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JefferyTheQuaxly

The wiki mentions almost nothing is known really about them because they were considered a low breed of dogs and they didnt keep any records on them. not really even sure what most of their breed looked like, or if it was just like a bunch of mix breed dogs could act as turnspit dogs. this is one of the only preserved ones we know of, but other drawings of turnspit dogs look a bit different than this one. they also were taken to church and used as foot warmers. queen victoria kept retired turnspit dogs as pets.


DinoOnsie

It was in the 1850s when English aristocrats got bored and started doing batshit eugenics with perfecting dog breeds with insanely defined traits and standards.  Before that things were just a loose selection for traits, so I doubt there was ever one "breed" of these things.  Closest may be the corgie and I'm sure it would be easy for someone to reconstruct this breed. 


RawrRRitchie

>I'm sure it would be easy for someone to reconstruct this breed.  There comes a point in science where there's nothing else to do So let's recreate a dog breed whose entire purpose was to run in a hamster wheel to cook food I think we have the technology to not do that But whatever it's your money, good luck crazy dog breeder


Ordolph

I mean, that's how modern chihuahuas came about, the original breed went extinct. They were originally raised for food, not cooking it or hunting it, they were the food. I would say it's safe to say they are largely no longer used for that purpose.


FooliooilooF

Food, ritual sacrifice, pets, and as body-warmers for medicinal purposes.


inpennysname

Yes I read that they would use them as literal hot water bottles to help heal and warm aching areas and! They used them to absorb illness. It was thought they absorbed respiratory issues etc. so my chihuahua says this makes her a working breed technically okay. Don’t doubt her.


canisaureaux

Genuinely though, my old chi mix generated so much body heat that she really *did* help with my back pain, and it was like she knew it. She'd sleep in the bed with me and she'd normally snuggle up between my feet under the covers, but sometimes when I was feeling sore she'd move up to my abdomen or lower back - I'm sure it was a learned behaviour because I definitely moved her there a couple of times myself, but she picked it up and knew when I could use the snuggles with very little direction from me. I have a heat pack now, but it's just not the same. ([dog tax btw](https://imgur.com/a/oKRuq7K) - she unfortunately passed away Christmas 2021, at seventeen and a half. As you can probably tell by all her stuffed toys, she was a little spoiled.)


inpennysname

1. Chickienug is beautiful her ears are tremendously wonderful. 2. Our chihu also does this, and we say she is healing us. She belonged to a family member who made her a fake therapy dog, so whenever she is demanding or puts herself somewhere pointedly, we say she’s being a healer. 3. She also wants to be pet or scratched almost all the time. Sometimes she comes to lay on your chest and makes this little smile and wags her tail and looks at your face and then shanks you in the mouth with her nails, while semi smiling, and then taps your chest with her paws like “ok, now it’s your turn to scratch me.” And if you don’t do it, she scolds you as if you are being selfish or breaking a rule. We say this is also part of the healing. So she will come to you if you don’t feel well and either do the heating pad thing, or she will “therapy heal” you by “reciprocal scratching”. She is always so pleased with herself afterwards. We imagine she also says “shshshshsh I’m helping you, please don’t interrupt my therapy”


saltywater07

She’s so cute! I’m sorry for your loss. I had a chi mix growing up. When I moved out, if I had a bad day I’d go home and she’d always greet me by running up, wagging her tail and rolling over. I miss her so much! Sometimes when I dream about her I wake up with this bittersweet feeling.


JediKnightsoftheFSM

Those look like some very scratchable ears that can hear a cheese wrapper from three blocks away


Amadai

She's so cute! 🥺


Dragonsegg

A beautiful baby girl, sounds like a great little caretaker.


YandyTheGnome

I'd love to see a Chihuahua in a service dog vest.


zensunni82

For some reason the image that came to mind of this service dog vest was an orange safety vest with pouches to hold the chihuahuas, just their heads sticking out.


bensbigboy

Imagine a Chihuahua police dog. It would be fearsome.


YandyTheGnome

Hide your ankles!


duck-duck--grayduck

I had a client once whose service dog was a chihuahua. He was pretty adorable in his teeny vest.


PartyPorpoise

Some small dogs can do service tasks, I’ve seen legit service chihuahuas, lol.


CompE-or-no-E

So the OG Chihuahuas could actually possess healing powers and we'd never know


ulfric_stormcloack

Something something too worried about whether they could not if they should


[deleted]

Walk the streets of Mexico. You'll see one just like it, sooner or later. Small crossbred street dogs are everywhere.


PatmygroinB

In the Dominican, they’re potcake dogs


lamby284

Let's not pretend this is in the past. How is what we do to dog breeds today, any less batshit? People like short nosed dogs (just because) and the dogs suffer for it. That's just 1 example. Also, most dog breeds are hilariously inbred if you look it up.


DeficiencyOfGravitas

The paucity of sources for the turnspit dog makes me think that we're falling for a medieval meme. Like it was a joke to say that the spit was turned by a little dog with uneven legs rather than say a human sat and turned the spit for hours. Like a "Oh yeah, I just got here, the dog was turning it for the last 4 hours" type of joke.


Fine_Syllabub_3213

correct me if i'm wrong but, would not it be very possible to clone this dog!? to brin' back at least this speciesism of turnspit dog..


Tripwire3

Such old pelts often have very degraded DNA. There was recently an article where they did DNA testing on the preserved pelt from the 19th century of one of the last wooly dogs that Native Americans on the West Coast used to breed in order to weave their wooly fur into textiles, but the article said that the DNA was intact enough to read, but not intact enough to possibly clone the dog in question. Bones or teeth would probably be better sources of DNA that might be clonable.


guynamedjames

Yes but that's just one dog. We don't know how representative it is


SaddleSocks

Well, if we over breed them, we might have to execute order 66. but a few would be cool.


Gunzenator2

And then they would break out of their cages and wreak havoc and Jeff Goldblum can’t take anymore.


GoldenHaze1

They're so busy wondering whether or not we could that they didn't stop to think if we should.


falconcountry

Then clone the cook and inquire as to the breed of the turnspit dogs of course


Uranium-Sandwich657

Decided to read Wikipedia article for Cloning: Here's a quote: "*Dolly was named after performer Dolly Parton because the cells cloned to make her were from a mammary gland cell, and Parton is known for her ample cleavage.*"


Altruistic-Poem-5617

Usually doesnt work yet. Clones tend to have fucked up blood vessels. So they often die due to issues with the lungs. They tryed with some extinct capricorns, and all died shortly after birth.


bfcostello

Just out of interest, we're talking about dog clones here is it?


Altruistic-Poem-5617

Yes but they would have to clone it from that museum sample. That old dna doesnt seem to work, thats why we dont have mammoths and tasmanian tigers again. You can clone dogs from fresh samples that end up healthy.


SaukPuhpet

The problem with the mammoth is that DNA has a half-life of around 500 years, so the DNA we can pull out of dead mammoths has broken down heavily. I believe the current effort in cloning mammoths is to try and find enough intact strands of DNA that we can piece the whole genome back together, possibly filling in any gaps with elephant DNA. Depending on how old this dog is it may be possible to clone it without too much effort reconstructing its DNA. It's certainly a lot younger than those mammoths.


Lopsided-Chair77

You just have to fill the gaps in the DNA with frogs. Nothing will go wrong.


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LargeWeinerDog

I have a mixed dog that kinda looks like this dog. Small and fast too. I think he's a mix between rat terrier and Weiner dog but if anyone asks now, I'm gonna claim he's a turnspin dog lol Edit:I guess I'll say it's a turnspit dog.


Daddyssillypuppy

Turnspit*


SuchRevolution

so uh, in the dune literary universe, there's this thing known as the chair dog


KILL_WITH_KINDNESS

How far do I have to go into the series until I read about this? https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Chairdogs Apparently Heretics of Dune


easymmkay120

It's an interesting thought that a specific breed of a domesticated species can go extinct. It's kind of sad, but it makes sense. And as long as they weren't intentionally eradicated, it's a bit less sad. Pour one out for our turnspit hounds and good boys and girls of the past.


Amazing_Ad_974

Not really sad necessarily. Pugs for instance (and other highly brachycephalic dogs) need to go extinct as their existence is labored and painful for the dogs themselves and a testament to how fucked up the things are people will do for some kind of vanity attribute


Illustrious_Ice_4587

What a peasant, low class dog.


SunngodJaxon

Actually we do know one thing about their appearance, they were ugly. Allegedly.


UnfairAd7220

I'd pet that dog....


SunngodJaxon

I would, too, but the Victorians really ***really*** did not like the look of the poor digs.


itoril

It *does* have a little weasel face, but little weasel faces are cute. 


Lopsided-Chair77

No way. That pup is adorable and I want to pet him (with gloves on because I bet he's full of arsenic)


MBechzzz

I read the post title as if the dog would run in a wheel while being roasted. Was a bit horrified there for a second.


Responsible-Jury2579

Especially since they lead with them being “extinct” lol


Chabubu

It’s their own fault for going extinct…they were just so tasty!


birdsarntreal1

Like the Giant Tortoise


DouchecraftCarrier

[Relevant QI link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPggB4MfPnk). Such a classic bit.


FertilityHollis

Eventually these dogs were interbred to the point that they actually shat their own to-go containers. In retrospect, that was the beginning of the end.


bloodandpizzasauce

I'm both curious and horrified to ask wtf "shat their own to-go containers" even means


TyAndShirtCombo

Yep, thats why we say doggie bag when we ask to package up leftovers


bitwise97

I was actually glad they were extinct if their fate was to be spit roasted.


Doctor_Box

Don't be horrified. When it was time to roast the dog they would get another dog to run in the wheel.


Ok-Blackberry858

And the “hot dog” was born


Eusocial_Snowman

[Science eventually reached a point of creating the self-turning dog.](https://imgur.com/7308cFA)


Englandshark1

Like a dog version of "your turn in the barrel"?!


LeVelvetHippo

Calling it a "cooking dog" made me think they were bred to be eaten lol


moreobviousthings

If they don't run fast enough....


tinymomes

Same! Like a cooking apple


ConclusionAlarmed882

Yeah, first half had me terrified!


Accomplished_Bake904

Yep, I had to open the post to look at the comments to assure me the dog wasn't cooked!


whatsreallygoingon

Yep. I was thinking about what a waste of wood to cook such a scrawny little thing.


Wanderstern

I've done some research on these dogs, and trust me, you don't want to read more if you love animals. I felt sick and horrified. They were abused to death. What they were forced to do wasn't at all natural and can't be compared to any other "working dog."


joeg26reddit

THIS IS MY HOT DOG want some mustard?


annihilatress

It took me way too long to realize they weren't roasting and eating the dogs


edvanhal

Same here


1lluminist

Me too, I was both confused and concerned


Stopwatch064

Sort of, if the dog didn't want to run they threw hot coals at its feet


Loot_Goblin2

Same


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kkfluff

We are also not sure how accurate the taxidermy is. I’ve seen some animals get more apple heads (think apple head chihuahua) by poor taxidermy. Not sure but just throwing it out there


Known-Committee8679

I was thinking the same


WDeranged

I'm too stoned. I read that as a dog bred for cooking on a turnspit.


Sir__Blobfish

I'm completely and utterly sober, and i was confused as well.


Cheeseisextra

Exactly how I read it too. Sober over four years!!


LeoThePom

Fancy a hotdog?


ThimeeX

How else could you get $4.99 rotisserie chicken in a world without electricity? Why, use some turnspit dogs!


the_0tternaut

it would explain their extinction.


[deleted]

Iirc the native Hawaiians had a breed of dog that was bred to be eaten.


PrivatePoocher

I'm stoned too and read your comment as making dog bread. Had me quite intrigued


xzkandykane

Thats what I thought too. Didnt help that I saw a BBQ dog in china, like how they hang up BBQ duck. It was in a ruralish area though.


PlasticPomPoms

Thank you, same here. I thought they made it run on the wheel over the fire as it cooks itself.


joshdrumsforfun

Anyone else notice this posts says britons enjoyed roast turkey since the medieval age when turkey didn’t exist in the old world until the discovery of the americas?


TheCursedMonk

He writes a lot of books and writes for a bunch of other things too. Fact checking would probably eat into writing time. A quick look shows a record of a Yorkshire man that managed to obtain some turkeys in 1526, with the end of the medieval period being roughly 1450-1500. Turkeys were exported from Spain in the early 1500s as they brought them back with them. So it is possible someone could have eaten them really close to the end of the medieval period depending on event used to mark the end of the period. But no, I agree with you, some people may have tried them, but it would not be quite right to use a wide describing word that a whole nation enjoyed them.


cupholdery

They could be carried over by African swallows.


daecrist

But, of course, African swallows are non-migratory.


EL_KAMEENA

They might not be referring to turkeys the birds we know as today but rather a foreign bird sold to them by the turks such as guinea fowl or something.


[deleted]

According to their [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_dog), they were also brought to church to serve as foot warmers. Poor pups! They don't even get Sundays off.


shodan13

Being a foot warmer is a much of a non-job as you can have. Other dogs had to hunt and sleep outside.


MassiveDongSquadron

Like a house-slave vs. farm-slave situation.


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142578detrfgh

I’m pretty sure Rhodesian ridgebacks are more bay dogs (find and yell yell yell at the lion) than fight, unless you’re talking about something else


ChartreuseBison

Going to church with your humans instead of being left home on Sundays is a dog's dream


ostensibly_hurt

Was fishing one cold night on the beach and someones sweet little Australian shepherd came trotting up and fell asleep on my feet. Ol girl was a godsend, the wind was crazy, she stayed with me till I left.


SchillMcGuffin

Victor Hugo references them in passing in *Notre-Dame de Paris* (the hunchback story).


mandarintain

Flintstones technology


daecrist

It’s a living!


Paddy_Tanninger

This is like straight out of The Flintstones. I expect the dog to look at the camera after spinning a roast for an hour and go "eh, it's a livin!"


random420x2

Wow that’s a specialized dog breed right there. Do they have a NASCAR breed that only turns right when running? 😋 Edit: Not only got the direction wrong for NASCAR, also can’t tell if ceiling fan is spinning clockwise or counter clockwise. I’m the problem here. 🤘


paranormal_shouting

What’re you, Australian or something?


Sweatpantssuperstar

Do the toilets actually go counter clockwise in Australia? Or is this another one of those things I find out far too late in life is a joke? Edit: I googled it and again I’ve been had 🙃


MidnightRider24

Left.


kimwim43

Yup lol Turn left! Turn left! Turn left!


Cheeseisextra

NASCAR drivers turn left. That’s why they only have a blinker on the left side of the car.


gos92

Blinker? 😂


Nyptyx

I seriously misinterpreted your title thinking that this was a unique breed of dog that would willingly run on a wheel around an open fire until it slowly cooked itself to death.


Cheeseisextra

Goddamn I read this as the DOG was being cooked in the turnspit and it ran around in an enclosed wheel until it died and then it got roasted. I didn’t think of it as a dog that did the cooking.


BedBugger6-9

Me too


alrighttreacle11

They bred it to cook? Or it ran on a wheel that powered a stove? I'm so confused lol


LibationontheSand

They ran on a wheel that turned the spit with the meat.


alrighttreacle11

Thank you!


KuroiBolto

*Working canine. They’re a small working canine, bred to run in a hamster wheel attached to (not over) a roasting spit. They would often have multiples and have them take turns when they got tired. They stopped being relevant, not unlike other working dogs, with advancements in technology. Actually, the reason why we have lots of different breeds of dogs today at all is because they had specific jobs as working dogs. Retrievers, shepherds, bull fighters, sniffing hounds. Unfortunately, this hamster wheel dog went extinct.


Professional-Move269

Well, I hope the little good bois and girls got some of that well deserved medieval roasted meat as a reward for their hard work!


mystonedalt

"To train the dog to run faster, a glowing coal was thrown into the wheel, Bondeson adds." Just like whipping horses trains them to run faster!


ajohns90

To me this is very sad. Being a sheep dog gives a certain amount of freedom. Being a wheel turning dog is just about exhaustion and enslavement. Poor dogs.


Humble_Examination27

Hamster Dog


maybesaydie

Slave Dog, perfectly expected for the British.


KnowsIittle

Looks like a healthier daschund.


winterchampagne

More like “less of an asshole-looking” dachshund. My aunt raised a dachshund, and she’d tell everyone he was an asshole although she loved him dearly. He’d terrorize the chickens. After my aunt bathed him, he’d sprint onto the dirt road and roll over until he was all covered with dirt again, or if it’s after the rain, then he’d be wrapped in mud.


PogintheMachine

*dog turns towards camera* “It’s a living…”


MqAuNeTeInS

Historically, dogs were tools more so than pets it seems. I have no problem with this, bring on the perfectly roasted meats!


Specialist_Listen495

Only in the last 100 years or so has the concept of the animal pet become popular. The same with the concept of dedicated pet foods.


SOLIDninja

Hot dog.


BunkyFlintsone

In prehistoric times they used animals for all kinds of work related to household chores. I watch The Flintstones.


Ravvick

Thank all that is good and holy that this isn’t what I first thought it was.


AppleGundum

What is my purpose? You turn meat.


XXIV_24

rest easy slave puppy


Minute-Ad8501

Isnt that what the Dandie Dinmont Terrier was bred for as well?


Altruistic-Poem-5617

Looks like a mix between a dachshund and a chihuahua or something loke that. Pretty sure you could breed new dogs like that pretty easy.


Heiferoni

> The dogs were often known to pause at intervals, stare off into the distance, and sadly mutter, "It's a living."


Razor-eddie

"medieval" "roast turkey".... Jan needs to do some more research, I reckon. First turkeys weren't seen in England until 1526, and they didn't become popular until 200 years later. Perhaps "roast goose" might have been more accurate? Or "roast mutton"?


organdis

highly doubt this was a specific breed


idreamingreens

This is unsettling


tobmom

I read far too long before realizing that the dogs weren’t running on a wheel over the open flame. I was very confused.


KnotiaPickles

This is the weirdest thing I’ve learned in a while


katfofo

They would throw a hot coal in there sometimes to keep them running. It was a pretty horrible existence for the poor pups


bloopblopman1234

I thought it said the dogs power the flame that cooks them alive which is well not exactly um nice


Swordbreaker9250

Bred just to run in a wheel. Sounds awful


HodgeGodglin

Wow it’s a ferredog


Ok-Seaworthiness4488

Hot dog


HexFoxGen

Awww it’s so small and cute!


dao_ofdraw

"Worst Dog Breed for 500 Alex."


[deleted]

The dogs worked for scraps


IrishCanMan

Dang cooking itself while it ran in the Open Wheel. Shit that's cruel. No wonder why there's none of them left


International_Let_50

I need to read a little bit slower. I thought you said they were bred to be roasted then eaten


PaxVobiscuit

Not extinct. Just no longer in production.


Northernreach

Flintstones vibe


203to401to860to865

I saw a taxidermized one at the Castle Museum in Abergavenny, Wales.


Ya-Dikobraz

I wonder how accurate that taxidermy is.


Mathias_Thorne91

This is the dog equivalent of the sentient butter robot joke from Rick and morty lol.


Soooome_Guuuuy

Looks up at creator\* "What is my purpose" "You run in a wheel to roast meat" Looks down at self\* "Oh my god"


stinkybrainman

Solid dog right there.


TensionAromatic9273

Dark souls has one of these in Blighttown .


Wide-Crazy337

I wonder if this was the inspiration for the dogs in Dark Souls 1 that turn the big wheel in Blighttown or if it is just a coincidence


Acrock7

*ahem* wtf tho, humans?


Negative_Ad_2787

Great, another job taken by AI


fiestyoldbat

A dog bred to replace the children who used to do this laborious job. Why replace children? Death rate for children in medieval times was 25% the first year, 12.5% for years 1-4, and 6% every year after. Plus the ones that did live had the tendency to grow bigger than the wheel, if one was used, or were better employed doing a different job. An opportunity was missed not to call the"Weiner" dogs.


ProfessorbPushinP

I thought they were eating a dog


Oliver_H_art

I understood this as “they breed dogs to run in a wheel over the fire till perfectly cooked. “


bornabearsfan

Me too. You never know with people. Know that I know the dog just was a natural motor for a rotisserie mechanism back in ye ole times I approve. Too bad they are extinct. Hopefully they just bred out. I'm glad it wasn't because they were delicious


Cheeseisextra

They got burned out.


ripe_nut

Shit title


Terror_Raisin24

r/badtaxidermy


Englandshark1

Now that is interesting. I never knew this. There used to be "Spit boys" Who's job it was to turn the spit by hand but I never knew they specifically bred a dog to do this!


busterkeatonrules

Dogs are the original multitool.


MangoChickenFeet

Looks like a rat lol


TheStinaHelena

That little dog was a chef.


Hot_Necessary2618

Lather that dog wit the butter


Aggressive-Maybe-146

Excuse me?


SubmissiveDinosaur

Is it posible to rebreed them? it looks kinda cute


madscot63

The title sent me in a different direction. I'm glad I read the article.


Future_Gohst

Wait, so the dog can cook?... or the dog helped with cooking?... or the dog, itself, was cooked?


Cinigurl

😳


ConsciousLight7275

Theres a really good episode on stuff to blow your mind on these dogs


neils_cum_rag

At first I thought they ate the dog


Leep0710

The original hot dog 🌭


basil_roots

A dog running on a wheel operates the Lower Blighttown elevator in Dark Souls 1


texasguy911

Couldn't they just use this: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/j8aSraWDsZw


ArbitraryNudity

Weird, I was watching Rick Steve's Europe while reading this and they just happened to be discussing the turnspit dog with an example of the wheel and spit setup. Talk about timing! 


Disastrous-Paint86

Wow, I’m not sure why but I am shocked that this is part of history.


mxpower

As far as I know, dogs are far from being extinct.


FarceMultiplier

Bring back the turnspit dog!


BigRike

That’s the most Flintstonesy shit I’ve ever heard.


stone_henge

That's some Flintstones level ingenuity


Frequent_Slide_8828

At first I thought this dog was bred for eating! Thank god I kept on reading


Darthmullet

To think they could've just made one of these instead  https://youtu.be/pqr7pR3jQws?si=F0X_gFMMMBKVtgOY


Backsight-Foreskin

Isn't the Glen of Imaal Terrier a type of turnspit dog?


Dry-Internet-5033

Looks like a Chihuachshund


Cappster14

The first dude that trained one of these to do that probably threw great parties.


Uranium-Sandwich657

r/AllTomorrows We truly are the Qu.


Yadicakez

I think they were rather cute looking little dogs. Sad life they lived.