The Sad, Strange History of Turnspit Dogs

For many dog breeds, working is fortunately a thing of the past. Although there are still some canines used for specific jobs—for instance, to herd sheep, to sniff out drugs, and to guide blind people—it’s far more common for modern pooches to live a life of luxury as a pet. But while most dog breeds have managed to make the jump from work to play, one historical working dog has been completely lost to time: the turnspit dog. 

1. Work Like a Dog
2. The Dog Days Are Over

Work Like a Dog

The life of a turnspit dog was miserable—even by historical working dog standards. Starting in the 16th century in Britain, the small dogs would be placed in what was essentially a large hamster wheel that was fixed to the wall in a kitchen; as they ran, the wheel would rotate a spit of meat cooking over an open fire. Jan Bondeson, author of Amazing Dogs, a Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, explained to NPR that turnspits “were viewed as kitchen utensils, as pieces of machinery rather than as dogs.”

Turnspit dogs were solely owned by the wealthy. Lower class people could only afford small amounts of preserved meat—which they would typically stew—while those with money could afford to splash out on fresh cuts that would be spit roasted. Originally the spit was turned by the lowest ranking person on staff, usually a young boy. Burns and blisters were a hazard of the job. During the 1500s, this long, hot, and tedious task started being done by paw, rather than by hand. The first recorded mention of the turnspit dog—or veruuersator (“spit-mover”) in Latin—is from John Caius’s De Canibus Britannicis (1570), which was translated into English as Of Englishe Dogges by Abraham Fleming in 1576. The cooking canines are described as “curres of the coursest kinde,” but it is also said that they “so diligently looke to their businesse, that no drudge nor skullion can doe the feate more cunningly.”

Turnspit dogs were generally thought of poorly—and were treated as such. In Anecdotes of Dogs (1846), Edward Jesse recalled the turnspits of his childhood being “long-bodied, crooked-legged, and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them, as if they were weary of the task they had to do, and expected every moment to be seized upon to perform it.” Turnspits were mongrels that most closely resembled modern-day terriers, dachshunds, and corgis, but usually with a considerably more miserable temperament thanks to their mistreatment. Jesse explained that the poor animal was “subject to scolding or beating if he stops a moment to rest his weary limbs, and is then kicked about the kitchen when the task is over,” and Bondeson noted that a hot coal would sometimes even be chucked into the wheel to make the dog run faster.

It was common for people to keep at least two turnspits at a time so that when one tired out, the other could take over. Turning meat also wasn’t the only way that these dogs were used. Stephen Coren, author of The Pawprints of History, told Atlas Obscura that they also sometimes powered “fruit presses, butter churns, water pumps and grain mills.” Some people even took their turnspits to church with them on Sundays to serve as foot warmers. In the U.S.—where turnspits were a little less common—the dogs worked in cider mills and in the kitchens of big hotels. But at least a few turnspits were spared the misery of hard labor; Queen Victoria kept three purely as pets. 

The Dog Days Are Over

By the middle of the 19th century, the turnspit was rapidly dying out due to improvements in kitchen technology. The rise of mechanical spit-turners meant that the short-legged mutts were no longer needed in the kitchen. And by the end of the 19th century, people were starting to turn away from cooking over an open fire entirely, in favor of using gas-powered ovens. Since most people didn’t want to keep turnspits as pets, the breed soon went extinct. 

But just before turnspits completely vanished, they nosed their way into the history of fighting animal cruelty. In 1850, Henry Bergh saw the horrible conditions the dogs were subjected to in New York’s hotels. Then in 1863, while visiting Russia as an American diplomat, he saw—and stopped—a carriage driver hitting a horse. Witnessing such instances of animal cruelty compelled Bergh to found the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in 1866. By this time, turnspits were waning in popularity, but Bergh still publicly spoke up against the abuse suffered by the last remaining dogs.   

These days, there’s just one turnspit left in the world: Whiskey, who was taxidermied and now resides at Abergavenny Museum in Wales. Sally Davis, the museum’s custodian, told NPR she believes Whiskey’s owner may have loved her, given that she was preserved and presented against a painted blue backdrop and artificial flowers. If true, then at least one person besides Queen Victoria had a fondness for the little dogs. 

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