The Mythology of Dogs: Canine Legend

Gerald Hausman, Loretta Hausman

Macmillan, Dec 15, 1997 - Fiction - 288 pages

Tracing the literary and historical legacy of over 65 different breeds, The Mythology of Dogs is a magnificent, breed-by-breed collection of the legend and lore surrounding man's best friend. From the Afghan to the Yorkie, fascinating stories abount, including:

The Maltese who hid under the skirt of Mary Queen of Scots at her beheading
The medieval Wolfound who bravely saved his master's child from a marauding wolf
The Afghan whose nose got wet plugging up the holes in Noah's Ark
The Newfoundland who valiently tried to save his owner as the Titanic went down
John Steinbeck's Airedale, Omar, who learned to hustle blackjack players for their winnings
The Greyhounds of Ovid's Metamorphasis, who chased and killed their master after he was turned into a stag by Diana as punishment for psying on her in a state of undress

What people are saying

THE MYTHOLOGY OF DOGS: Canine Fables, Legend, and Lore Through the Ages

User Review  - Kirkus

To this season of the dog book, add this sprightly celebration of canine anecdotes. Wishing to get to the heart of what makes a dog a dog, the Hausmans, both mythologists, poured over sacred oral ...

Contents

• Introduction by Dr Michael W Fox: 3
• Authors Introduction: 5
• Afghan: 8
• Airedale and Welsh Terrier: 11
• Akita: 16
• American Staffordshire Terrier and American Pit Bull Terrier: 20
• Basenji: 26
• Basset Hound: 29
• Beagle: 32
• Bichon Frise: 35
• BlackandTan Coonhound: 40
• Bloodhound: 45
• Borzoi: 49
• Boston Terrier: 53
• Boxer: 56
• Bulldog English and French: 60
• Bullterrier: 65
• Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: 69
• Chihuahua: 73
• Chow: 75
• Cocker Spaniel: 79
• Collie: 83
• Curlycoated Retriever: 87
• Dachshund: 90
• Dalmatian: 93
• Dandie Dinmont Terrier: 97
• Dingo: 100
• Doberman Pinscher: 105
• Dogue de Bordeaux French Mastiff: 109
• English Springer Spaniel and Brittany Spaniel: 113
• Fox Terrier Smooth and Wirehaired: 117
• German Shepherd: 120
• German Shorthaired Pointer: 124
• Golden Retriever: 128
• Gordon Setter: 132
• Great Dane: 135
• Great Pyrenees: 139
• Greyhound and Whippet: 143
• Irish Setter: 148
• Irish Terrier: 152
• Irish Wolfhound and Scottish Deerhound: 155
• Jack Russell Terrier: 160
• Komondor: 165
• Kuvasz: 168
• Labrador Retriever: 172
• Lhasa Apso: 176
• Malamute: 181
• Maltese: 184
• Mastiff English Bullmastiff Bullmastiff Neapolitan: 188
• Newfoundland: 194
• Old English Sheepdog: 198
• Pekingese: 202
• Pomeranian: 205
• Poodle: 209
• Pug: 213
• Rhodesian Ridgeback: 218
• Rottweiler: 221
• Saint Bernard: 225
• Saluki: 229
• Samoyed: 232
• Schnauzer Miniature Standard Giant: 235
• Schipperke: 239
• Scottish Terrier: 243
• Sharpei: 246
• Shetland Sheepdog: 250
• Siberian Husky: 253
• Weimaraner: 258
• Welsh Corgi Cardigan and Pembroke: 263
• Yorkshire Terrier: 267
• About the Authors: 270
• Bibliography: 271
• Index: 275

Popular passages

Page 153 - ... trotting along on some shady errand, his stone safe in his jaws). He used to lie by the hour on the porch of his house, chewing the stone with an expression half tender, half petulant. When he slept he merely enjoyed a muscular suspension: his nerves were still up and around, adjusting the bed clothes, tossing and turning. He permitted people to throw the stone for him and people would. But if the stone lodged somewhere he couldn't get to he raised such an uproar that it was absolutely necessary...‎

Page 67 - ... hillside. Here Garm left me. He departed without a word, and, so far as I could see, without moving his legs. He flew through the air bodily, and I heard the whack of him as he flung himself at Stanley, knocking the little man clean over. They rolled on the ground together, shouting, and yelping, and hugging. I could not see which was dog and which was man, till Stanley got up and whimpered. He told me that he had been suffering from fever at intervals, and was very weak. He looked all he said,...‎

Page 153 - ... would. But if the stone lodged somewhere he couldn't get to he raised such an uproar that it was absolutely necessary that the stone be returned, for the public peace. His absorption was so great it brought wrinkles to his face, and he grew old before his time. I think he used to worry that somebody was going to pitch the stone into a lake or a bog, where it would be irretrievable. He wore off every tooth in his jaw, wore them right down to the gums, and they became mere brown vestigial bumps....‎

Page 47 - A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.‎

Page 58 - ... ever after; he walked first among the mourners to her funeral; he slept moaning for nights at the door of her empty room, and never, so to speak, rejoiced, dog fashion, after her death. He, in his turn, was mourned over by the surviving sister. Let us somehow hope, in half...‎

Page 153 - This, I admit, is true. But I should like to call attention to the fact that it sometimes takes days, even weeks, before a dog's nerves tire. In the case of terriers it can run into months. I knew a Boston terrier once (he is now dead and, so far as I know, relaxed) whose nerves stayed keyed up from the twenty-fifth of one June to the sixth of the following July, without one minute's peace for anybody in the family. He was an old dog and he was blind in one eye, but his infirmities caused...‎

Page 153 - ... worry that somebody was going to pitch the stone into a lake or a bog, where it would be irretrievable. He wore off every tooth in his jaw, wore them right down to the gums, and they became mere brown vestigial bumps. His breath was awful (he panted night and day) and his eyes were alight with an unearthly zeal. He died in a fight with another dog. I have always suspected it was because he tried to hold the stone in his mouth all through the battle. The Camel people will just have to take my...‎

Page 31 - Pointing out the consequences of an action does not stop foolish people; they just do what they want to do when they want to do it.‎

Page 117 - Another sorte of hunting dog there is which hunteth the Foxe and the Badger or Greye onely, whom we call Terrars, because they (after the manner and custome of ferrets in searching for Connyes) creepe into the grounde and by that...‎

About the author

Award-winning mythologist Gerald Hausman and Loretta Hausman have been researching and writing on dogs for over 30 years. They live in Bokeelia, Florida, with their three dogs, Beeper a Dachshund, Mocha an Akital; and Zeb, a Great Dane.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Mythology of Dogs: Canine Legend
• Authors: Gerald Hausman, Loretta Hausman
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Macmillan, 1997
• ISBN: 0312181396, 9780312181390
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Pets / Dogs / General; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology