In the Dog House: British Canines at Home, 1688–1832

Abstract

Companion animals tangibly alter our experience of domestic spaces and influence our feelings about home. The Georgian era is well-established as a crucible of British domesticity, and animal historians identify the eighteenth-century as a pivotal moment in the development of ‘modern’ pet ownership. How did emotionally and physically intimate relationships between people and dogs affect their shared domestic spaces during this moment of flux? The experiences of dog owners and their acquaintances, as recorded in diaries and correspondence, testify to the ‘canification’ of the elite eighteenth-century home: people modified their homes to reflect their companions’ status within the household, just as dogs made their own mark on their home environment. The elevated position enjoyed by dogs in some Georgian homes is demonstrated by their ‘ownership’ of objects within the household, evidenced by wills, inventories, and canine material culture itself. However, this mode of dog ownership remained controversial and was frequently represented as emotionally and financially excessive. Critics targeted the elite dog’s privileged position within the home, finding their access to human objects and spaces indicative of their owners’ preference for canine company above their obligations to other humans — be they spouses, offspring or servants. Only by considering the eighteenth-century elite household as a multi-species domestic space and taking account of both human and non-human experiences of the home (and real or imagined representations of such experiences) can the development of British domesticity and, later, the formation of societally-approved ideals of pet ownership, be fully appreciated.