I felt stumped on how to write an interesting post about the Dunning family dog. Desperate, I reached out to my 8-year editor. “Why don’t you write about the history of dogs?” she suggested. “But isn’t that boring?” I grumbled. Then something extraordinary happened.
Stories about dogs began cropping up in my life in an uncanny way.
The first incident seemed like a mere coincidence. I’d been speed-reading the Odyssey to help *someone* with a Classics course. Cue Argos the dog. If you (like me) haven’t read the Odyssey since you were 13 years old, allow me to re-introduce you:
According to Odysseus’ servant, Eumaeus, Argos was a hunting dog par excellence. But with Odysseus away for 10 years, the dog fell on “evil times”. The women didn’t take care of him, and the servants, lazy with the master away, had left him “full of fleas” and “lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung”.
Yet as soon as he heard his old master’s voice, he “raised his head and pricked up his ears”. Odysseus had returned to Ithaca disguised as a beggar so couldn’t give himself away by embracing his dog. Yet even the warrior hero couldn’t fully hide his emotions:
“As soon as he saw Odysseus standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Odysseus saw the dog on the other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus seeing it…”
The Odyssey, Homer
I thought this was remarkable. First, that as far back as the 8th century B.C., some men had this close bond with their dogs. Second, that after dismissing my daughter’s suggestion to write about the history of dogs, my life literally led me to one of the earliest stories about dogs.
Then at church this Sunday, again!
The New Testament lesson was the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus. Instead of Odysseus dressed as a beggar, Luke 16 tells the story of a real beggar named Lazarus. He lives in misery at the gate of a rich man who completely ignores him.
In verse 21, Lazarus is said to be “longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.” Per my internet searches some people think that the dogs are showing compassion (in contrast to the rich man). To me it sounds like adding insult to injury.
He’s hungry, he’s got open sores and on top of that the street dogs are licking at him. Even Argos the dog, flea-bitten and laying on a pile of manure, had a better life. At least a tear was shed for his lousy fate.
Thankfully, things evolved by the time of Bruno the dog. By the twentieth century, in the U.S., dogs had become part of the family. The pictures suggest that Bruno loved the Dunnings and vice versa.
I couldn’t figure out why they named him Bruno. There was Bruno, Duke of Saxony, who died in 880. Also, Bruno Bauer (1809-1882), a German philosopher. Maybe they just liked the name Bruno. Surely they didn’t realize that Bruno is the #1 unluckiest pet name.
So my last coincidental dog text came from the mystery book I started reading this week. In the 3rd of the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson one of the characters helps heal her trauma with a dog:
“Love me, love my dog”, Dr. Hunter said, ‘A woman’s best friend.’ Timmy, Snowy, Jumble, Lassie, Greyfriars Bobby. Everyone’s best friend. Except for poor Laika, the spacedog, no one’s friend.
When Will There Be Good News, Kate Atkinson
I had to laugh. Even the mystery book I chose for pleasure reading ended up listing contemporary dog stars. Except for Lassie, the names were new to me. If you’re interested, here’s the chronological run-down:
Greyfriars Bobby: Skye Terrier from Edinburgh who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself in 1872.
Jumble: Mutt dog from “Just William” stories about a young schoolboy William Brown. (1922)
Snowy: Wire Fox Terrier from The Adventures of Tintin (1929)
Lassie: Collie dog from a 1940 novel that was adapted to the 1943 movie, Lassie Come Home.
Timmy: Mutt from The Famous Five children’s adventure novels written by Enid Blyton (1942)
Laika: Stray mutt from Moscow. Launched into Outer Space on Sputnik 2 in 1957 where she died of overheating.
It may just be that once you start paying attention, dogs are everywhere. I pass two German Shepherds every day in the Times Square subway station. There’s a black labrador retriever in the lobby and street outside our office to sniff out trouble. (He will let you pat his head and say “good boy”!)
Having grown up with dogs myself, it makes me happy even just to see them. Did you have a beloved family dog growing up? What memories did you share together?
Your editor has such great ideas! Very interesting history. Perhaps you could investigate doggie expressions – work like a dog, it’s a dog’s life, dog tired, dog eat dog, and others.
I will look into it! Since you like idioms, I’ll tell you that I researched “add insult to injury” when I wrote this post and found out its an ancient one. It originates from one of Aesop’s fables, and was translated by the Roman writer Phaedrus in the first century.