons as and when required. He was thus known as the croupier, and this is why the present-day croupier now hands out the cards, chips and markers as and when required to the gamblers at a casino.

      SHORT-TERM MEMORY

      Except when trained or specifically taught something by repetition, dogs have a comparatively short-term casual memory. Research suggests that in ordinary circumstances a dog remembers something for only five minutes (whereas a cat can remember for up to 16 hours or until the next lengthy sleep, whichever happens to be the shorter time).

      RIN TIN TIN

      RIN T IN T IN was originally (in the form Rintintin) the name of the male half of a pair of brightly coloured dolls fashioned out of yarn by young French women and given as good-luck charms to young men going off to fight in the trenches of World War I. When US soldiers joined the fray in northern Europe, many of them received similar attentions from French demoiselles, and once the War was over, the yarn dolls – with the notion of associated good luck in a combat setting – returned with the soldiers to the other side of the Atlantic. Very soon thereafter, stories of the dog Rin Tin Tin and his US Army family became current. The first Rin Tin Tin movie was made in 1922. The final Rin Tin Tin TV series ended in 1959, although blood descendants of the original canine actor still make charity guest appearances under the Rin Tin Tin name.

      REASONS FOR TRIMMING A POODLE

      The original idea behind trimming a poodle as if it was a topiarized hedge was to shave the dog’s profusely thick coat to increase its agility – specifically to enable it to swim better through rivers and across lakes – while out hunting with its medieval aristocratic European owner. The cuffs around the ankles and hips were left to protect against arthritis/rheumatism in the cold and draughty aristocratic mansion or castle in which it was kennelled.

      THE IDITAROD RACE

      The annual Iditarod dog-sledding race in Alaska is now a celebrated international event, but by media tradition commemorates an emergency dash in 1925 over 1,688 kilometres (1,049 miles) of the existing (and longer) Iditarod Trail by 25 teams of mushers transporting medicine from Anchorage to treat an epidemic of diphtheria in Nome. Iditarod is a version of the Chinook word haiditarod, remote [area].

      The first race over the current course was in 1973; the winner took 20 days and 1 hour to complete it. In 2002, the winning time was a mere 8 days and 23 hours. Two women have won the event five times (1985–1988 and 1990). Narrowest winning margin so far is 1 second, in 1978.

      DOG BEQUESTS

      It is estimated that about one million dogs in the USA are the primary beneficiaries of their owner’s will.

      DO DOGS LAUGH?

      HYENAS ARE SAID TO LAUGH – but then, despite the way they look, hyenas belong to their own family and are not of the family Canidae. However, research and careful analysis in 2001 revealed that dogs in play may pant in a special way (involving a slightly more breathy exhalation) that seems to have an effect on other dogs that motivates or inspires them towards further playfulness. This is not exactly what humans might think of as laughter, but it was described as canine laughter by Patricia Simonet of Sierra Nevada College, USA.

      Dogs quite often look as though they are laughing. But does facial expression count? Most dogs can assume any of more than 90 facial expressions that are understood by other dogs. Unhappily, some domesticated types of dog – notably the Bulldog and Pit bull terrier, if domesticated is the right word for these – have had most facial expressions bred out of them. They may consequently find themselves having to fight their way out of trouble with other dogs simply because at the vital moment they appear to have failed to exhibit the appropriate expression of passive disinterest.

      AESOP’S FABLE: THE BELLED DOG

      Adog kept at home earned such a reputation for biting visitors that his master put a bell around his neck to warn everybody of the dog’s approach. Far from understanding that purpose, however, the dog believed that he had been given some sort of award or badge of merit, and went around showing off his mark of distinction to all the other animals of the household. His pride was cut short only when one old hound told him, quietly and dispassionately, that the bell was effectively a symbol of disgrace, and that he really must learn to distinguish notoriety from fame.

      KUNDERA ON DOGS & HEAVEN

      Dogs are our link 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 back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring – it was peace.

      MILAN KUNDERA (b. 1929) Czech-born French author and political critic

      THE YAWNING POOCH

      When a dog yawns, it is most often an expression of contentment rather than one that signifies tiredness or boredom.

      PUPS PER LITTER

      The number of pups per litter varies both according to the breed of the parents and on their respective conditions of health. The figures below are therefore (inevitably) statistical averages only. But for each breed named, the average number of pups per litter (according to a reputable source) is:

      ROOSEVELT’S DOGS AT

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