Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?

A folk tale that goes back to biblical times has an answer to why dogs have wet noses, but scientists most likely won't agree with it.




According to an excerpt from Stanley Coren's book What Do Dogs Know "When God flooded the world, the story [folk tale] goes, all life on the planet was inside of Noah’s ark. The two dogs Noah had chosen constantly patrolled the ark, checking on the other animals, and generally just poking around as dogs do. One day, the dogs were taking their daily stroll when they noticed a coin-sized leak, through which water was rushing in at a rapid rate. One dog quickly ran for help, while the other dog gallantly stuck his nose in the hole to plug it. By the time Noah and his sons arrived to repair the hole, the poor dog was in great pain and gasping for breath, but a major disaster had been averted. According to this tale, dogs’ cold, wet noses are simply a badge of honor, conferred upon them by God in memory of that heroic act."

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The Dog on the Tuckerbox

The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian monument dedicated to the pioneers of Gundagai.

Dog on the Tuckerbox monument

According to the Commemorative Plaque, "The Dog on the Tuckerbox memorial is supposedly based on an incident that occurred to a teamster named Bill the Bullocky on the road to Gundagai in the 1850s. While leading his bullock team and wagon across a creek five or nine miles from Gundagai, Bill's wagon became hopelessly bogged in the creek. Trying to drag the wagon out of the bog, one of his bullocks then broke the wagon's yoke. Thereupon, Bill gave up the job and went to have his lunch. But here, to top off his run of bad luck, he found his dog sitting - or worse - on his tuckerbox. The other bullockies thought the incident a great joke and one of them supposedly wrote a poem about it. In several versions, the poem spread the story of Bill's bad luck far and wide."

The original poem was considered inappropriate (the dog spoiling the food inside the tuckerbox).

Good morning mate, you are too late,
The shearing is all over,
Tie up your dog behind the log
Come in and have some dover.
For Nobby Jack has broke the yoke,
Poked out the leader’s eye
and the dog shat in the tuckerbox,
Five miles from Gundagai.

The complete poem was not found till years later when someone was able to piece it together. According to Internet Archive, the 'original' (below) "was printed at the Gundagai Times and would have been little different to that which was penned more than seventy five years before. - the author was Anonymous, but another reference I found accredited these words to a 'Bowyang Yorke' in 1850. - [the words beggar and bloody] were omitted from the booklet."

As I was coming down Conroy's Gap
I heard a maiden cry,
"There goes Bill the Bullocky,
He's bound for Gundagai.
A better poor old beggar
Never earnt an honest crust,
A better poor old beggar
Never drug a whip through dust."
His team got bogged at the Five Mile Creek,
Bill lashed and swore and cried,
"If Nobby don't get me out of this,
I'll tattoo his bloody hide."
But Nobby strained and broke the yoke,
And poked out the leader's eye,
Then the dog sat on the Tuckerbox
Five miles from Gundagai.

In the 1920s, a cleaned-up version of the poem titled Nine Miles from Gundagai (it is unsure why it was named this) was written by Jack Moses, a salesman and balladeer. This poem became very popular and was the inspiration of the monument.

I've done my share of shearing sheep,
Of droving and all that,
And bogged a bullock-team as well,
On a Murrumbidgee flat.

I've seen the bullock stretch and strain,
And blink his bleary eye,
And the dog sit on the tuckerbox,
Nine miles from Gundagai.

I've been jilted, jarred, and cross in love,
And sand-bagged in the dark,
Till if a mountain fell on me
I'd treat it as a lark.

It's when you've got your bullocks bogged
That's the time you flog and cry,
And the dog sits on the tuckerbox,
Nine miles from Gundagai.

We've all got our little troubles,
In life's hard, thorny way.
Some strike them in a motor car
And others in a dray.

But when your dog and bullocks strike,
It ain't no apple pie,
And the dog sat on the tuckerbox
Nine miles from Gundagai.

But that's all past and dead and gone,
And I've sold the team for meat,
And perhaps, some day where I was bogged,
There'll be an asphalt street,

The dog, ah! well he got a bait,
And thought he'd like to die,
So I buried him in the tuckerbox,
Nine miles from Gundagai.

1926 statue

The first monument was erected in 1926, nine miles from Gundagai. This was replaced in 1932 by the present statue that stands today, five miles north of Gundagai.

Dog on the Tuckerbox unveiling by the then Australian Prime Minister J.A. Lyons.

A nationwide competition was held to obtain the inscription for the monument, and the winner was Brian Fitzpatrick of Sydney. The inscription says:

Earth's self upholds this monument
To conquerors who won her when
Wooing was dangerous, and now
Are gathered unto her again.

An annual Dog on the Tuckerbox festival has been celebrated each year since 1992, the 60th anniversary of the monument.

Australian Poem Acrylic Print
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Argos: Odysseus' Faithful Dog

Argos, the only one to recognize Odysseus when he returned home, lived long enough to see his master before passing on.

Odysseus and Argos

Odysseus was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and one of the most influential Greek heroes during the Trojan War. He spent 10 years fighting in Troy, having left his wife Penelope, his newborn son Telemachus and his dog Argos behind, and another 10 years getting back to his homeland. Before returning to his home, he disguised himself as a beggar so he could spring a surprise attack on Penelope's suitors who had taken over his home.

When Odysseus approached his home, he saw his dog Argos lying neglected on a pile of cow manure and infested with fleas. Immediately, Argos recognized his master. According to an excerpt from the Odyssey:

As soon as he saw Odysseus standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master [being old and weak]. When Odysseus saw the dog on the other side of the yard, dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaios [a close friend of his who did not recognize him] seeing it, and said:

'Eumaios, what a noble hound is that is over yonder on the manure heap: his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for show?'

'This dog,' answered Eumaios, 'belonged to him who has died in a far country. If he were what he was when Odysseus left for Troy, he would soon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But now he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their master's hand is no longer over them, for Zeus takes half the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of him.'

So saying he entered the well-built mansion and made straight for the riotous pretenders in the hall. But Argos passed into the darkness of death, now that he had fulfilled his destiny of faith and seen his master once more after twenty years.

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Pompey: The Dog Who Saved William the Silent's Life

According to legend, Pompey became famous in history for saving his master, the Prince of Orange, from assassins during battle.

William I, Prince of Orange (also known as William the Silent) was a Dutch leader at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War for independence from Spain. One night in 1572 the Prince was asleep in his camp's tent during the Siege of Mons with his dog Pompey at his side. When assassins attempted to sneak up to the Prince's tent, Pompey barked, scratched and finally jumped on his master's head to warn him of the intruders. The Prince managed to escape death that night; however, in 1584 he was not that fortunate. While walking down the stairs in his home in Delft, Balthasar Gérard (who regarded the Prince as a traitor to the Catholic religion) shot and killed him. It is said Pompey grieved for his master and died three days later. The tomb of William the Silent with his beloved dog Pompey at the foot of his bed was designed by a Dutch sculptor named Hendrick de Keyser in the early 1600s.

Waghya: Sacrificed Himself to Be With His Dead Master

According to legend, Waghya became famous in history for giving his life to follow his master into the next life.

It is said Waghya was the beloved dog of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire in India. When Shivaji died in 1680 his body was cremated, and when Waghya saw his master's body burning in the funeral pyre the distraught dog jumped into the flames to be with him.

In 1936 a statue of Waghya, who had become the symbol of purity and loyalty in India, was erected beside Shivaji's tomb at Raigad Fort in Maharashtra. In 2012 the statue was removed by alleged members of the Sambhaji Brigade as a protest but was later reinstalled.