Image from Active Dogs newsletter
I always love a holiday. Today is Columbus Day and all local, state, and federal employees get to enjoy a day off.
Mine will be spent cleaning up, organizing, and (if I'm lucky) getting at least one Christmas present purchased.
I wondered about Christopher Columbus in usual fashion. Could he be one of our ancestral dog owners?
According to the Active Dogs newsletter, Columbus likely did not bring a dog on his first voyage to the New World. However, at the age of 29, it is reported that he purchased a dog for $31 (a vast sum in those days). The breed is not described.
On a subsequent voyage, a letter that Columbus wrote to the King of Spain notes his discovery of a tiny dog previously not seen by the Europeans.
We know it today as the Chihuahua.
Happy Columbus Day to all!
