Dogs in History
Meet the dogs who shaped history — from ancient legends to modern heroes. Some of these dogs are famous, others long forgotten, but all played a part in the human story.
Their stories live here and are grouped into six themed categories.
Each tale will surprise you, move you, and change the way you think about dogs and history.
Black Dog: The Dartmoor Terror Behind The Hound of the Baskervilles
The black dogs of Dartmoor haunted the moors for centuries before Conan Doyle borrowed them — and he wasn't entirely convinced they weren't real.
Rags: The Paris Stray Who Went to War
He was found in a Montmartre alley on Bastille Day 1918, ran messages through the trenches of World War I, and spent the next seventeen years as a celebrated military figure—while the man who found him was slowly forgotten.
Caesar: The Dog Who Walked Before Kings
In 1910, a scruffy wire fox terrier walked ahead of nine kings at Edward VII’s funeral—and everything the palace had tried to keep private walked with him.
Greyfriars Bobby: Edinburgh's Most Profitable Dog
The famous story of a terrier's 14-year vigil at his master's grave was likely Victorian Edinburgh's first coordinated tourist attraction — and there may have been two dogs.
Seaman: The Dog Who Crossed a Continent
Meriwether Lewis bought a Newfoundland for practical reasons — but when three armed men were sent to get the dog back, it was clear this was no longer about utility.
Sergeant Stubby: America’s First War Dog
The story of Sergeant Stubby, a stray turned war hero whose service in World War I and bond with his American owner made him the most decorated dog in history.
The Dogs of The Little Folks of Animal Land
Step aside, TikTok and Instagram pets. Meet the Edwardian pups that were striking poses in costumes over 100 years ago, long before hashtags were a thing.
