Rinty!

I have finally found a dentist in my new town - and she has a therapy dog. The dog welcomes patients, and cuddles with those who are nervous. Why don’t all medical practitioners have therapy dogs? I need a mammogram dog!

Dogs have been used by the Red Cross - in various roles and often as therapy dogs - since it was founded in 1881. Most famously, the Red Cross trained the Mercy Dogs used in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War.

The Mercy Dogs carried 25-30 pound packs filled with water, liquor, and medical supplies. They were trained to run onto the battlefield at night after a battle was over. They were taught to ignore any dead bodies, to seek out the living, wounded soldiers.

When the dogs found a soldier they would stand quietly, as close to the man as possible, so that he could use anything in their pack. If the soldier was too injured to be able to use the contents of the pack (or unconscious), the dog would take something from the soldier and return to the dog handler, leading the handler back to the injured soldier.

Some dogs pulled wounded soldiers off the battlefield on carts, other dogs comforted the fallen as they died.

The first Mercy Dogs were trained by the German Army in 1895, and by the time WWI began, Germany had a corps of 6,000 Mercy Dogs. The Mercy Dogs are credited with saving 2,000 human lives in France, and 4,000 German soldiers.

It was a German Mercy Dog - a German Shepherd - who eventually became the movie star Rin Tin Tin. (This photo is another German Shepherd - not Rin Tin Tin):

Lee Duncan, an aerial gunner, was among a group of soldiers sent to survey a bombed-out field. They were supposed to determine whether the field could be a suitable landing spot for planes with the 135th squadron. What Duncan found there was a German Mercy Dog - starving - with five new-born puppies.

He couldn’t leave them behind, so he evacuated them - first to his base, and eventually to California.

In 1921, Strongheart, another German Shepherd, appeared in a film, The Silent Call. The movie was a hit - it broke all kinds of attendance records in L.A. This gave Duncan an idea. He started taking Rin Tin Tin (affectionately known as Rinty) to see agents.

Soon, Warner Bros., who was shooting a picture called The Man From Hell’s River, called Duncan. The studio had cast a wolf who had turned out to be a lousy actor. Could Rinty step into the role? The make-up department colored his fur so that his Shepherd markings were covered, and Rinty’s great theatrical range was discovered.

Duncan was frustrated that the studios seemed to think of Rinty as a bit-player, when he knew his dog had leading-dog potential. So, he decided to write his own screenplay for Rinty. Their first film was Where The North Begins, directed by Chester Franklin.

By 1923, Warner Bros. put Rin Tin Tin on contract. He earned $1,000 per week, and was insured for $10,000. Rinty and Lee Duncan were chauffeured to the studio every day, and Rin Tin Tin’s collar sported diamonds.

Rin Tin Tin played a big role in pulling Warner Bros. out of the red and into the black. Darryl F. Zannuck was soon put in charge of churning out dog sagas. (He eventually was the top producing executive at Twentieth Century Fox).

Rin Tin Tin made 26 pictures for Warner Bros. He also got a lot of endorsement work. He was spokes-dog for Ken-L-Ration, Ken-L-Biskit, and Pup-Crumbles.

There are reports that Rin Tin Tin was a bit of a Method Actor, and took a bite out of a few stars when immersed in dramatic scenes.

With the advent of the talkies, interest in dog pictures began to wane. Rinty’s last film was Rough Waters, shot in 1930. Rinty died in 1932. Lee Duncan buried him in his backyard, but eventually moved him to Cimitiere des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestique outside Paris.

At the end of the 1930s, when it became apparent to some that the U.S. would eventually be entering WWII, dog breeders on the East Coast began assembling a K-9 corps. In 1942, when Pearl Harbor was bombed, the breeders put out a call for Americans to donate their dogs, and 10,000 dogs were given to the cause. Lee Duncan became a trainer for the WWII K-9 corps, and trained over 5,000 dogs.

In 1960, Rin Tin Tin got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On another topic: I can’t resist giving a Bonz update. No one warned me about falling in love with our dog. No one told me how a new puppy learns to trust you and love you, and soon you have a mutual obsession.

I remember, when I was a kid, my mom used to remark, “Love me, love my dog.” It was clear from context that she was saying that if you love someone, you have to love their dog as well. It was part of the deal.

That phrase has become suddenly vivid to me. I am so besotted with our dog that I find myself completely irrational at any criticism of my dog. Who knew this would happen? I didn’t. And I am terribly, profoundly, grateful. One more photo!!