5 Famous Dog Stories Everyone Should Know

They say every dog has his day. Well, these particular dogs deserve far more than that.

From miraculous survival, to heroic acts that saved lives and changed human history, across the world dogs have statues in their honour, and generations later their stories are not forgotten.

Now, some of their stories are tragic, some are inspiring, but most show just how loyal and faithful servants our canine pals really can be.

1. Kostya

A clue to Kostya’s fame lies in his name. A diminutive of Constantine, it translates as “Faithful”, and he was certainly that. In 1995, a couple got in to a crash on the South Highway in the city of Tolyatti, Western Russia. The couple died, but Kostya (a German Shepherd who’s real name was never known) somehow survived. Not realising this, he kept coming back to the side of the road every day, rain or shine, waiting for his owners who would never return, chasing cars to see who was inside, and being fed and housed by the city’s residents.

He was so famous in his hometown that when he died in 2002, that a 1.5 metre (almost 5 foot) bronze statue was built in his honour.

2. Joy

At the fall of the Russian Empire in 1918, when the final Imperial Family had been put under house arrest, the Bolsheviks took the former Emperor, his wife, five children, two dogs and several servants down to their basement where they were murdered by firing squad. But another family dog lived in that house, and managed to get away. Spooked by the gunshot, Joy, a King Charles spaniel, ran off to the woods.

Returning a few days later, Bolshevik guards took pity on him, keeping him fed and watered. When rebellion forces arrived and flushed the guards out, Joy was found and taken to a surviving member of the royal family, who identified him – the only survivor of the Imperial household.

Swept off to exile as Russia became too dangerous, Joy is said to have never recovered from the loss of his master, but lived a long, comfortable life under the shadow of Windsor Castle in England.

3. Laika

On 3rd November 1957, the Sputnik 2 Soviet spacecraft was fired in to space. It was done so to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and on board the space craft was poor little Laika.

Laika (translated as “Barker”) was three years old, a Samoyed-terrier mix, and a stray. She was picked up by the Soviet spaceflight program on the streets of Moscow along with many others. It wasn’t known at the time that she would be aboard Sputnik 2, but after rigorous training, she was chosen. Spaceflight technology couldn’t account for a return, with the first ever artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) only fired in to space a month earlier. The plan for the mission was to complete multiple orbits of the planet and then crash back to Earth, with Laika expected to run out of oxygen after 10 days and die painlessly.

However, she is reported to have died just a day or two in to the mission, with temperatures rising to unexpected levels during launch. A cruel and tragic life, but some say without Laika and her death, we would not consider space liveable today. Her legacy lives on, and she is honoured in various monuments and in popular culture all over the world.

4. Cappy

A Doberman, and part of the US Marine Corps’ “Devil Dogs”, Cappy took part in the 1944 “Battle for Guam.” The Devil Dogs were used as guard dogs, to deliver messages, rescue injured Marines, search through caves for Japanese soldiers, and point out mines or booby traps. It was certainly dangerous work, with 25 of the 60 stationed in Guam being killed during the war.

Cappy’s moment of glory came when standing guard over a troop of 250 Marines at night. While they slept, he detected the presence of advancing Japanese troops, and alerted his men, waking them with barks and saving their lives in the process. In the ensuing battle, Cappy was injured, as was his handler, who tried to save the dog by refusing treatment or evacuation himself until Cappy was saved. Despite these efforts, Cappy sadly succumbed to his injuries. He is honoured today in the National War Dogs Cemetery in Guam, with a bronze statue standing guard of his fellow fallen Devil Dogs. The statue has the fitting name “Always Faithful.”

5. Belka and Strelka

Three years after the success (from a space-race perspective) of Laika and Sputnik 2, and the Soviet spaceflight team were scurrying around the streets of Moscow once again, looking for new candidates for its next mission. This time the hope was to send living organisms in to orbit and have them come back alive.

The dogs chosen were Belka (translated as “Whitey”) and Strelka (“Little Arrow”), who were accompanied on Sputnik 5 by 40 mice, 2 rats, a rabbit, some fruit flies, and some plants. The launch was on 19th August 1960, and after 17 orbits they returned back to Earth as intended: completely unharmed.

Belka and Strelka (along with their fellow passengers) became the first living creatures to reach orbit and return safely. They became national heroes, reported worldwide, and Soviet Premier Krushchev gifted a puppy of Strelka to the First Lady Jackie Kennedy during the height of the Cold War.