In the 1950s, 48 Russian dogs prepared for space travel. Twelve were launched into space before a human finally orbited the Earth in 1961. The most famous of these was Laika, the first dog to orbit aboard the Sputnik 2 in 1957. She became a celebrated Soviet space hero even though the scientists who sent her off never had a plan on how to bring her back. She died in her space capsule.
The dogs used in the program were all strays from the streets. Scientists felt that homeless canines were more resilient and accustomed to a hard life, which made them easier to train under the pressure and discomfort of tight cages and tasteless space food. Life for these canines was grim.
In 1951, one of the dogs that was part of this program was named Bobik. He was scheduled to depart on a test flight, but ran away a few days before lift-off. To date, it’s hard to find information on where he went and what happened to him after he bolted. What’s known is that another dog by the name of ZIB (hastily named as a Russian acronym for “Bobik’s replacement”) was sent instead. Ten years later, the Space Race escalated with Yuri Gagarin famously orbiting the Earth for the first time. The pressure no longer fell to dogs.
I share this story because years ago, during a walk, a little stray dog followed my children home. He loved them, he loved our home, he loved the couch in the TV room, and he even liked our other two sheep dogs, Cosmo and Ziggy. What he didn’t much care for was me. Simply put, he didn’t feel I belong in the house. Adults weren’t his favorite animal.
It took me months to develop a relationship with him, during which time I named him Bobik.
The name fit because despite our efforts to find his original family, we never found out where he came from and how he ended up in our neighborhood. We noticed that he was prone to running away and hated to be held captive. He also had anger management issues, which led us to think he might have been abused. Certain types of men would set him off into a barking and biting frenzy.
To this day, Bobik never likes being told what to do. If you have expectations, he'll follow them. But at the end of the day, if he's not feeling it, you and your plans are on your own. And if the door opens, he bolts.
I always say that Bobik chooses to live with us, and that we have little say in the matter. It’s nice when a dog gets to decide what it wants out of life. In that sense alone, the spirit of Bobik the space dog lives on.
Comentários