Doggie Grab Bag

Best Friends Forever

Faithful and true, no matter what your mood or his, your dog always wags his tail and eagerly jumps around as soon as he catches a glimpse of you. Did you ever wonder who was the first person to describe a dog as “man’s best friend”?

The famous remark came as part of a lawyer’s speech to a jury in 1870. Charles Burden sued his neighbor and brother-in-law, Leonidas Hornsby, after Hornsby shot and killed Burden’s dog, Old Drum. Hornsby thought Old Drum had been stealing and killing the sheep on his farm. Burden, however, knew his much-loved hound, Old Drum, couldn’t have been the culprit.

Burden hired lawyer George Graham Vest, who later became a Missouri senator, to support his claim that Old Drum was innocent. Vest said that those who are “nearest and dearest to us,” including our sons, daughters, our closest friends — any of those folks may someday become ungrateful and come to hate us or prove to be a traitor.

But, as Vest proclaimed to the jury: “The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world — the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous — is his dog. Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow, and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.”

Vest’s speech convinced the jury. Burden was awarded $50 in damages, small compensation for the loss of his favorite hunting dog. Today a statue of Old Drum stands on the courthouse lawn in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Read a full copy of the classic speech and get more information on Old Drum.

Your Turn!
You probably never would have guessed that the phrase “man’s best friend" came about during a trial! Now that you know, use your imagination to dream up possible origins for the dog-inspired idioms and expressions below. Post your stories and see tales from other kids on our message boards!

• Whew, what a dog and pony show!
• Dog day afternoon
• Three dog night
• It’s a dog-eat-dog world.
• Every dog has its day.
• She’s really going to the dogs.
• He’s in the doghouse for sure.
• Let sleeping dogs lie.
• It’s raining cats and dogs.
• That’s some shaggy dog story.
• I feel as sick as a dog.
• Well, it’s just another case of the tail wagging the dog.
• You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.