Dogs of Sherlock Holmes: what cases of the detective involve dogs?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Holmes himself did not have a single pet in his entire life. Therefore, the expression "dogs of Sherlock Holmes" sounds somewhat inappropriate. But, in his own words, he resorted to their help more than once, and one of such cases is described in Sir A. K. Doyle's novel - The Sign of the Four. There is also the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is directly related to a hefty dog trained to kill by smell. These works, or rather, the dog breeds appearing in them, will be discussed in our article.

A little about Holmes' personality

In general, the famous detective gravitated a little to such unnecessary, as he said, excesses in life, like pets. The same can be said about everything else that is not related to solving the secrets of the investigation, various puzzles and other riddles. He could spend years writing papers on how differentink made in different factories, tobacco grown on different plantations, dirt and soil located in opposite corners of London and its environs, etc. But at the same time, being an expert in chemistry, he did not even suspect the structure of our solar system until on this occasion, Dr. Watson, astounded by this fact, did not enlighten him.

Holmes and dogs

What can we say about pets. For all the time, we have caught our eye only two of the most significant dogs of Sherlock Holmes, if they can be called that. Although the first, appearing in the Treasures of Agra, was a mongrel and belonged to the owner of one of the two-story houses located "down in Lambert along Pinchin Lane" - a certain scarecrow Sherman. The second, which frightened the people in the story "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and tore apart, on the orders of Dr. Stapleton, the offspring of the Baskervilles themselves, also did not differ in the purity of the breed. But let's start with The Sign of the Four, because in chronological order the work comes first.

Toby trained in the smell of creosote

This little dog appears in the 7th chapter of the first part of the book. When investigating the murder of Bartholomew Sholto, there was one strange type in the case, a native from Central Asia. He was hardly more than a 10-year-old child, was very nimble, could crawl through any gap and shot poisoned arrows through a tube. But he made a small mistake by stepping into a puddle of creosote in the attic of the house.

This is where Sherlock Holmes' first noteworthy dog enters the scene, the doggynamed Toby. When the inspection of the crime scene was completed, there was another monologue between Holmes and Watson, an excerpt from which we quote (says Holmes):

…When you take Miss Morstan, please drive to Lambeth, 3 Pinchin Lane. It's right on the beach. In the third house on the right hand lives a scarecrow named Sherman, he stuffs stuffed birds. In his window you will see a weasel holding a rabbit. Wake up Sherman, say hello for me and tell him I need Toby immediately. Take Toby and bring him here.

- Is that a dog?

- Yes, such a funny dog, not purebred, but with an amazing scent. I'd rather have Toby's help than all the detectives in London…

Watson goes looking for house number 3 in Lambert, and after a long wandering he finds the right one. The door is opened to him by a type embittered by the whole world, but after hearing the name of the famous detective, after a short monologue, he rents an unusual dog to the doctor. What breed of Sherlock Holmes' dog is number one in our peculiar rating? Here is what Sir Conan Doyle himself writes about her:

…Toby turned out to be a little freak, long-haired and long-eared, a cross between a spaniel and a Scottish bloodhound. He was brown and white, and he had a funny, clumsy waddling gait. After some hesitation, he took from me a piece of sugar given to me by an old naturalist, and, thus concluding an alliance with me, without any persuasion followed me into a cab …

It is through the magnificent scent of this dog to Holmes and Watsonafter a short looping around the city, we managed to trace the path of the intruders to a house located near one of the piers on the river. Thames. After the dog was returned to its owner, it was not mentioned in any other story or story.

The dog is the killer of the offspring of the Baskervilles

Another dog of Sherlock Holmes is a stretch to call the famous Hound of the Baskervilles. Here the famous detective and his assistant chronicler had to solve a case related to the family inheritance. One of the distant relatives in the Baskerville line, a certain Dr. Stapleton, with the help of a giant dog trained to kill people by the smell of a giant dog, eliminated contenders for the inheritance who claimed the right to inherit.

By killing everyone in front of him, Stapleton hoped to get the coveted Baskerville estate, located among swamps and bogs. The place is not very attractive, but in view of its precarious financial situation, it was not necessary to choose. He kept a killer dog in the wilderness in a specially equipped kennel, where only he and his dog knew the way. It was believed that evil fate had long been weighing on the Baskervilles, and for some sins a hellish dog was allegedly sent down to kill all offspring.

Stapleton was distinguished by extreme resourcefulness and, to heighten the horror, he smeared his dog's muzzle with a phosphorus solution, from which it demonically glowed in the dark. Seeing such a creature in the night was a huge shock.

This dog of Sherlock Holmes was also no different from a noble breed. That's howthe author describes her when she was finished with 6 shots fired from Holmes' own revolver:

…The monster lying in front of us could truly frighten anyone with its size and power. It was not a purebred bloodhound and not a purebred mastiff, but, apparently, a mixture - a lean, terrible dog the size of a young lioness. Its huge mouth was still glowing with bluish flames, its deep-seated wild eyes were circled in flames…

Thus, this mastiff was not a true thoroughbred dog. With whom his parents were crossed to create such a monster, was also silent. The name of the "Sherlock Holmes dog" he had just shot to save poor Sir Henry Baskerville, whom she was chasing at night on the road from the Stapleton house to the Baskervilles, is also not said.

Conclusion

These are the most famous dogs that appeared on the pages of works about Sherlock Holmes. In other cases, the dog brotherhood plays the role of only an episodic plan and has nothing to do with the direct development of events. Of course, they cannot be called “Sherlock Holmes dogs” directly, but still the animals deserve it, because without them there would be no sensational stories about the great detective.