Here's to Lap Dogs!

This past Monday, I got a call from my daughter asking me if I would take care of their little dog Harlow, while they had to be out of town on family business. Of course, I said yes, hoping to be of help to them. I have dog-sat this darling little pup before, and though it does change some of my schedule, I find her a bright, happy companion, who only asks that she be included. Other than that, and that she's a terrible beggar, she's really not a lot of trouble at all. Lucky for me, my employer enjoys her company too. She has become somewhat-of-a company mascot, as she is allowed to come to work, sit under my desk, and occasionally pop her head out to greet other employees or check out a visitor to our door.

Harlow is a beagle mix, so she is a manageable size, and she doesn't shed much, or have long hair to keep groomed.          

I looked into dogs of the eighteenth century, and find that generally speaking, they were lap dogs, and looked at with some disdain, but they moved in the high circles of their aristocratic owners. Larger breeds remained out of doors, with no chance of an invitation to a salon, a dance, or the monarch's bed chamber. The nurturing of pets began to take hold during this age, and they enjoyed even small comforts like dog baskets, biscuits and food made especially for them, and even dog soap! The first dog doctors are recorded in 1771. By the mid-1800's dogs are even sentimentalized, and said to have feeling and personalities (which they do, I find!) harlow definitely fits in at any occasion, be it casual or fancy. I've even seen her in a pearl collar!

An interesting book called "Culture in Miniature: Toy Dogs and Object Life" discusses porcelain dog figurines produced in China, sold in England. One of my favorite types is the Staffordshire dogs, usually spaniels, that grace the fireplace mantles of many a country estate. There were also the exotic foo-dog with mystic properties. Talking with a friend the other day, he mentioned having a foo-dog. I have one, too, that faces my front door. He is discreetly placed, but I like to think he guards my door from the wrong kind of people as well as any potentially bad spirits!! 
Often called "Foo Dogs" in the West, these figurines are a common representation of the lion in pre-modern China. Statues of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of  Chinese  Imperial palaces. Everyone's home is his palace, right!?

But, in the mentioned book, the author does state that the toy dog, "a small but far from trivial commodity, mediated relations of racial, sexual, and species difference and helped establish a luxury market for the pet as a racialized fetish object that continues to this day." Just give a look at the Westminister Dog Show, and tell me if dogs have not become an obsession!