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45 Historical Moments That Show The Unchanging Bond Between Dogs And Humans Shared By This Community
The bond between humans and dogs didn’t start recently; it goes back at least 15,000 years, long before cities, before written history, before most of what we call “modern life.” And yet, when you look at old photographs of dogs and their owners, that distance disappears. A dog leaning into someone’s leg, a person resting a hand without thinking—it’s instantly familiar, like something you’ve seen a hundred times before.
That’s what makes the Instagram page A History of Dogs so compelling. It doesn’t just show dogs from another era; it shows a relationship that hasn’t really shifted, even as everything else has. Different clothes, different worlds, different lives—but the same kind of trust, the same quiet attachment. Dogs have followed humans through war, work, travel, and ordinary days, not because they had to, but because they stayed.
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#1
Happy Halloween!
Philadelphia, 1951.
There’s something almost disarming in how little that connection changes. Studies have shown that when dogs and humans look at each other, both release oxytocin—the same hormone linked to bonding between parents and children. It’s not just emotional; it’s biological. And somehow, you can feel that in these images, even when they’re over a century old.
Different eras, different lives, yet the same gestures—proximity, ease, a kind of unspoken understanding. It’s subtle, almost easy to overlook, but once you see it, it’s difficult to unsee.
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#2
Flight Sergeant James Hyde from Trinidad, of No 132 Squadron, Royal Air Force, with a Supermarine Spitfire and 'Dingo,' the squadron commander's pet dog, at Detling, Kent, 1943.
#3
Puppy Mountain.
A mountain shaped like a dog’s head resting on the ground next to the Yangtze River in China.
Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan recently posted the photo on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, and it went viral.
#4
Two boys running for their lives across the infamous Sniper Alley while carrying their dog in Sarajevo, 1995.
Sniper Alley was a dangerous street in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, lined with Serbian snipers. 225 people were killed and 1,030 wounded in 1995.
People would either run fast across the street or would wait for United Nations armored vehicles and walk behind them, using them as protective shields.
#7
Fritz, a television celebrity dog, is shaved by a California barber in preparation for a televised competition in 1961.
#8
Mrs. Tucker, surrounded by her Old English sheepdogs, in her garden at Haslemere, Surrey, October 1929.
#10
Fully packed Londoners leave town, carrying golf clubs and a happy dog, for an Easter holiday break in 1930.
#12
Boss, an Afghan Hound competing against some 9,327 dogs of 141 different breeds at the Crufts dog show in 1977, arrives with his owner Eliane Lush, wearing a matching coat.
#16
Little Evelyn Luff with her entourage of St. Bernard dogs at Staines Abbots Pass kennels, near Reigate in Surrey, circa 1935.
#18
The Duke of York, later King George V, standing with a pug in his arms, c.1895. The pug is wrapped in a coat and is wearing a makeshift bonnet.
#19
Blitz Malone was the most decorated greyhound in the 1930s, winning 250 races in one calendar year during his first year of racing.
Blitz was found as a stray living on the streets of Idaho. He was very badly injured, barely able to walk, and emaciated.
His four legs were put in braces, because, as the vet put it, they were “crooked as a politician.” He was nursed back to health by a kind Samaritan.
As his strength returned, Blitz went on daily walks, walking slowly due to his braces. Local children began teasing him, throwing stones at his braces and attaching silly magnets to them while he wasn’t looking.
One day, Blitz had had enough. When he turned a corner and saw the local bullies, they ran toward him, and Blitz, determined to get away, began to run.
From that day forward, he was running.
Blitz showed such an affinity for running that the good Samaritan brought him to the racetrack. Blitz won every single race he entered in that first year, and then retired, declaring that there’s only so much fortune a dog really needs…and the rest is just for showing off.
He spent the rest of his days eating steak for every meal, paid for by his winnings.
#20
TV time, circa late 1960s.
#21
Betty White at home with her dog, 1957.
#22
An American soldier cradling a dog while under siege at Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968. The Battle of Khe Sanh began on January 21, 1968, and lasted for 77 days.
#25
French author, actress, and journalist Colette, with her dogs, circa 1910-1914. Colette is best known for her 1944 novella Gigi.
#28
Tennis champion and social activist Billie Jean King with her dog Bootsie, whom she was allowed to choose at the animal shelter. According to King, it was love at first sight.
#31
“A woman fled her apartment with her pet dogs after Russian bombs exploded nearby. Russia showed no signs of pulling back in its war, instead intensifying its long-range strikes on cities and attacks across the front line.”
Image by David Guttenfelder/The New York Times.
#34
A man and an Afghan hound.
#35
A small girl in a push chair modeled on a horse-drawn carriage, out for a stroll in Hyde Park, London, with her mother and a Great Dane, 1932.
#36
Italian-born gangster Lucky Luciano at home in Naples, Italy, with his miniature pinschers in 1955. The darker dog is named Bambi.
Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in 1897. He is considered the father of the Italian-American Mafia.
#37
Rest in Peace, Jane Goodall.
The legendary primatologist, conservationist, and anthropologist passed away at the age of 91.
On a personal note, Jane Goodall changed the trajectory of my life. I quit my job, traveled to the Republic of Congo to work with chimps, and gave up law school because of her. She will be greatly missed.
#38
Anna Wintour and her three dogs: Boo Radley, Harper, and Atticus Finch.
#40
Rambling Gold makes a world record high jump of 12 feet and 2 inches. 1925.
Rambling Gold was a champion dog jumper in the canine world. The English coursing hound, owned by John Drake, was reputed to be the fastest dog in the country at the time.
#43
"Koko Takes A Break" (1952).
Koko the poodle takes a cigarette break from soliciting support for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation. The event was a charity drive that likely took place at 25 West 45th Street in New York City.
#44
Luby, Czech Republic, 1994. Photo by Jaroslav Kučera.
Mrs. Kočičková with some of her dogs in the window.
Photographer Kučera visited Mrs. Kočičková a few different times. He wrote, "I took the photos in a small dormer window, a wooden house, where Mrs. Kočičková climbed ladders several times a day and where she lived with her about ten dogs in an area of about 10 square meters...one of the 'house owners' lifted his leg and peed, which narrowly missed me. Well, I was standing on the last rung of the ladder, there was no room inside. Walking the dogs was not easy for her, she had to carry them all down the rickety ladders to the ground one by one and let them run around there. Only one of them, apparently technically gifted, could climb down on his own like a cat."
#45
The mummy of a hunting dog, displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, room No. 53.
The mummy was found in tomb KV 50 near the tomb of King Amenhotep II (18th Dynasty) in the Valley of the Kings.
Dogs were often buried near their owners. This dog is thought to have belonged to the king or a member of his family.
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