The Dogs that Helped Advance Science

One day in 1940 Marcel Ravidat, an 18 year old mechanic's apprentice, and his dog, Robot, were out for a stroll in southwestern France. Robot, a trusty mutt, suddenly fell into a foxhole. When Ravidat went to rescue Robot from the foxhole, he found much more than just the dog: Robot had led his owner to one of the largest archeological finds of the 20th century, including some of the most well preserved prehistoric art to be found yet. Good job, Robot! 

Laika, a female husky-spitz mix who was rescued from the streets of Moscow, made history in 1957 when she became the first dog to orbit the Earth. Laika was aboard Sputnik 2, and circled around in space for over an hour and a half before the temperatures inside the spacecraft became too high. Sadly, Laika had to give her life to science, but her contribution will not be forgotten. 

Grover Krantz, an eccentric anthropologist, dedicated his life to science - and his body, when he died. Before dying of pancreatic cancer, Krantz decided that he wanted his special bond with his Irish wolfhound Clyde to be immortalized. When Krantz and Clyde passed away, their bodies were donated to the University of Tennessee to aid forensic investigations, then later their skeletons were set up at the Natural History Museum in an eternal embrace. Krantz was a teacher in life and in death (as was his good boi Clyde!). 

This sweet girl is Marjorie, and she helped in the early testing of insulin as a treatment for diabetes. In 1921, when Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin, they needed some brave dogs to sacrifice themselves to the cause. Marjorie had her pancreas removed (causing clinical diabetes) and survived for more than two months on daily injections of insulin. Without her contribution, millions of people would not have been saved by insulin. 

These adorable doggos are Strelka and Belka, the first living creatures to go into orbit and return to Earth safely. They traveled into space on Sputnik 5, and their other animal companions included mice, rats and a rabbit. Both dogs lived full lives on Earth after their space voyage, which wouldn't have been possible without the help of Laika the dog (above). 

In 1925, a deadly case of diphtheria was gripping the remote Alaskan mining town, Nome. The respiratory disease, which made children particularly vulnerable, didn't have a vaccine, but an 'antitoxin' serum was used to treat it. The closest train station was 700 miles away from the town, so more than 100 Siberian husky sled dogs transported the treatment through treacherous winter conditions to the town. The two heroes of the journey were Togo, who ran double the distance of any other dog in the group, and Balto (pictured), who finished the last 55 miles of the journey. Those good bois helped to save the lives of many in Nome. 

This is Trouve, Alexander Graham Bell's terrier. Bell's father worked with deaf people, and encouraged his son to create a "speaking machine." Bell did this by manipulating Trouve's bark to sound like a human voice, and eventually trained him to speak something that sounded like "How are you, Grandmama?" (supposedly). Eventually, this led to Bell inventing the telephone. Good work, Trouve! 

This is Chaser the Border Collie, sitting in front of the 1,022 toys she learnt to remember by name, giving her the largest word memory of any non-human animal. Chaser's understanding of language helped researchers across the world understand language and behavioral concepts in dogs, as well as long-term memory and cognitive abilities in animals. Chaser passed away at 15 years old in 2019, but her contribution to science will live on. Watch an amazing video of Chaser showing off her skills below.