The
Cynophere,
a
dog-powered
velocipede,
was
invented
by
the
French
mechanic
Narcisse
Huret
and
patented
on
December
14,
1875.
Illustration:
Universal
History
Archive/Universal
Images
Group
(Getty
Images)
Ever
since
dogs
were
first
domesticated
about
18,000
years
ago,
they’ve
often
had
jobs
to
earn
their
keep.
Today,
some
dogs
are
used
to
herd
sheep
while
others
help
hunters
track
and
flush
out
game.
And,
believe
it
or
not,
dogs
were
sometimes
used
historically
to
power
machines
in
private
homes
and
factories.
Dog-powered
machines
were
surprisingly
common
in
19th-century
America,
with
dogs
often
walking
on
treadmills
to
power
everything
from
meat-roasting
spits
to
butter
churns
to
various
forms
of
transportation.
They
were
common,
at
least,
until
evolving
standards
about
what
constitutes
animal
cruelty
put
a
stop
to
the
trend
in
the
early
20th
century.
The
bizarre
tricycle-style
invention
pictured
above
was
created
by
Narcisse
Huret
in
1875
and
presented
at
the
Universal
Exhibition
(otherwise
known
as
a
World’s
Fair)
in
Philadelphia
for
the
U.S.
Centennial
in
1876.
The
device
was
powered
by
two
dogs
and
apparently
could
reach
a
speed
of
roughly
6
miles
per
hour.
As
author
Andrew
A.
Robichaud
notes
in
the
2019
book
Animal
City:
The
Domestication
of
America,
dog-powered
machines
were
being
advertised
for
sale
in
the
U.S.
as
early
as
the
1820s,
and
really
hit
their
peak
from
1840
to
1870.
These
machines
helped
make
all
kinds
of
products
and
were
seen
by
many
people
as
perfectly
normal
duties
for
dogs.
But
times
change.
And
attitudes
around
what’s
an
acceptable
occupation
for
a
dog
changed
with
it.
Even
in
the
19th
century,
it’s
not
hard
to
see
why
so
many
people
started
to
consider
these
machines
cruel.
The
treadmill,
after
all,
was
originally
invented
in
1817
as
a
torture
device.
Click
through
the
slideshow
to
take
a
look
at
some
of
the
hard-working
good
boys
and
girls
in
history
who
helped
humanity
get
the
job
done.
And
don’t
forget
to
remind
your
own
pampered
dog
how
much
harder
their
life
would’ve
been
200
years
ago,
as
the
TikTok
meme
so
often
reminds
us.
Engraving
depicting
a
butter
churn
powered
by
a
dog
running
on
a
treadmill
in
the
19th
century.
Image:
Universal
History
Archive/
Universal
Images
Group
(Getty
Images)
The
most
common
dog-powered
machines
of
the
19th
century
were
utilizing
treadmills
that
our
canine
friends
would
walk
on.
But
the
ultimate
purpose
of
the
machine
could
vary
widely.
In
the
image
above,
the
machine
was
a
churn.
The
February
1849
issue
of
the
magazine
The
Genesee
Farmer
mentioned
an
11-foot
wheel
that
was
being
marketed
for
powering
various
machines
that
weren’t
just
for
churning:
This
power
is
applied
to
a
circular
saw,
a
lathe,
and
several
other
operations,
such
as
churning,
pumping
and
washing.
It
is
said
to
be
much
superior
to
the
old
one
so
long
in
use
for
churning.
But
the
second
half
of
the
19th
century
saw
even
more
applications
than
that.
Four
dogs
power
a
wheel
for
pumping
water
at
Valparaiso,
Chile,
overseen
by
a
man
with
a
whip,
in
1855.
Image:
Illustrated
London
News
/
Topical
Press
Agency
(Getty
Images)
Another
way
that
dog-powered
machines
helped
humanity
was
by
pumping
water
out
of
the
ground,
like
in
this
report
from
Chile
in
the
1850s.
From
the
May
26,
1855
issue
of
the
Illustrated
London
News:
This
ingenious
method
of
raising
water
from
deep
wells,
by
the
means
of
dogs,
has
now,
for
a
number
of
years,
been
the
only
way
of
supplying
all
English
and
foreign
men-of-war
and
merchantmen,
as
well
as
almost
the
whole
town
of
Valparaiso,
with
water.
The
water
is
raised
from
the
well
by
wooden
buckets,
emptying
themselves
on
a
table,
from
which,
through
pipes,
the
water
is
conveyed
to
launches,
put
into
casks
and
buckets,
and
delivered
to
its
various
quarters.
The
wheel
raising
the
buckets
is
driven
by
eight
dogs,
belonging
to
Don
Juan
Augustine
Vives:
They
continually
run
upwards,
with
perfect
ease
only
four
of
the
dogs
work
at
a
time;
and
when
one
is
tired
he
jumps
off,
and
another
takes
his
place.
Obviously,
you
can
see
the
whip
being
wielded
against
the
dogs,
perhaps
explaining
why
this
method
of
water
pumping
fell
out
of
favor.
Not
very
nice
at
all.
Illustration
showing
a
dog-powered
meat
roaster
in
a
book
by
Henry
Wigstead
from
1799
titled
Remarks
on
a
Tour
to
North
and
South
Wales:
in
the
year
1797
Image:
Wikimedia
Back
in
the
late
18th
and
early
19th
century,
cooking
meat
often
happened
by
turning
a
spit
over
a
fire.
But
constantly
cranking
the
spit
obviously
could
get
tiring.
That’s
where
dogs
came
in.
The
1853
book
The
Illustrated
Natural
History
(Mammalia)
by
John
George
Wood
explained
how
the
dog-powered
turnspit
worked:
At
one
extremity
of
the
spit
was
fastened
a
large
circular
box,
or
hollow
wheel,
something
like
the
wire
wheels
which
are
so
often
appended
to
squirrel-cages:
and
in
this
wheel
the
Dog
was
accustomed
to
perform
its
daily
task,
by
continually
working.
As
the
labour
would
be
too
great
for
a
single
Dog,
it
was
usual
to
keep
at
least
two
animals
for
the
purpose,
and
to
make
them
relieve
each
other
at
regular
intervals.
The
Dogs
were
quite
able
to
appreciate
the
lapse
of
time,
and,
if
not
relieved
from
their
toils
at
the
proper
hour,
would
leap
out
of
the
wheel
without
orders,
and
force
their
companions
to
take
their
place,
and
complete
their
portion
of
the
daily
toil.
The
illustration
above,
which
appeared
in
the
1799
book
titled
Remarks
on
a
Tour
to
North
and
South
Wales:
in
the
year
1797
by
Henry
Wigstead,
featured
an
illustration
of
the
dog-powered
spit.
And
it’s
clear
the
illustrator
wanted
to
communicate
how
this
labor-saving
invention
was
making
things
easier
for
humans.
Image:
Google
Books
/
The
Illustrated
Natural
History
(Mammalia)
Dog-powered
machines
became
so
common
in
the
early
19th
century
that
specific
breeds
of
dogs
were
created
to
ensure
they
were
small
and
strong,
like
the
Turnspit
dog
pictured
above.
The
1853
book
The
Illustrated
Natural
History
(Mammalia)
by
John
George
Wood
explained
that
automated
roasting
jacks
had
become
common
enough,
that
few
people
used
dogs
to
turn
meat
in
their
homes
anymore
by
the
middle
of
the
19th
century.
And
the
author
noted
how
new
technology,
in
this
case
a
textile
device
called
the
spinning
jenny,
had
put
previous
sewing
technologies
out
of
use.
Just
as
the
invention
of
the
spinning-jenny
abolished
the
use
of
distaff
and
wheel,
which
were
formerly
occupants
of
every
well-ordained
English
cottage,
so
the
invention
of
automaton
roasting-jacks
has
destroyed
the
occupation
of
the
TURNSPIT
DOG,
and
by
degrees
has
almost
annihilated
its
very
existence.
Here
and
there
a
solitary
Turnspit
may
be
seen,
just
as
a
spinning-wheel
or
a
distaff
may
be
seen
in
a
few
isolated
cottages;
but
both
the
Dog
and
the
implement
are
exceptions
to
the
general
rule,
and
are
only
worthy
of
notice
as
being
curious
relics
of
a
bygone
time.
The
Turnspit
dog
no
longer
exists
here
in
the
21st
century,
but
they
were
pretty
cool-looking
guys,
even
if
they
had
to
work
like
hell
to
survive.
Image:
Popular
Scientific
Recreations
(1882)
by
Gaston
Tissandier
/
Google
Books
(Fair
Use)
This
invention
of
a
dog-powered
sewing
machine
was
considered
particularly
cruel,
as
was
noted
in
the
1882
book
Popular
Scientific
Recreations.
Again,
as
Andrew
A.
Robichaud
mentions
in
his
2019
book
Animal
City:
The
Domestication
of
America,
the
heyday
for
dog-powered
machines
was
1840-1870,
so
it
makes
sense
that
by
1882
people
were
starting
to
become
disturbed
by
these
machines.
Excerpt
from
the
June
1934
issue
of
Modern
Mechanix
magazine
featuring
a
“dog-powered
engine”
Image:
Internet
Archive
Dog-powered
machines
didn’t
necessarily
go
away
by
the
20th
century.
In
fact,
they
were
still
pictured
as
a
fun
contrivance,
as
long
as
they
were
used
for
recreational
activities
where
the
dog
could
plausibly
be
having
some
fun,
like
in
this
idea
from
the
June
1934
issue
of
Modern
Mechanix
magazine.
Knife-grinder
of
Caen
using
a
dog
to
power
his
machine.
Dog
walks
round
and
round
the
wheel.
1882.
Image:
Thomas
Crane
/
Culture
Club
(Getty
Images)
Another
common
dog-powered
machine
of
the
19th
century
included
knife-sharpening,
something
that
wouldn’t
necessarily
be
seen
as
very
cruel
given
the
relatively
limited
amount
of
time
required
to
get
the
job
done.
Lillies
war,
dog
powered
machinery
There
are
a
handful
of
people
on
YouTube
who’ve
built
their
own
dog-powered
machines,
including
someone
who
built
a
gigantic
wheel
that
powers
a
blade
sharpener,
just
as
people
were
doing
in
the
19th
century.
A
dog-powered
treadmill
pictured
in
Canada
in
1954.
Photo:
University
of
Waterloo
(Fair
Use)
This
photo
was
taken
by
a
photographer
for
the
Kitchener-Waterloo
Record
newspaper
in
Canada
in
1954,
though
it’s
not
clear
whether
the
machine
was
actually
used
at
the
time
or
existed
more
as
a
novelty
for
a
photo-op.
Dexter
C
Slater’s
patented
dog-power
machine,
patent
no.
24338.
The
dog
walks
around
a
turning
disc
to
provide
enough
power
to
operate
a
range
of
small
machinery.
Image:
M
J
Rivise
Patent
Collection
(Getty
Images)
A
number
of
different
patents
were
granted
for
dog-powered
machines
in
the
19th
century,
including
the
machine
illustrated
above
for
a
pump.
Much
like
the
first
image
in
this
slideshow,
there
were
a
handful
of
dog-powered
transportation
vehicles,
though
they
weren’t
terribly
efficient
from
an
energy
perspective.
If
this
kind
of
thing
worked
well,
The
Flintstones
would
be
a
viable
model
for
powering
a
car.
What
appears
notable
in
this
invention
is
that
the
dogs
very
clearly
have
a
chain
attached
to
their
neck,
perhaps
suggesting
the
dogs
were
not
very
happy
with
the
situation
and
would
presumably
run
off
at
any
chance
they
got.
Advertisement
from
the
1850s
showing
a
butter
churn
machine
powered
by
a
dog
Image:
Internet
Archive
This
ad
for
a
dog-powered
butter
churn
device
comes
from
the
1850s
and
is
featured
in
the
book
Working
Like
a
Dog:
The
Story
of
Working
Dogs
Through
History
(2003)
by
Gena
Gorrell.
Again,
churning
butter
could
be
an
exhausting
task
for
humans,
and
the
middle
of
the
19th
century
tried
to
solve
that
problem
by
using
dogs.
Three
dogs
practice
on
a
flying
machine
for
their
circus
show.
One
turns
a
wheel
which
moves
the
planes
the
others
sit
in
on
April
21,
1943.
Photo:
Keystone/Getty
Images
(Getty
Images)
By
the
middle
of
the
20th
century,
most
of
the
serious
work
machines
had
vanished,
but
there
were
still
some
very
cool
designs
for
similar
machines
used
for
entertainment
purposes.
Look
at
how
much
fun
they’re
having.
Now
that’s
a
dog-powered
machine
we
can
feel
good
about.
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