Dogs of the Titanic

What People Won’t Do For Their Dogs

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4/10/24

I had a horrible night’s sleep. Don’t know why stupid nightmares exit in the first place. Oh, you’ve been wondering the same thing?

It turns out that nightmares may serve a very beneficial purpose. According to a Harvard psychologist, nightmares are helpful to our survival or else evolution would’ve done away with them long ago. Nightmares are the brain’s way of focusing a person’s attention on issues they need to address.

But I don’t see how dreaming about Abbie and Seri, our two most recently deceased dogs, serves any purpose. Thinking about them was sheer torture. Then I discovered what day today is.

On this day in 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail on its doomed maiden voyage. I immediately Googled if there were any dogs aboard the Titanic. Bingo! Here is the story of the dogs who survived the shipwreck.

More than 1,500 people died in the disaster, but people weren’t the only casualties. The ship carried at least 12 dogs, only three of which survived (see photos above).

First-class passengers often traveled with their pets. The Titanic was equipped with a first-rate kennel and the dogs were well-cared for, including daily exercise on deck. In fact, there was an informal dog show scheduled for April 15, which, sadly, was the day the ship sank.

Of course, perhaps the most heartbreaking dog story from the Titanic is the one about the woman who owned the Great Dane. She refused to leave the ship without her dog, which was too big to go on a lifeboat. She was one of four first-class female passengers who died on the Titanic. According to unsubstantiated accounts, a recovery ship discovered her body with her arms wrapped around the dog.

Regarding, the three dogs that survived, they had a few things in common: They were kept in staterooms, not in the kennel, and they were tiny. They were taken into lifeboats by their owners, most likely wrapped in blankets or tucked under a coat.

The owner of one of the surviving Pomeranians said, ““There seemed to be lots of room [in the lifeboat], and nobody made any objection.”

But on another lifeboat, they did protest. The crew initially refused to take one of the dogs on board, but its owner, Mrs. Rothschild, insisted. Meanwhile, Mr. Rothschild was left to perish. Can you imagine a wife choosing to save her dog while her husband went to his watery grave? Now that’s some serious doggy love.

Rest in peace to all those who died in the Titanic disaster, including our four-footed friends. And no more nightmares, please.

#IloveyouAbbieandSeri