Famous Pets: Strongheart

One of the earliest canine film stars was Etzel von Oeringen, known on film as Strongheart. Born October 1 1917, he was a male German Shepherd who was trained as a police dog in Germany but was brought to the USA by husband and wife filmmakers Laurence Trimble and Jane Murfin, who had previously worked successfully with Jean, the Vitagraph Dog. He appeared in several movies, including a 1925 adaptation of White Fang. Some of these pictures were highly successful, and did much to encourage the popularity of the German Shepherd breed.

In 1929, while being filmed for a movie, Strongheart accidentally made contact with a hot studio light and was burned. These burns caused a tumor to form, which ultimately caused his death that year. After Strongheart’s death, J. Allen Boone wrote a book, “Letters to Strongheart,” about the survival of the dog’s soul after death. The book was reprinted many times and remains a classic of the Spiritualiist faith.

The effects of music on our pets

Friedrich Willhelm Nietzsche once said “Without music life would be a mistake” and I think it goes without saying that in most peoples eyes that quote holds true. What could possibly replace the works of Beethoven or Mozart? What would the 60’s been like without The Beatles? Music is one of our precious gifts that has the power to define a generation in a way that no other medium can. Music can move us to act in ways we never would have done otherwise. We know how it effects us, but many people may wonder: How does it effect our pets?

Scientist at the Canine Behaviour Centre, School of Psychology in Northern Ireland ran a series of test just to find out the answer to that very question. What they found was that dogs and people have more in common than we may want to admit.

In the study they explored the influence of various different types of auditory stimulation. Ranging from Human conversation, to classical music, pop and then Heavy Metal. The dogs were exposed to each type of stimulation for a period of four hours with a day in between each one. What they found was that classical music would cause the dogs to actually calm down while on the other end of the spectrum, Heavy Metal would agitate them.

Much like us, music can play on the emotions of our pets. While the study only tested dogs I think it is safe to say that the case is similar with other types of pets as well. So next time you leave the radio on for your pet you might want to consider what station you leave it on.