The O’Donovans were barking up the right tree with ‘pull like a dog’ line

ANN

also played a crucial role in polar exploration, once explorers learned how to handle them.

However, it was a different story in London.

Dogs were widely used in London in the early 19th century, to transport goods or people by those who could not afford horses or oxen or where there wasn’t enough room to manoeuvre larger draught animals.

But some of these dogs were badly treated and parliamentary acts in 1839 and 1842 banned the use of dog carts throughout the kingdom. (Children often replaced the dogs in pulling the carts, there being no laws against child labour.)

In America, historical references of dogs and dog harnesses that were used by native American cultures date back to before European contact.

The close relationship between dogs and mushers (their handlers) has resulted in many heroic feats, none more so than the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska, also known as the Great Race of Mercy.

An outbreak of diphtheria occurred in Nome and there wasn’t enough antitoxin serum to treat the infected. There was serum in Nenana, 1,100km away and inaccessible except by dog sled. Twenty teams worked in relay to complete a journey which normally took 11 days in half the time.

Both the mushers and their dogs were feted. A statue in honour of Balto, the Siberian husky who was the lead sled dog on the final stretch into Nome was erected in New York’s Central Park. The plaque on it reads “Endurance Fidelity Intelligence”.

A fine commendation. For dog. Or man.