10 Dogs that played an important role in human history

There are many extraordinary stories, all worth telling, featuring faithful and loving dogs. No wonder they are considered man’s best friends, even capable of giving their lives if necessary. Many of them showed that not even death can erase their nobility.

O incredible.club brings you the life stories of 10 dogs that, in one way or another, marked the history of humans.

Laika traveled into space in 1957 aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2. Because of her weight, size and docility, she was chosen as the ideal crew member for the first test trip to space, before humans.

Although she was victorious in each test of preparation, Laika could not withstand the ship’s stressed or overheated conditions. On April 14, 1958, Sputnik 2 returned to Earth with Laika’s body on board. However, the ship burned up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. Its mission laid the groundwork for improving flying conditions for subsequent spacecraft. On April 11, 2008, a monument was unveiled in Moscow in honor of the little astronaut dog.

Balto’s story takes place in 1925, when a deadly diphtheria epidemic breaks out in the village of Nome, Alaska. Hospitals could not handle the demand and urgently asked for diphtheria antitoxin. The problem was that it was only available 1,609 kilometers away. This distance could not be covered by the sea, because it was frozen and ships could not cross the ice. Nor could it be by air, since the storms made it impossible to fly.

The decision was made to take the antitoxin by rail from the Anchorage station to Nenana, and from there take the medication on dog sleds. The route was over 1,000 kilometers long and was called the Great Mercy Run. It was there that the Siberian husky entered the scene, who led the last stretch and became a hero, as he was in charge of guiding another 100 dogs.

Balto’s heroic journey inspired three animated children’s films: Balto — His Story Became Legend; Balto 2: An Adventure in the Land of Ice🇧🇷 and Balto 3: Changing Fate🇧🇷 Currently, there is a monument in a park in his name, which says: “resistance, fidelity and intelligence”.

Duncan, a surviving World War I soldier, rescued two puppies and their mother from a military kennel abandoned by the Germans. He named the puppies Rinty and Nannette. When Duncan had to return to the States, he took the dogs with him. There he continued to instruct them, especially Rinty, teaching him skills and tricks which he performed with real dexterity.

In 1921, Duncan managed to introduce Rinty to the nascent world of cinema, where the animal was nicknamed Rin Tin Tin and became an icon of silent films. However, the animal had to retire. Later, a series called The Adventures of Rin Tin Tinalready starring another dog, but always remembering the original.

Since then, Rin Tin Tin has not been a single dog, but several. All were related to each other, having acted in Hollywood films between 1922 and 1931. This dog was world famous and even his mark is stamped on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

Better known as “Sergeant Stubby”, he was the most decorated dog of the First World War and the only one to be named sergeant, thanks to his performance in combat. Stubby’s story began at Yale University, where he found himself wandering around the grounds of the campus, where the 102nd Infantry Regiment trained.

While the dog watched the men train, Private Robert Conroy became attached to him, so much so that on the day he had to go to battle, he took him along, hiding him. When an officer discovered him, Stubby waved him off as if he were another soldier, so the officer allowed him to remain on board.

Stubby served his regiment for eighteen months in France and participated in four offensives and seventeen battles. He was wounded once, but made a full recovery. The dog demonstrated an extraordinary performance, saving his regiment from many toxic attacks by alerting them with his barks. He had a very keen sense of smell and was able to find wounded.

Chonino belonged to the Argentine Federal Police in 1977. He was a dog trained to be a security corps. However, thanks to his dexterity and large size, he was promoted to face higher risk situations.

On June 2, 1983, Chonino accompanied his guide and officer Jorge Lanni on an operation in a commercial area in the Devoto district. There was a confrontation between the police and the criminals, in which both the police, including Chonino, and the robbers were injured. The dog, dying, crawled to the officer to die on top of him. On his face there was a piece of the thief’s pocket in which his identification was, and so the police were able to find and arrest him days later.

He was buried in the Argentine Federal Police Circle. Since then, on June 2, National Dog Day has been celebrated in Argentina.

In the middle of World War II, American soldiers found a Yorkshire bitch hiding in what appeared to be a fox den. The soldier who took her thought she belonged to the Japanese, so he took her to a prison camp, but there he noticed that the little dog was not responding to orders in Japanese or English. The soldier decided to adopt her, but despite spending many months with her, he had to sell her for $6 to pay off his poker debts to another soldier, Bill Wynne.

It was Bill who called her “Smoky” (smoked), because of the color of her fur, and since then they have not been separated. They fought together in the war, and Smoky traversed jungles, traveled by plane and boat, performed reconnaissance missions, and jumped with a parachute.

Smoky received eight medals and returned to the US with Bill. She lived another 14 years, until she died unexpectedly. She was buried in an ammunition box and a monument was made in her name which reads: “Monument Dedicated to Smoky the Yorkie Helper and All Dogs of All Wars”.

Bobby was a Skye Terrier dog, the companion of an Edinburgh police night watchman, John Gray. It is said that Bobby was never parted from his human for two years, until the man suddenly fell ill with tuberculosis and died on February 8, 1858. He was then buried in Greyfriars Cemetery and his noble and faithful dog spent the rest of his life. life beside the grave.

This moved all the inhabitants, so in 1867, when the authorities passed a law that all dogs in Edinburgh had to be registered or put down, Sir William Chambers, an aristocratic architect, decided to pay Bobby’s license and ordered them to make a plaque that recognized him as his, although the dog lived in the cemetery.

Bobby died in 1872 and was buried near the gate of the cemetery where John’s remains rested. Bobby’s life was acknowledged in the novel Greyfriars Bobby and in cinema with the eponymous film in 1961, and another called Greyfriars Bobbyin 2006.

In early 1924, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno of the University of Tokyo found an Akita dog on a farm. At first, the man wasn’t too convinced to keep him, but his daughter intervened to adopt him. So the animal had to be sent in a box to Shibuya Station, that is, two days of travel that left it dehydrated. Upon arriving home, the professor’s staff told him that the dog was unresponsive, but Ueno approached him with a bowl of milk and the animal was revived.

The teacher lifted him up and noticed that his legs were slightly bowed, so he called him “Hachi”, like the kanji 八 which in Japanese means “eight”. The teacher became fond of the dog, which accompanied him to the station to say goodbye to him every day before going to work. At the end of the day, Hachi was at the same station to receive him. This routine lasted a whole year, which did not go unnoticed by the locals.

On May 21, 1925, Professor Ueno suffered a stroke while teaching and died. Hachi, as usual, went to the station to wait for him, but his owner never arrived. True to his routine, Hachi remained there, waiting for the teacher. This moved those who knew of the man’s death, so merchants, caretakers and even travelers were responsible for feeding and caring for Hachi throughout his life. They even erected a bronze statue in his honor at the same Shibuya station, and Hachi was present at the unveiling.

Finally, after ten years, on March 9, 1935, the animal was found dead in front of the station. Dog and human rest in peace at Aoyama Cemetery, where a monolith named after him has been built. Since then he has been known as “Chūken Hachikō” (the faithful dog Hachikō), being the ko a reference to “loyal”.

The story of Hachikō was very popular thanks to its cinematographic adaptations, such as the famous Always by your sidestarring Richard Gere, and adapted in the United States.

Barry was a Saint Bernard who worked as a rescue dog in the mountains of Switzerland, in the Great Saint Bernard pass. He was much smaller than the current race, but he became very famous because he saved more than forty lives during his service.

His best known rescue was that of a child who was trapped in an ice cave after there was a massive avalanche on the mountain. The boy seemed to be in shock, asleep by the low temperature, so Barry approached him, surrounded him with his furry body and licked him to transmit warmth, until the child woke up.

When Barry turned twelve, a monk took him to Bern, Switzerland, so that he could rest after so many years of work. However, there were many false rumors that the dog had died, but this did not happen until two years later.

Barry’s body was taken to the Natural History Museum in Bern, where his skin was preserved through taxidermy, and is now on display. His story has inspired many literary works, such as Samuel Rogers’ poem “The Great St. Bernard” (“The Great Saint Bernard”). Also, Disney made a movie titled Barry of the Great St. bernard 🇧🇷Barry the great Saint Bernard), in 1977. In addition to numerous books for children, such as Barry: The Bravest Saint Bernard 🇧🇷Barry, the bravest Saint Bernard🇧🇷

Barry has a monument in the Cimetière des Chiens (Cemetery of Dogs) near Paris. Instead, whenever a new dog arrives to do…