Turnspit dog

Turnspit dog
Illustration from The Illustrated Natural History (Mammalia), published in 1853, showing the conformation of a turnspit dog.
OriginUnited Kingdom
Breed statusExtinct
Dog (domestic dog)

The turnspit dog is an extinct short-legged, long-bodied dog bred to run on a wheel, called a turnspit or dog wheel, to turn meat. It is mentioned in Of English Dogs in 1576 under the name "Turnespete".[1] William Bingley's Memoirs of British Quadrupeds (1809) also talks of a dog employed to help chefs and cooks. It is also known as the Kitchen Dog, the Cooking Dog, the Wheeling Dog, the Underdog and the Vernepator.[citation needed] In Linnaeus's 18th-century classification of dogs it is listed as Canis vertigus (also used as Latin name for the Dachshund).[citation needed] The breed was lost, since it was considered to be such a lowly and common dog that no record was effectively kept of it. Some sources consider the turnspit dog a kind of Glen of Imaal Terrier,[2] while others make it a relative of the Welsh Corgi.[3]

With advancements in kitchen technology, the need for turnspit dogs declined. Over time, they were no longer bred for their specific function, and their numbers dwindled, eventually leading to their extinction.

A preserved example of a turnspit dog is displayed at Abergavenny Museum in Abergavenny, Wales.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Caius was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference AKC2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference KitchnSis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Wooden case containing Whiskey". BBC - A History of the World. Retrieved 10 November 2021.