Who Knew? is an occasional feature sharing weird stuff. In this case, thanks to NPR, the story of turnspit dogs.
The NPR report says, "The Canis vertigus, or turnspit, was an essential part of every large kitchen in Britain in the 16th century. The small cooking canine was bred to run in a wheel that turned a roasting spit in cavernous kitchen fireplaces."
They were bred for this kind of work and Darwin cited them as an example of genetic engineering.
The dogs replaced the previous mechanism: small boys. The boys stood behind a bale of wet hay to protect them from the heat, but their hands would blister and eventually somebody came up with the idea of replacing them with dogs and a hamster wheel type mechanism.
Jan Bondeson, author of Amazing Dogs, a Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, said, "The wheels were put up quite high on the wall, far from the fire in order for the dogs not to overheat and faint."
If a dog slowed down, a glowing coal was thrown into the wheel for motivation. At least they got Sundays off to go to the church with the family--because they were useful as foot warmers.
By 1850 spit-turning machines had replaced most of the dogs (their plight had also helped lead to the founding of the SPCA in America).
The breed died out. Bondeson says they were ugly little dogs "with a quite morose disposition." No wonder.
