When the Topics Get Tough, Send in the Dogs!

Open any newspaper, magazine, or news website, and you’ll find editorial drawings. Especially now, during election season, those single-frame cartoons try to persuade you about a political issue or event. Perhaps you’ve noticed that these cartoons often feature one surprising subject: dogs!

For over 200 years, dogs have appeared in illustrations to help shape opinions. But why do artists choose to include our furry companions?

Dogs are safe.
Throughout history, damaging someone’s reputation with false statements often led to serious consequences. When one wants to insult a person’s politics in print, they may camouflage them as dogs. These clever hounds help a cartoonist relay a message without directly attacking someone. Though a sketch may seem to look like someone specific, it’s only an animal….

These drawings of dogs are more than just dogs.
Cartoonists expect the viewer to read between the lines. A pooch can represent just about anything with the addition of labels on their collar.

Our four-legged friends can perform many tricks, including:

• Standing in for ideas (symbolism);
• Making comparisons between things (analogy); and,
• Pointing out differences between how things are and how they’re expected to be (irony).
• And though this coded messaging may seem complicated, people often understand these ambiguous illustrations and the themes behind them.

Dogs are recognizable.
A dog is a familiar concept. Pups, in general, and their breeds, come with a set of assumptions.

How an artist draws a dog, or what it is doing, can relay plenty of information based on what we already know about them. Most people have a basic grasp of ‘good’ and ‘undesirable’ puppy behavior, which an illustrator leverages to share their message.
And certain breeds can imply stereotypes without obviously naming names. Common misconceptions offer valuable information.

Consider cliches about guard dogs, toy breeds, or working dogs.
Cartoonists distill complex ideas into an easier biscuit to swallow by oversimplifying what we know about dogs.

Dogs provide detachment.
It’s easy to expose and criticize wrongdoings when they appear as animals. The separation between drawings of real people and fictional animals allows a cartoonist to confront complex issues. The distraction of our beloved and loyal companions helps people accept critiques and be swayed without feeling too guilty.

It turns out dogs are really useful in print. No matter what they’re representing, the pups help you learn about current events.

Political cartoons from the public domain

Creator: Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905, artist Date Created/Published: N.Y.:J. Ottmann Lith. Co., Puck Bldg., 1900 July 18.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010651312/

Related Names: Bow Wow-wow. Robinson, Henry R., -1850. Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896. Date Created/Published: N.Y. ; Washington, D.C. : Printed & pub by H.R. Robinson, 1840. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661352/

Creator(s): Currier & Ives.,
Date Created/Published: [New York : Currier & Ives], c1864.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003674579/

Creator(s): Coffin, George Yost, 1850-1896, artist
Date Created/Published: [between 1890 and 1900]
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016679907/

Related Names:
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949 , artist
Bartholomew, Charles Lewis, 1869-1949 , artist
Date Created/Published: 1907.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013649081/

Creator(s): Johnson, Herbert, 1878-1946, artist
Date Created/Published: 1912.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016682010/