DOGGONE GOOD EDITION

Transcription

1 Vol. 7, No. 2 DOGGONE GOOD EDITION In this Issue: Dogs and Scouting Boys Life Cover Dogs Dog-Related Scouting Awards Beagle Scouts BSA Dog Tags Scouts and dogs the two have gone together for as long as there have been dogs and boys. As pets, dogs have brought delight to the lives of people everywhere. Look through the pages of BSA literature, and you ll discover that dogs have enriched Scouting, too.

2 DOGS AND SCOUTING In his 1908 book Scouting for Boys, Robert Baden-Powell laid out the nine points of the Scout Law for English boys. Number 6 stipulated, A Scout is a Friend to Animals. That ideal was expressed in an English collectible card of the time. American Scouts were kind to animals, too. A Handbook of the 1930s showed a Scout striding alongside a contented dog. It was an image filled with Scouting spirit.

3 Not every dog was considered friendly, though. As an example of valor, an early Scout confronted a dog threatening to attack. Another British collectable card showed English Scouts using hats and hiking staffs to fend off snarling dogs.

4 If all else failed, Handbook first aid chapters outlined treatment of dog bites a subject especially important in times when rabies was more common than it is today. BOYS LIFE COVER DOGS Dogs have been featured on the covers of Boys Life magazines more than any other animal. They have accompanied boys on hikes, fishing trips, and other Scout adventures. They ve watched out for their boys, and their boys have taken care of them. Here s an early Boys Life cover painted by Norman Rockwell. The dog energizes the painting with anticipation and motion.

5 Other Rockwell covers feature dogs joining in on Scouting adventures. Boys Life Scouts have provided dogs with water and food.

6 Some dogs learned outdoor skills alongside their Scouts. And what dog doesn t enjoy a good song and a story?

7 Now and then, Boys Life dogs got themselves into trouble. Sometimes it was from uncontained excitement, as with this dog chasing a Jamboree-bound Scout. Twenty-eight years apart, two Boys Life cover dogs found themselves in the doghouse for chewing up footballs.

8 A 1935 cover featured two dogs bound for Antarctica. They were the first sled dogs to make it to the front of the magazine, but certainly not the last.

9 In fact, from 1960 on, dogs all but disappeared from the covers of Boys Life with the exception of working dogs one a search and rescue German shepherd, the others pulling sleds. Downplaying dogs might have occurred because photography, rather than art, came to dominate covers. The sketches and paintings of earlier editions could accommodate dogs as supplemental to larger scenes of boyhood. When a camera was involved, getting a live dog to play its role just right would have added challenge to any photo shoot. The last Boys Life issue with dogs on the cover was a 1994 number announcing an article on the wise selection and responsible care of a dog. While dogs no longer romp around on Boys Life covers as they once did, it is clear that they still have a warm place in the hearts of lads.

10 DOG-RELATED SCOUTING AWARDS First Aid to Animals Merit Badge Among the original 51 BSA merit badges was First Aid to Animals. The emblem had an image of a dog with an injured paw, but the requirements focused more on farm animals than pets: 1. Have a general knowledge of domestic and farm animals. 2. Be able to treat a horse for colic. 3. Describe symptoms and give treatment for the following: wounds, fractures and sprains, exhaustion, choking, lameness. 4. Understand horseshoeing. In 1972, First Aid to Animals became the Veterinary Science merit badge, recast again in 1995 as Veterinary Medicine.

11 Dog Care Merit Badge Established in 1938, the Dog Care merit badge covered the care, training, and responsibilities involved with having dogs. The requirements then and now have been very similar care for a dog; know about different breeds of dogs; learn about training a dog; understand what to do if a dog becomes ill or injured. Modern Scouts are also asked to visit a veterinary hospital or animal shelter. (You can find all the current requirements in the Dog Care merit badge pamphlet, available your local Scout shop and at scoutstuff.org.) For Scouts interested in developing expertise with other animals including cats, rabbits, birds, hamsters, and fish, the BSA has offered the Pets merit badge since There s plenty in that merit badge pamphlet about dogs, too.

12 Cub Scouts can get in on the fun with the Pet Care belt loop and pin. Requirements introduce BSA s younger members to the responsibilities of having dogs and other animals in their care. BEAGLE SCOUTS A character made famous by cartoonist Charles Schultz was Charlie Brown s dog Snoopy. Among his many activities, Snoopy was leader of a troop of Beagle Scouts composed of a little bird named Woodstock and his feathered friends. They wore broad brimmed hats, and it was all Snoopy could do to keep up with his troop.

13 This Beagle Scout lunch box is one of more than 500,000 items archived in the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas. The museum is open to visitors interested in exploring a wide sampling of treasures from the BSA s past, including vintage versions of merit badges for Dog Care and First Aid for Animals. BSA DOG TAGS U.S. military personnel since the Civil War have worn dog tags as means of identification. The tags take their name from their similarity to metal identification tags that dog owners have often attached to the collars of their pets. At scoutstuff.org there s a selection of handsome BSA dog tags. The backs can be engraved with names or inspirational messages, and the tags worn as reminders of Scouting achievements and values. By shortening the chain, a Scout dog tag makes a terrific zipper pull for a sleeping bag or BSA jacket. Woof! (This edition of the Be Prepared Newsletter was developed and written by Robert Birkby, author of the current editions of the Boy Scout Handbook, Fieldbook, Scout Stuff, The Conservation Handbook, and Eagle Scouts: A Centennial History.)

14