Nicola here talking about animal companions. Something I’ve noticed quite a lot during lockdown is the number of people who have been getting a dog to keep them company. The prices of pedigree puppies have soared; lots of people have posted excitedly on social media about the pleasure of getting new pets. It’s wonderful if caring for an animal has brought people the benefit of companionship, exercise and uncritical love (maybe not in the case of cats) but this did also set off some warning bells for me.
We all know that a pet is forever not just for Lockdown.
There is no doubt, though, that the antics of various animals have lifted the spirits of a lot of us. My new favourite online stars are 
Olive and Mabel, two Labradors belonging to the sports commentator Andrew Cotter. His deadpan commentaries of their various activities are very funny and the dogs are utterly adorable. Lots of people have dropped into my Facebook page to see various photos and videos of Angus as we go out and about together, and my writing friend Kate Hardy is posting a diary of her progress training her new spaniel puppy, Dexter. I spend a lot longer that I should watching cute cat videos on Twitter and I’m sure there are plenty of other pets out there doing wonderful cheering things – rabbits, ferrets, even fish making their owners happy.
We know that animals at pets have been around for a long time. Not all domestic animals are pets, of course, if you define a pet as an animal kept purely for pleasure. Whilst dogs were the first domesticated animals, it’s not actually clear if they were the first pets. Generally, they had to work in some capacity, as did cats. There is archaeological evidence that both dogs and cats were buried with their owners and sometimes in their own high-status graves, but there is no way of knowing the reason for this special treatment.
We do know that the Romans kept lapdogs as pets some 2000 years ago. The most popular was the 
Melitan which is depicted in drawings and described in texts. From this we know that it was small, fluffy and white with a pointed, fox-like face. Lap dogs continued to be popular pets, for ladies in particular, through the middle ages and into the 17th century. Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, was frequently pictured with a small dog and was famous for the anecdote that when she had been forced to flee for her life in 1620 she had accidentally left her young son behind but had made sure all her pets were safely in the carriage with her!
Men preferred to claim that they kept dogs for working as hunting or guard dogs. However, the role of a “working” and a pet dog often overlapped. Prince Rupert’s famous dog Boye was a type of standard poodle that was supposedly a hunting dog but was also very much a pet and a mascot for the Royalists during the English Civil War. Rupert was also famous for having tamed a pet hare whilst in captivity! How the hare and the pet dog got on together is not recorded.
Pet-keeping became more widespread in the 18th century but it was the Victorians who really popularised pet dogs and the establishment of the Kennel Club and Crufts dog show date from this period. But what about cats? Whilst dogs were domesticated first in order to perform specific tasks, research suggests that cats took the decision to become domesticated, changing their temperament (slightly) from being solitary animals to tolerating human interaction. I love that cats chose to become pets because they could see the benefits! If dogs were kept initially as hunting animals, cats became useful to humans when they settled and needed animals to control pests like rats and mice. However, the cat decided to move into the home rather than existing alongside humans in its wild state; we all know that a cat chooses to be a pet whilst a dog is grateful! The 19th century picture on the left is called "The Cat's Lunch" and just about sums up the cat's expectations and also the relative position of the dog in the household!
Squirrels became popular as pets in America in the 18th and 19th century. Benjamin Franklin 
wrote an ode to one in 1722. Squirrels were sold in markets and found homes with wealthy families. Many portraits show children posing with a squirrel on a gold chain leash. People loved their cheeky attitude (as exemplified by Squirrel Nutkin in Beatrix Potter’s books) as well as their cute fluffiness. The picture on the right is by Holbein and shows a 16th century lady with a pet squirrel. She also has a starling on her shoulder; both were kept as pets by the aristocracy in the period but in the painting they are also symbolic, as animals in paintings so often are.
Other animals such as rabbits came late to being pets. Kept for their meat and fur, the rabbit moved into the pet world in the 19th century and these days is popular as an animal that can be house-trained and answer to its name. Ferrets also moved from being working animals to pets in the Victorian period. In contrast the guinea pig became a pet much earlier, in the 16th century, when they were especially popular at the Elizabethan court! (Picture below of a Tudor child with a guinea pig, and her brother with a pet finch, which he looks as though he is holding rather tightly!)
After the dog, it is probably the fish that has the longest history as a domesticated pet, since they have been kept for over 4000 years. Like so many pets they originated as food animals but the more decorative ones such as goldfish were bred and kept simply for their beauty.
Various eccentric people have, of course, had eccentric pets through history. Lord Byron, having been banned from keeping a dog 
whilst at University in Cambridge, chose to share his lodging with a tame bear instead. The 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe had a tame moose which would trot alongside his carriage like a dog. It also attended his parties and developed a taste for beer. French poet Gerard de Nerval had a pet lobster whom he walked on a blue ribbon leash. He said: “lobsters are peaceful, serious creatures, who know the secrets of the sea and don’t bark”.
A variety of pets have been our companion animals for a long, long time. When times are tough they give us particular support and comfort. They are special; members of our family, close to us and much loved. It's rather nice to look back through history and see that the relationship between people and their animal companions has such a rich and affectionate past.
Do you have any animal companions or have you found any new online stars like Olive and Mabel to lift the spirits during lock down?
