Famous Dogs
Many dogs astonish us with their talents, loyalty and intelligence. Here are some of the most well-known:
Rin Tin Tin
The German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin was the nation’s first canine movie star, although his beginnings were humble. Born in Germany, he was rescued as a puppy and brought to the United States by Lee Duncan, an American pilot in World War I, who was also his trainer. First appearing in “Where The North Begins” in 1925, Rin Tin Tin went on to make 22 movies, sign his own contracts with a pawprint, and at the height of his success was his studio’s major wage earner.
Laika
The first living creature to orbit the earth was a dog. Named Laika (‘barker’ in Russian) she blasted off aboard the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. With no way to bring her back to earth, she became the first creature to give her life for the exploration of space.
Grayfriar's Bobby
If you’ve ever visited Edinburgh, Scotland, you may have seen the little statue outside Grayfriars’s Bobby Inn. It commemorates the loyalty of the Skye Terrier known as Greyfriar’s Bobby. In the 1850’s Bobby visited the inn every day at 1 o’clock with his master Jock, a shepherd. They had lunch together and became a well-known pair.
After many years, the shepherd died and was buried in the churchyard. A few days later, Bobby showed up at the inn, and ate his regular lunch of bone. When the innkeeper followed the little terrier they ended up at the churchyard where Jock was buried, and Bobby laid on the grave of his late master. Bobby kept their routine and stayed by his master’s grave until his own death 14 years later.
Sigmund Freud's Dogs
Freud noted that the presence of his dogs in the room during a patient's therapy session was calming to the patient.
