July 27, 2007

Canine Stable Boy Helps Train Racer (Sep, 1940)

Filed under: Dogs — @ 12:28 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1940
| Buy on Ebay

Canine Stable Boy Helps Train Racer

High-strung, temperamental race horses often have mascots, whose playful companionship provides a diversion from the serious business of winning; turf events. Witness, for example, the friendship of Ba-ranca, a thoroughbred, and Flash, a pure-white dog. In the circle at the right, the trained mascot offers the racer a juicy carrot, and at left, he holds the halter and leads Baranca out for a light workout, at their Inglewood, Calif., home. Winner of his share of races, the horse could lead the dog a merry chase if he chose to set the pace instead of meekly obeying the “orders” of his affectionate canine trainer.

May 23, 2007

Science Remakes the Dog (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Dogs, Science — @ 5:01 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936
| Buy on Ebay

Science Remakes the Dog

How Breeders Are Changing The Appearance and Nature Of Our Canine Population To Bring Out the Qualities That Are Made Desirable By Modern Living Conditions

By Jesse F. Gelders

DOGS are getting smaller. Subject to style trends, the same as clothing, automobiles, and houses, they are adapting themselves— or, rather, being adapted—to the changed conditions of modern life.

People today are demanding dogs that can live in small homes or apartments, and ride in automobiles, without crowding out their human companions; dogs that can keep fit with a minimum of exercise; smart, good-natured dogs, and—an important consideration, sometimes—dogs that will not eat their masters out of house and home.
Read the rest of this entry »

May 19, 2007

TEST NEW PARACHUTE FOR THE DOGS OF WAR (Nov, 1935)

Filed under: Dogs, War — @ 8:15 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1935
| Buy on Ebay

TEST NEW PARACHUTE FOR THE DOGS OF WAR
Foreseeing that troops may be dropped with parachutes from speeding planes, in future wars, Soviet experimenters are trying out a similar means of landing the dogs used in army service. A recent invention is a cylindrical coop for the dog, provided with a parachute that opens automatically when it is tossed from a plane. The shell of the coop, locked closed during the descent, springs open of its own accord when the device strikes the ground. The photographs reproduced here show the device in action during recent successful tests by Soviet aviators.

May 16, 2007

BAKING AS CURE FOR DOG ILLS IS TRIED IN GERMANY (May, 1924)

Filed under: Dogs, Scary — @ 12:13 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1924
| Buy on Ebay

This scares me. Besides just being a generally bad idea, am I the only one who immediately thinks of the holocaust when I see this?
It’s not quite as scary as this one though.

BAKING AS CURE FOR DOG ILLS IS TRIED IN GERMANY
Ills of dogs are being treated by baking in Germany. For this purpose, and to aid in scientific research, gas ovens have been installed in the Berlin veterinary university’s clinic. The application of heat to animals is said to act in the same way that a steam bath does to the human body.

April 10, 2007

Death Chamber for Dogs Is Built into Truck (Nov, 1937)

Filed under: Dogs, Scary — @ 10:40 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1937
| Buy on Ebay

Yes, every little girl should have the character building experience of watching her dog’s execution. She seems to be taking it well.

Death Chamber for Dogs Is Built into Truck
A death chamber for dogs is a feature of a truck operated by the Animal Protective Association of Washington, D. C. Incurably sick or injured animals are placed in the compartment and destroyed by carbon monoxide gas.

February 21, 2007

Ventilator for Auto Trunk Makes It Safe for Dogs (Aug, 1938)

Filed under: Automotive, Dogs — @ 9:49 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1938
| Buy on Ebay

Ventilator for Auto Trunk Makes It Safe for Dogs
Hunters’ dogs and other pets can be carried safely in the automobile trunk if a ventilator is provided. A vent which resembles the cap of the gasoline tank can be installed at the side of the trunk, well above the exhaust fumes. It is adjustable so that the proper supply of air can be supplied the dogs in warm or cold weather.

February 12, 2007

Dog Rides Tricycle, Drinks Pop (Nov, 1933)

Filed under: Dogs, Toys and Games — @ 10:25 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1933
| Buy on Ebay

Dog Rides Tricycle, Drinks Pop

A Terrier, that rides a tricycle and drinks pop through a straw, has been trained by his boy master.

The dog has been taught to sit on the cycle seat without fear. He balances himself by putting his rear paws on the bars supporting the rear wheels. He rests his front paws on the handle bars. His legs are a bit too short for pedaling, but his young trainer enjoys pushing him around.

While the boy cools off with a drink of pop, his dog also goes through the act of sucking through the straw.

How well the terrier knows his stunt is shown in the photo on the right.

December 24, 2006

Police Dog Responds To Radio Commands (Jun, 1939)

Filed under: Cool, Crime and Police, Dogs — @ 2:05 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1939
| Buy on Ebay

Police Dog Responds To Radio Commands
ZOE, an Alsatian police dog attached to the Sydney (Australia) Police Force, is shown performing tricks in response to commands issued to her via short-wave radio. A miniature radio receiver was strapped to the animal’s back and a police officer whispered instructions into the microphone of a transmitter located some distance away. Hearing her master’s voice, Zoe dutifully carried out the commands.

December 20, 2006

Car Exercises Dogs (Sep, 1955)

Filed under: Automotive, Dogs, Impractical, Scary — @ 10:24 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1955
| Buy on Ebay

This seems like a really good way to kill your dogs, not to mention just cruel. I don’t really know how fast dogs can run, but 35 mph seems a bit high, doesn’t it?

Car Exercises Dogs

With six racing dogs to keep in top shape, Dewey Blanton of Columbus, Ohio, has developed a “canine exerciser” that fastens to his station wagon. Blanton built a frame to support a long plank beside the vehicle. Springs fastened to the plank are attached to the dogs’ collars, permitting the dogs to run wide. Longer chains keep the dogs in check. The broad plank bumper prevents injury to the dogs as they race along at 35 miles per hour. Best of all, the dogs seem to love the exerciser.

December 1, 2006

First Dog Fitted With False Teeth (Aug, 1938)

Filed under: Dogs, General — @ 7:06 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1938
| Buy on Ebay

Dog Fitted With False Teeth

“MacKENZIE BOY”, an aged Bost°n terrier pet owned by an Aberdeen, Wash., resident, is believed to be the first dog ever fitted with a complete set of false teeth. Dr. D. Fosland, of Aberdeen, constructed the artificial molars for the dog and it is claimed they enable the canine to masticate properly.

September 15, 2006

Pet Dog Makes Living Fur Piece (Jun, 1939)

Filed under: Dogs, Personal Appearance — @ 5:56 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1939
| Buy on Ebay

Pet Dog Makes Living Fur Piece

SIGNS reading “No Dogs Allowed” mean nothing to Miss Jeanne Lorraine, of New York City, since she taught her twelve-year-old pet toy collie, Jiggs, to drape himself around her neck and masquerade as a fur piece. The trick first worked on a clerk at a residential hotel that barred pets, and Miss Lorraine has been using it ever since to take her dog through subways, past customs officers, on railroad coaches, and into other places where canine companions are not welcomed. To heighten the illusion, Jigg’s mistress selects costumes in shades of brown that blend with her dog’s coloring, and then attaches a “pinned” flower corsage to the dog’s fur by means of an elastic band around his belly. The animal then promptly relaxes every muscle so that he can be draped gracefully around his owner’s neck, like a fox, mink, or marten skin. For periods up to one hour at a stretch, Jiggs will hardly bat an eye, his only movement being an occasional tail wag, which his mistress covers up with a nonchalant stroke of her hand.

September 13, 2006

Pioneer Seeing Eye Dog Is Preserved (Sep, 1940)

Filed under: Dogs, General, Taxidermy — @ 4:32 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1940
| Buy on Ebay

Pioneer Seeing Eye Dog Is Preserved

Almo, said to have been the first police dog brought to this country as a “seeing eye” for the blind, has been . preserved as in life for his master, Dr. W. A. Christensen, of Hollywood, Calif. When the animal died, John M. Schleisser, California naturalist, first measured him, both before and after the skin was removed. Next, he modeled Almo in clay, made a cast over the clay, and inside this cast molded a form of papier-mache. Then he fitted the skin, which had been tanned and mothproofed, over the form. Finally he returned the original jawbone and teeth to the mouth. Wearing his harness, as shown at right, Almo now looks as alive as when he trotted across Hollywood street intersections ahead of his master.

21 queries. 1.265 seconds.