I have been sharing with you my experience with dogs and other animals for quite some time now and it occurred to me to wander a little bit into history as well, but into an interesting one! I’d like to introduce you to several well-known dog personalities that I admire in a way. Since after all, dogs play an important role in our life, so let’s take a look what have they’ve achieved in the time of our life together.
Laika lived for only about three years (*1954 - ✝1957) and as the first living creature from our planet, it got to the orbit of the Earth.
This historic event took place on the 3rd of November 1957. She was transported there by the Soviet satellite called Sputnik 2. The reason for its flight was the fact that at that time, only little had been known about the effect of cosmic environment on a living organism. Which implies, that flights into space with human crew had to be preceded by sending of animals.
However, she wasn’t the first dog that visited space. Border of outer space, that is 100 km above the Earth, had been crossed before her by the dog pair Dezik and Cygan. Those were sent in 1951 from a spaceport on a ballistic route to the height of 101 km.
Laika’s original name (literally translated as Barker) was Kudriavka (literally Ringlet). She got even many other names, but she became famous under this one, which, by the way, is the name of a breed of hunting dogs from northern Russia and Siberia.
She was a little two to three-year-old tramp from Moscow, a crossbreed weighing only 6 kg. The scientists presumed that stray dogs would be used to tough life and that’s why they would be better at withstanding both the training, but also the task.
The training itself took place by gradual adaptation to a tight cabin, where it was possible only to sit, stand or lie down, to turn around was impossible. She was also being prepared for the overload in a centrifuge, for the noise upon launch and special mushy food designated for the journey.
Laika’s launch took place without any trouble. Only after the release of the satellite from the rocket, an issue came up: the satellite remained connected with the last degree of the carrying rocket. This resulted in malfunction of the temperature regulation system. Even though Laika was agitated, her pulse returned back to normal on the orbit and she even had something to eat.
However, her return to the Earth wasn’t planned, such technology wasn’t developed at that time. She had food for seven days with her and then, she was allegedly supposed to be killed by a programmed injection. Her life was, however, much shorter. She survived only several hours on the orbit. After five to seven hours, she showed no signs of life. The cause of her death remains unclear, the Soviet Union would release contradictory statements in the following years. There were claims that she died due to overheating, due to a lack of oxygen after the batteries malfunctioned, even that she was killed according to plan.
Western animal rights advocates criticised the sending of Laika to death. Other flights of dogs to the orbit were then planned with a re-entry, within the scope of preparations for the flight of the human. Since owing to Laika, it has been proven, that a living creature will survive an ascent to space and even a longer stay on the orbit in a state of zero-gravity.
In the Star City, where Russian cosmonauts get ready for a flight, Laika has a memorial. Another one was built in 2008 on the grounds of the Institute of Military Medicine in Moscow. Laika also appeared on numerous post stamps across the whole world. Her story is being continuously remembered, a comics was made about her, her name appears in songs and in band names. It may not atone for her faith, but it might at least honour her memory.
Food is one of the most basic needs of dogs as well as humans. How to make sure your dog has enough necessary nutrients? And if you opt for dry food, what options are there? And what to consider when choosing?
Most of us care about the contents of the packages with dry food but have you ever thought about the packaging itself? Do you know what is used for the packaging of dry food, how different are individual materials and what innovations can you find on...
You can recognize a Burmese cat mainly because of its silky fur and beautiful, deep gloss with typical signs of a colour that is not present in any other breed. Besides its glossy fur, this breed has also a great nature which makes these cats great...
Dachshunds, from smooth-haired, wire-haired and short-haired to long-haired, are popular companions and not only in the Czech Republic but in the world as well. And they are great companions! Even though they are quite stubborn.
Cats may bite from many reasons and if you would like to make this undesirable behaviour stop, it is important to understand why they do it. The fundamental thing is to eliminate the cause but we can also help with other things.
Do you like baking and you have noone to bake for? You probably haven’t thought about your dog companion. However, you might also make some tasty and healthy goodies at home for it as well. I’ll tell you how.
Only a few per cent of loss of water may cause serious problems for your dog. However, we often don’t pay attention to its drinking and underestimate its importance. When there is a risk of dehydration, do you know how to avoid it or recognize it?
Dry food with larger proportion of meat might not only have positive effects on dogs’ organisms, when processed well, it will also make happy even the pickiest gourmets that usually don’t like dry food. Thanks to a holistic approach, you’ll keep the...
The days are getting warmer and our dogs and cat starts to shed. This has a negative impact on your household with all the hair. Have you found a way to reduce the contamination with hair at least a bit and speed up the process of shedding?...
Do you also barely resist the temptation to cuddle a dog, no matter if yours or someone else’s? It’s no surprise, a new study shows that such contact with a dog is like a drug for human brain.
There are plenty of reasons why we get flat-faced dogs. For their specific appearance, great nature, loyal love to their owner... And maybe also for their need of constant attention that makes us feel well. The flat-faced dogs are simply cute....
Brown rats, mice and hamsters as well as other rodents are quite small pets and sometimes, we don’t even think about dealing with them being overweight. However, if we like our pets and we want them to be well and stay with us as long as possible,...
