10 History Changing Dogs

With dogs primarily providing companionship to humans it might be surprising to know that dogs have often served many noble roles in history. From companion dogs and talented pooches to fearless war dogs, the dogs on our list have all played a part in shaping the face of history as we know it.

1. Peritas and Alexander the Great: When the warrior was swarmed by the troops of Persia's Darius III, Peritas leapt and bit the lip of an elephant charging his master. Alexander’s life was saved by his heroic dog and the empire underlying Western civilization as we know it was forged. Without his dog, who knows how the conflict would have turned out and where we would be today.

2. Urian and Cardinal Wolsey: When Henry the VIII wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon he sent his confidant Cardinal Wolsey and his dog Urian to meet with Pope Clement VII to obtain permission. When the Pope extended his bare toe to Wolsey to be kissed, Urian leaned forward and bit his Holiness. The Pope refused the divorce and Henry separated from the Catholic Church in response. Henry then formed his own Church of England and many lost their lives in the process. Henry got his divorce and the rest is history thanks in part to one Cardinal’s dog.

3. Jofi and Sigmund Freud: Freud kept his Cho-Chow Jofi in his office during his psychotherapy sessions because he felt that the dog comforted his patients. Freud kept detailed notes on these interactions and they formed the basis of what is now a discipline known as pet-assisted therapy.

4. A Newfoundland and Napoleon: Bonaparte once nearly lost his life to the sea and without the aid of a nameless Newfoundland his fate might have been sealed. When fleeing the island of Elba, Bonaparte was tossed overboard by choppy water. The heroic Newfoundland jumped in and kept him afloat until he could be rescued.

5. Donnchadh and Robert the Bruce: Bruce’s dog Donnachadh helped the men of King Edward I of England to find his master. While the dog led them to Bruce he turned on the King’s men when they found Bruce. Many generations later, the irrational actions of Robert the Bruce's direct descendant, King George III, would cause the American colonists to rebel. Modern medicine attributes King George's apparent madness to porphyria, a genetically transmitted disease that researchers trace back to the Scottish Stuarts.

6. Charlie and John F. Kennedy: At the height of 1962's Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy had his son's Welsh terrier Charlie summoned to the chaotic War Room. The president held the terrier in his lap, petting him and appearing, by all accounts, to relax. Eventually he announced that he made the decision to decrease tensions and narrowly avoid nuclear war.

7 & 8. Strelka and Belka and the Russian Space Program: While Laika was the first dog sent into space she did not live to return. The second and third dogs in space, Strelka (Little Arrow) and Belka (Squirrel); however, did return on Sputnik in 1960. As a result, much more was learned about sustaining life in the space environment. Strelka later gave birth to a litter of puppies, one of which, Pushinka, was given to President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline.

9. Checkers and Richard Nixon: In his 1952 "Checkers speech," Nixon, who was accused of pawing $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions, admitted to accepting an American cocker spaniel, Checkers, as a gift. "And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it," Nixon said during his famous speech. His love for that dog swayed public opinion and prolonged Nixon's political career leading to one of the most famous political scandals in history.

10. Peps and Richard Wagner: The composer’s Cavalier King Charles’s Spaniel helped Waggoner to compose the famous music in the helicopter scene in the film "Apocalypse Now" (scored to "The Ride of the Valkyries"). Wagner would have Peps sit on a special chair as he played his latest compositions and, based upon the dog's reactions, he'd keep or toss each passage.

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