Other Observations
Documenting the dogs
Detailed notebooks kept on the dogs from the 1890s through to 1936 were lost during Nazi Germany’s 1941–43 siege of Leningrad, but some records have survived in various archives and published accounts. They include detailed observations about the behaviour and personality of specific, named dogs which we use to create this piece.
Later in his career Pavlov actively encouraged co-workers to observe idiosyncrasies in a dog’s behaviour. Dogs were routinely described as cowardly, heroic, compliant, sociable or aloof. These ‘other observations’ were taken extremely seriously, as evidence of a dog’s character.
This mattered, because from the 1920s onwards, Pavlov developed a theory of various canine personality ‘types’ — to try and explain extremely varied results.
Creating canine biographies
Using genuinely recorded observations we created this series of ‘other observations’ record cards. Each provides a canine biography of sorts, including detail about the dog’s name, appearance, human observer, surgery they have undergone, lab experience and additional notes.
The typewriter text is reproduced underneath each card for ease of access:
Druzhok
- Observer: Pavel Khizhin
- Appearance: Small white terrier (?), black ears
Shalun
- Observer(s): Maria Erofeeva
- Appearance: Medium-sized pointer, short-haired, pale fur
Kurchavka
- Observer: NA — gastric juice factory dog
- Appearance: Large black dog, short fur
Milord
- Observer(s): Ivan Pavlov, Maria Petrova
- Appearance: Large, skinny, raggedy mongrel, with patchy light fur
Postrel
- Observer(s): Ivan Pavlov, Maria Petrova
- Appearance: Shaggy black coat, white legs. Multiple bald patches on stomach (with scars)
Joy
- Observer(s): Ivan Pavlov, Maria Petrova
- Appearance: Medium-sized mongrel, light grey coat, white snout and feet.
August
- Observer(s): Alexander Speranskii, Rita Rait-Kovaleva
- Appearance: A medium-sized dog, brown in colour
Umnitsa
- Observer(s): Nikolai Vinogradov
- Appearance: Name means ‘clever one’. Medium-sized, brown in colouring
Roza and Rafael
- Observer(s): Petr Denisov
- Appearance: Young adult chimpanzees. Black fur, pale faces. Rafael, male, missing two toes, left foot. Roza, female, smaller of the two.