The Endurance Dogs

 

Ernest Shackleton with a dog, being photographed by Frank Hurley.
Minifigs and camera from the James Caird Lifeboat Lego set.

This post looks at the role of the sled dogs described in Ernest Shackleton’s account of the ‘failed’ expedition to transverse Antarctica as told in his book South (1919). I am focusing on the Wendell Sea (Endurance) component of the expedition, as this was also the main focus of Shackleton’s book.

First I will show the anecdotes in Shackleton's book that caught my attention, and made me realise there was  more to know about these animals.

Anecdotes

The dogs and especially the pups clearly held a special place in the hearts of the men aboard and probably made considerable contribution to mental well being.

Crean had started to take the pups out for runs, and it was very amusing to see them with their rolling canter just managing to keep abreast by the sledge and occasionally cocking an eye with an appealing look in the hope of being taken aboard for a ride. As an addition to their foster-father, Crean, the pups had adopted Amundsen. They tyrannized over him most unmercifully. It was a common sight to see him, the biggest dog in the pack, sitting out in the cold with an air of philosophic resignation while a corpulent pup occupied the entrance to his “dogloo.” The intruder was generally the pup Nelson, who just showed his forepaws and face, and one was fairly sure to find Nelly, Roger, and Toby coiled up comfortably behind him. At hoosh-time Crean had to stand by Amundsen’s food, since otherwise the pups would eat the big dog’s ration while he stood back to give them fair play. Sometimes their consciences would smite them and they would drag round a seal’s head, half a penguin, or a large lump of frozen meat or blubber to Amundsen’s kennel for rent. It was interesting to watch the big dog play with them, seizing them by throat or neck in what appeared to be a fierce fashion, while really quite gentle with them, and all the time teaching them how to hold their own in the world and putting them up to all the tricks of dog life.

A colourized version of a Frank Hurley photograph of Samson in a 'dogloo'.
Source: secretcarshalton

Dogloos

Worsley took a party to the floe on the 26th and started building a line of igloos and “dogloos” round the ship. These little buildings were constructed, Esquimaux fashion, of big blocks of ice, with thin sheets for the roofs. Boards or frozen sealskins were placed over all, snow was piled on top and pressed into the joints, and then water was thrown over the structures to make everything firm. The ice was packed down flat inside and covered with snow for the dogs, which preferred, however, to sleep outside except when the weather was extraordinarily severe. The tethering of the dogs was a simple matter. The end of a chain was buried about eight inches in the snow, some fragments of ice were pressed around it, and a little water poured over all. The icy breath of the Antarctic cemented it in a few moments.

Derby 

The conditioning and training of the dogs seemed essential, whatever fate might be in store for us, and the teams were taken out by their drivers whenever the weather permitted. Rivalries arose, as might have been ex- pected, and on the 15th of the month a great race, the "Antarctic Derby," took place. It was a notable event. The betting had been heavy, and every man aboard the ship stood to win or lose on the result of the contest. Some money had been staked, but the wagers that thrilled were those involving stores of chocolate and cigarettes. The course had been laid off from Khyber Pass, at the eastern end of the old lead ahead of the ship, to a point clear of the jibboom, a distance of about 700 yds. Five teams went out in the dim noon twilight, with a zero temperature and an aurora flickering faintly to the southward. The starting signal was to be given by the flashing of a light on the meteorological station. I was appointed starter, Worsley was judge, and James was timekeeper. The bos'n, with a straw hat added to his usual Antarctic attire, stood on a box near the winning-post, and was assisted by a couple of shady characters to shout the odds, which were displayed on a board hung around his neck-6 to 4 on Wild, "evens" on Crean, 2 to 1 against Hurley, 6 to 1 against Macklin, and 8 to 1 against McIlroy. Canvas handkerchiefs fluttered from an improvised grand stand, and the pups, which had never seen such strange happenings before, sat round and howled with excitement. The spectators could not see far in the dim light, but they heard the shouts of the drivers as the teams approached and greeted the victory of the favourite with a roar of cheering that must have sounded strange indeed to any seals or penguins that happened to be in our neighbourhood.

 Songsters

"Hercules for the last fortnight or more has constituted himself leader of the orchestra. Two or three times in the twenty-four hours he starts a howl—a deep, melodious howl—and in about thirty seconds he has the whole pack in full song, the great deep, booming, harmonious song of the half-wolf pack.” (7 Sep 1915)

Sourcing the dogs

In 1914, 100 dogs were sourced  from Canada for the expedition. Due to concerns about rabies the dogs were quarantined at Battersea Dogs Home for six months. The Home has now been demolished to make way for new developments (secretcarshalton).

The dogs appear strongly in Shackleton's narrative, with some having such distinct personalities that they are named individually. There was also a male cat that belonged to the carpenter and thus called ‘Mrs Chippy'.

In the preface to South, Shackleton notes there were 100 dogs on the expedition. In Chapter 1 he writes “Most of the Public Schools of England and Scotland helped the Expedition to purchase the dog teams, and I named a dog after each school that helped.” I expect these named dogs were Rugby, Upton, Bristol, and Millhill. In this context, Public School means an elite fee paying school with a boarding facility. They were public in the sense that they accepted students without regard to creed or location. There were seven such schools in the UK at the time of Shackleton's writing (Wikipedia).

Naming the dogs

Shackleton listed 61 dog names for the Endurance with a notation that there were also eight unnamed dogs. He does not list the names of the dogs on the Aurora, of which I assume there were 31. Some are mentioned in the chapter covering the Aurora. Shackleton when presenting his list notes - “I do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which seemed to represent a variety of tastes,” and “Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive flavour.”

I could not detect an order in Shackleton's list so I have organised it alphabetically. Most of the dogs will not be named again in his account, but there is a handful that get special mention. I have included some guesses as to the origin of the names. I note two themes; strongmen and singers.

Amundsen - probably named after the Norwegian explorer - Roald Amundsen

Bob

Bosun

Bristol - a public school.

Bummer

Caruso - perhaps named after the Italian opera singer - Enrico Caruso

Chips

Chirgwin - perhaps named after a British music hall singer - G. H. Chirgwin

Elliott

Fluffy

Hackenschmidt - probably named after strongman - George Hackenschmidt

Hercules - a strongman in Greek Mythology

Jamie

Jasper

Jerry

Judge

Luke

Lupoid

Mack

Martin

Mercury

Millhill - a public school.

Noel

Painful

Peter - noted for stealing bannocks when supplies were low.

Roy

Rufus

Rugby - a public school.

Sadie

Sailor

Saint - Died on 2nd March, appendicitis

Sally 

Sammy

Samson - a strongman in the Old Testament.

Sandy

Satan

Shakespeare

Sidelights

Simeon

Skipper

Slippery

Slobbers

Smuts

Snapper

Snowball

Songster - the singer theme

Sooty

Spider

Splitlip

Spotty

Steamer

Steward

Stumps

Sue - not mentioned in the original list of 61, so I am assuming this is a name applied later.

Sub

Sut

Swanker

Sweep

Tim

Ulysses 

Upton - a public school.

Wolf

Names of pups, born on the expedition - 

Nelly

Nelson

Roger 

Sirius (Sue)

Toby

Bitch in brackets where known. 

Only Sally and Sue are noted as producing pups. But there are more pups than there are names. In chapter 3, Shackleton notes ... "[W]e had fifty-four dogs and eight pups early in April, but several were ailing, and the number of mature dogs was reduced to fifty by the end of the month."

Responsibility for the dogs

The dogs had been divided into six teams of nine dogs each. Wild, Crean, Macklin, McIlroy, Marston, and Hurley each had charge of a team, and were fully responsible for the exercising, training, and feeding of their own dogs. They called in one of the surgeons when an animal was sick. We were still losing some dogs through worms, and it was unfortunate that the doctors had not the proper remedies. Worm-powders were to have been provided by the expert Canadian dog-driver I had engaged before sailing for the south, and when this man did not join the Expedition the matter was overlooked. We had fifty-four dogs and eight pups early in April, but several were ailing, and the number of mature dogs was reduced to fifty by the end of the month. Our store of seal meat amounted now to about 5000 lbs., and I calculated that we had enough meat and blubber to feed the dogs for ninety days without trenching upon the sledging rations. The teams were working well, often with heavy loads. The biggest dog was Hercules, who tipped the beam at 86 lbs. Samson was 11 lbs. lighter, but he justified his name one day by starting off at a smart pace with a sledge carrying 200 lbs. of blubber and a driver.

The dog handler who accompanied the Endurance on its voyage from London was Sir Daniel Gooch, a well-to-do member of the English gentry and a greyhound breeder. But he departed the expedition before Antarctica.

The following excerpt from the Scott Polar Research Institute explains the absence of a dedicated dog handler on the expedition.

Shackleton had originally intended to have an expert dog driver named George Ross accompany the expedition, but when Ross arrived in London from Canada, Shackleton was put off by his drinking and his insistence on a life insurance policy, and the arrangement fell through. Shackleton next considered Hjalmar Gjertsen, who had been first mate on Fram during Amundsen's Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1910-12 (Fram). But Fridtjof Nansen, the sage of polar exploration, was dubious about Gjertsen's dog-driving experience, so that too fell through. At the last minute, Sir Daniel, an ardent supporter of Shackleton, agreed to fill the position.

Gooch, nicknamed 'Curly' by the other expedition members, enlisted as an able seaman and sailed with the dogs to Buenos Aires. 'There never was a better disciplined AB afloat than Sir Daniel Gooch,' Wild wrote. 'He obeyed all orders promptly & … was possessed of a keen sense of humour.' Unfortunately, by the time Endurance reached Grytviken, Gooch had learned that the government was requisitioning Hylands House as a military hospital. Sir Daniel insisted that the most modern medical equipment be installed (at his own expense), and he felt it necessary to return to England to oversee the work. So he sailed back from South Georgia.

None returned

The importance of the dogs can be seen in that their passing was noted.

• One dog had to be shot on the 12th. (12 Feb 1915).
• Four dogs which had been ailing were shot. Some of the dogs were suffering badly from worms, and the remedies at our disposal, unfortunately, were not effective (26 Feb 1915).
• Four of the poorest dogs were shot this day. They were suffering severely from worms, and we could not afford to keep sick dogs under the changed conditions. (3 Aug 1915).
• “This afternoon Sallie’s three youngest pups, Sue’s Sirius, and Mrs. Chippy, the carpenter’s cat, have to be shot. We could not undertake the maintenance of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crean, and the carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather badly." (19 Oct 1915)
• Owing to this shortage of food and the fact that we needed all that we could get for ourselves, I had to order all the dogs except two teams to be shot. It was the worst job that we had had throughout the Expedition, and we felt their loss keenly. (Jan 1916)
• “The last two teams of dogs were shot today... the carcasses being dressed for food. We had some of the dog-meat cooked, and it was not at all bad—just like beef, but, of course, very tough.” (2 April 1916)

The men took to the lifeboats on 9 April 1916.