It’s an indisputable fact that some of the best people in the world are dogs. Dogs are great. No citation is needed. They make wonderful companions, they’re fun and also helpful since they can be trained to do everything from fetching a stick to identifying drugs and alerting you to seizures. Good dog! Who’s a good dog?!?
As wonderful as dogs are, they can also be absolutely amazing and defy belief. Sometimes a dog can seem close to otherworldly, especially in terms of what some of them have survived.
10. Three Dogs Survived the Titanic
We don’t actually have an accurate number for how many people died on the Titanic, but it was over 1,500. Only 705 survived. Less well-known is that there were also dogs on the Titanic, and three of them survived as well.
Twelve dogs were on the Titanic and that makes sense since this was a luxury cruise for wealthy people. Of course, many of them brought their dogs. Two Pomeranians and a Pekingese survived because they were small enough that their owners could carry them onto the lifeboats as the Titanic sank.
There is some evidence that those who spotted the dogs were less than amused by their presence. Rescuers on the Carpathia saw that Elizabeth Barrett Rothschild had a Pomeranian and refused to bring it on board until she said if the dog wasn’t going to be rescued then neither was she.
There’s also a story about a woman named Ann Isham who had brought a large dog onto the vessel and refused to leave without it. The dog, which may have been a Great Dane or St. Bernard, would have been far too large for a lifeboat. Isham stayed on the Titanic.
9. Two Sled Dogs Were Abandoned for 11 Months in the Antarctic and Survived
Of all the terrible places in the world to take a dog, the Antarctic has to be near the top of the list. But, as the movie The Thing taught us, sled dogs are useful there and they can handle the weather better than humans.
In 1957, a Japanese team went on an expedition to the foreboding continent and took a team of dogs with them. The movie 8 Below is based on what happened. The situation went bad, and the team had to be airlifted out, but the team of 15 dogs could not be taken. They were left there, chained up, with just enough food for a few days. It was believed someone would be back in a couple of days to rescue them.
As you might guess, things turned out badly for most of the dogs. Seven died on the chain and more vanished. But 11 months later, when the expedition finally returned, they found two dogs named Taro and Jiro had survived by themselves.
We’ll never know exactly how those dogs survived for nearly a year, but they probably struggled a lot and learned how to hunt penguins.
8. A Dog Took on Five Pirates and Survived
Pirates aren’t something you hear about a lot anymore, but they do still exist. In 2013, property developer Peter Lee and his wife were sailing off the coast of Venezuela when pirates attacked. Five men, four armed with guns, boarded the vessel to take it over. Lee was tied up while the raiders stole cash, equipment, and jewelry.
Peter and his wife were not alone on board, however. They also had a dog named Kankuntu with them. The Lees had been sailing around the world on their yacht and had picked up the dog in Africa when they started their trip.
Kankuntu was not a fan of pirates. Despite being a mid-sized animal of 50 lbs, he attacked the pirates to protect his people. The pirates shot the dog, stabbed him in the back, and left him for dead.
When the pirates left, Lee’s wife untied him and Lee removed the bullet from his dog, patched up the stab wound, and took him to a vet. He recovered within a couple of days.
7. The Romanov’s Dog Joy Survived the Family Massacre
The Romanovs were the last royal family in Russia and most of them met a very bitter and bloody end. While Bolsheviks executed many members of the family, several of them went into exile to survive, though the Tsar and his close family were all killed. The family dog, Joy, avoided the fate of the rest of the family but also had to live in exile.
Joy was a King Charles Spaniel owned by the Tsar’s son Alexei. When the family went into exile, they were tracked and taken to a cellar where they were shot. Other dogs were killed with them but Joy escaped.
The dog was later found by a guard who took pity on the animal and brought it home. It was later taken from Russia entirely on a trip to Britain where it was presented as a gift to the British Royal Family. Joy lived the rest of his life at Windsor Castle, pampered but exiled.
6. Two Different Guide Dogs Survived 9/11
September 11, 2001, was the deadliest terrorist attack in US history and nearly 3,000 people died. Some people were able to survive what happened, however, and that includes a pair of completely unrelated Guide Dogs.
Michael Hingson was at work in the World Trade Center on the 78th floor the day the planes hit. He was 18 floors below impact. Blind since birth, Hingson had to rely on his dog Roselle to help him escape.
Roselle helped Hingson down the full 78 floors as smoke and debris and panicking humans filled the space with them. When they reached the ground, Tower Two was falling and Roselle led him away as the sound of concrete and steel crashed down. The dog took him to the subway and then another 40 blocks to a friend’s house.
At the same time, Omar Rivera was on floor 71 with his dog Salty. Like Hingson, Rivera took his dog into the stairwell. As it flooded with people, Rivera worried it was too crowded and too much for his dog to handle. At one point he let Salty’s harness go on purpose in the hopes the dog would save itself. Salty refused to leave Rivera’s side. He led the man to the street and away to safety.
5. Two Strays in Afghanistan Saved 50 Soldiers From a Suicide Bomber and Came to the US After
Life in a war zone is not good for anyone, humans or dogs. In Afghanistan, there were casualties all over in an ugly situation but dogs made a difference sometimes in surprising ways. In February 2010, stray dogs that had made a home of a US Army base helped prevent serious casualties in a suicide bombing.
Rufus, Sasha, and Target, three dogs living with US soldiers, stopped a suicide bomber on his way into the building. While the Americans slept, the dogs attacked and barked at a man armed with explosives, keeping him out of the building. The man set off the device outside, resulting in five injuries but no other human deaths. Sasha, unfortunately, didn’t survive.
After the fact, a lot of effort was put into the men adopting the Rufus and Target and bringing them stateside from Afghanistan. Crowdfunding helped raise $21,000 to bring the dogs to America to reunite them with two of the soldiers who survived the failed bombing.
Rufus found his home in Georgia and we wish there was a happy ending to the story for Target, but things took a wrong turn for him. The dog was picked up by local Animal Control and because of a mistake, Target was mistaken for a different dog and euthanized before his owner could even come looking for him.
4. Plenty of Dogs Have Thrived Around Chernobyl
Most of us would not consider Chernobyl an ideal location to live or thrive or even visit, really. That’s just how humans think, though. Animals have no reason to know why Chernobyl might be bad and, as a result, the area is actually bustling with life.
Among the many creatures that call the area around Chernobyl home are dogs. Lots of strays made a home there after residents had to abandon the place. Free from human involvement, they carved out a nice life for themselves. In 2018, 200 dogs from the exclusion zone were put up for adoption in America after each was monitored for things like radiation poisoning.
Because at least 250 dogs were living in the area, with more wandering in and out all the time, a worker had been hired to kill them. That worker refused to kill them, so the adoption idea was a plan B.
Of those that remain, the dogs are being studied to determine the effects of long-term radiation on their genetics as generation after generation of dogs continue to grow and survive there.
3. A Dog Kept a Toddler Alive in Siberia for 11 Days
You’ve probably heard stories of dogs getting out of the house, going missing, and coming back weeks or even months later. Sometimes they’re discovered on the other side of the country. Dogs can be pretty crafty survivalists when backed into a corner. The story of a dog that survived 11 days in the woods is therefore not super impressive. But how about a story about a dog that survived 11 days while also caring for a 4-year-old child?
In 2014, Karina Chikatova, who was described as either three or four at the time of her disappearance, went missing in Siberia. The girl was trying to follow her father as he traveled to another village but the man was unaware his daughter had gone after him. She eventually lost him in the wild and was stranded with just her dog. It was four days later before anyone knew she was gone because her mother thought the father had taken her and the father assumed she was at home.
A rescue team of over 100 people went looking for her and they even used helicopters and drones. At one point, the rescue had to be suspended when they ran across a bear.
After 9 days the dog returned home and people assumed the worst. But then the dog guided them back to the girl who, though she had lost weight, was actually in relatively good condition. It’s believed she survived by eating berries, drinking water from a stream, and using the dog for warmth at night. Had the dog not gone back to find help, she might never have been found.
2. The First Two Russian Dogs Sent to Space Survived
Much has been written over the years about Russia’s space program and its treatment of animals. The Russians launched dogs, mice, and monkeys into space. Many people know the story of Laika, but she’s often credited as the first dog sent into space when you really need to get more technical with what that means. Laika was the first dog sent into full orbit, but other dogs were launched before her.
Laika’s story is a tragic one, and she was sent up to space with no hope she would ever survive. But the Russians sent two strays into space before her that did survive. The female dogs were named Dezik and Tsygan and both went into sub-orbital flight and survived.
Dezik would be sent on a second flight that she did not survive but Tysgan was lucky enough to be adopted by a Soviet physicist and she managed to live a long, healthy life afterward.
1. Odin the Dog Survived a California Wildfire
Wildfires have ravaged California on an almost yearly basis for far too long. The damage caused by these fires has been in the billions, and that doesn’t even account for the loss of life, both human and animal.
In 2017, Roland Hendel and his family had to flee the fires approaching his home in Santa Rosa. The winds had turned, and they had only minutes to grab what they could and go. One of the things he tried to take with him was his dog, Odin.
Hendel had many animals and rounded up those he could but Odin, who had guarded the family’s goats, wouldn’t get into the car no matter how hard Hendel tried to make him. With no time to keep up the fight, he had to leave the dog and the goats behind.
Fast forward to days later when they were allowed to return home. Instead of the grisly scene they expected, they found Odin burned but still alive and all 8 of their rescue goats which he had kept safe from the fires, along with some wild deer.