FARGO — Ask most dog owners and they’ll probably admit that these five words have been spoken in their home.
“This dog is very spoiled.”
Or is that just my house?
Growing up, I was never the type to own a dog, but that all changed when I married a dog-loving man and had a few more dogs.
Since I work from home most days, I’m the one who spends the majority of my day with these two animals. McKenna is a 12-year-old golden retriever-Labrador mix who loves to eat and rivals me in terms of spilling, and Winnipeg is a 4-year-old rescue dog who is scared of strangers but is sweeter to us than Dolly Parton.
Tracy Briggs
Maybe it’s because I treat my dogs like my human daughters that they shower me with affection. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say that I have a real human daughter who works at the Moorhead Dairy Queen, and these two animals enjoy a Doggy Dish (DQ soft serve ice cream with Milk Bones).
Like many of you, I treat my pets like people: I tell them I’ll be right back when I go to the grocery store, and I tell them I miss them when I get back (which I don’t actually mean, but they get so excited to see me when I get home that I feel like I have to say something).
Each day at lunch, each dog gets a pork jerky treat called an Oinkie, and I signal mealtime by singing the Howdy Doody Show theme song: “It’s Oinkie, it’s Oinkie time, it’s Oinkie, it’s Oinkie time.”
Why am I telling you all this? (Because, to be honest, it’s a little embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as singing, but close.)
But the other day, while browsing Newspapers.com and The Forum Archives, one of my favorite activities (yes, I’m a party girl), I came across evidence that people have been treating dogs like humans for over a century.
A few years ago, British researchers were scouring archives for evidence that might suggest when familial and emotional attachments between humans and pets became common and socially accepted.
Contributed by the Library of Congress
Jane Hamlett, a professor at University College London, told The Guardian in 2019: “We expected to find that people’s empathy for pets has increased in recent years, but it turns out that people in the early 19th century also felt very empathetic towards animals – they just expressed it in different ways.”
Contributed by the Library of Congress
My initial research supports her findings. Treating dogs as people, rather than animals, is reported to date back to the time of William the Conqueror, but it seems to have exploded with the Victorian era and the industrialization of Europe. Owning pets like dogs and cats was no longer considered something for frivolous aristocrats. It became socially acceptable as a way to teach children about compassion and character development.
One of the clearest examples of the ascription of human characteristics or qualities to animals (or anthropomorphism) is) In the late 1800s, it became popular to dress up pets in costumes, and not just for Halloween.
Contributed by Newspapers.com
According to Leslie Ingraham of The Daily Wag, “In 19th century England, Princess Victoria’s spaniels reportedly wore ‘crimson jackets and blue trousers.’ In France, around the same time, dogs were dressed up for afternoon and evening social gatherings, trips and trips to the beach. They wore special bathing suits with the name of the beach embroidered in gold on the side. Dogs of the aristocracy wore silk jackets and tea gowns, and traveling cloaks and embroidered coats were also common.”
Even in America, women were learning how to knit sweaters for dogs.
Concerns about the ethics of dressing up pets were raised as early as the late 1800s and have continued into the 21st century. Today, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) recommends not dressing up your dog or cat unless you’re sure they enjoy it. (What pet “loves” dressing up?)
Tracy Briggs
If you dress your pet, whether for functional reasons, to protect against cold or rain, or simply for fun, make sure the costume does not restrict your pet’s movement, sight, hearing, breathing, barking or meowing.
It’s probably fair to say that people 125 years ago were just as obsessed with pets as we are today, but instead, let’s take a look at some examples of people styling their pets around the turn of the century, like Paris Hilton circa 2003. I think you’ll be as enthralled by these photos and stories as my dogs are by DQ Doggy Dishes.
Contributed by the Library of Congress
Contributed by/Westminster Budget/Via Newspapers.com
Contributed by the Library of Congress
Contributed by/The Boston Post/Via Newspapers.com
Contributed by the Library of Congress
Contributed by The St. Paul Globe/Via Newspapers.com
Contributed by the Library of Congress
Travel back in time with Tracy Briggs
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Hi, I’m Tracy Briggs and thanks for reading my column! I love bringing you stories about interesting people, places and things from the past every week in “Back Then.” You’ll find a few below. If you have an idea for a story, please email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.
Tracey Briggs has more than 35 years’ experience in broadcast, print and digital journalism.
