National Dog Day
By Elona Baron as told to Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO-National Dog Day is August 26th. Rather than growl about why dogs only get a day instead of a celebratory month, I want to provide sketches of famous dogs. Most are real, but some I imagined while waiting endless hours for my masters to come home.
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The Capitoline Wolf: This wolf contributed to the blossoming of human civilization by suckling the orphaned Romulus and Remus who founded Rome. It is one of the rare instances where a canine fed a human. I’ve always preferred the greatness of Rome to that of ancient Egypt. How much can you expect from a culture that worshipped cats?
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Husdent: Tristan’s love for Isolde was doomed because she was married to his uncle. To exchange their clandestine love letters, he dispatched his dog Husdent to deliver them. Realizing the futility of the relationship,
Tristan fled to the forest and lived as a wild man. When he returned, Isolde did not recognize him, but Husdent did, giving him a new leash on life.
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Mary Queen of Scottish Terriers: Dogs often imitate their masters. I imagine there was a struggle between Mary’s Scottish Terrier and Elizabite’s English Foxhound who abhorred that the former had become a Catolic.
Benji Franklin: Ben Franklin’s dog should be credited with discovering electricity. While being walked in a thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning struck Benji’s metal ID tag, furnishing Ben with the idea of flying a kite and sparing Benji from eventually being euthanized.
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Rover Cleveland: Grover Cleveland owned three Dachshunds and a Poodle. Lacking any sense of humor, he did not name any of them Rover.
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Rin Tin Tin (aka RTT): Rin Tin Tin was an orphaned German Shepherd pup who was adopted by an American GI at the end of World War One. The soldier brought RTT to Los Angeles where he became a movie star and paved the way for the film careers of Strongheart, and Lassie. All have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Signs warn sightseers to keep off their stars.
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Balto: In 1925 this Siberian Husky pulled a sled carrying diphtheria antitoxin from Nome to Nenana to save its inhabitants from an outbreak of the disease. If almost a hundred years ago a dog knew how vital it was to vaccinate, why are there still people who haven’t figured it out?
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Bark Spitz: The first dog to win multiple Gold Medals for dogpaddling in the Canine Olympics.
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Laika: The Soviet Union launched Laika into orbit in 1957. Although she had the right ruff, they forgot to put a person aboard to space-walk her resulting in her death from an exploding bladder.
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Amy Klobichon: The first bitch to run for president of the United States of Animals. She has touted her hypoallergenic coat as one of the reasons she belongs in the White House. As her campaign slogan puts it, “Klobichon: Not to be sneezed at.”
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Elona Baron: The first dog to write a weekly column for an on-line Jewish newspaper. Will she win this year’s Poochlitzer Prize?
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Elona resides with Bonnie and Laurie Baron. The latter is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com. No animals were harmed in the writing of this column.