Self explanatory.
I was watching the movie yesterday and in the beggining, when you see the First Class boarding, you see a woman holding dogs with a leash, and that got me thinking:
What do we know about those dogs? Where were they kept (with the passengers or in a designated area)? Where would they "go for a walk" and who was in charge of it? How many dogs were on the ship?
When the ship was sinking, were they allowed in the lifeboats? If not, did any survive? What happened to them once the order of evacuation was given, were they released to run freely around?
Hi there!
My original post was removed for not being in depth enough so I'll go into as much depth as I know about the dog's on Titanic.
There were, in fact, dogs on Titanic and we do know quite a lot about them, as only first class passengers were allowed to bring personal pets aboard.
Mrs. Helen Bishop had a Toy Poodle named From Frou
Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Rothschild both had Pomeranians.
Robert Daniel had a French Bulldog - Gamin de Pycombe
Harry Anderson had a Chow Chow named.... Chow Chow
Elizabeth Isham had a Great Dane
John Jacob Astor had an Airedale- Kitty
William Carter (who also bought the car aboard) bought his Spaniel and another Airedale
Henry Sleeper Harper had a Pekingese named Sun Yet Sen
These are who we know, for sure but numbers on dogs on Titanic have been given anywhere between 9-12.
Titanic did have kennels, although we aren't quite sure where they were located. There's a theory that they were located on F deck across from the 3rd class galley, but mostly likely they echoed Olympic, and were placed aft on the boat deck. However, these were rarely used as by most accounts, these owners kept their dogs with them in the cabin.
Post iceberg, we get a little iffy. Passenger Edith Russell claims that she heard Daniel's Bulldog whimpering in his cabin as she headed to the boat deck, although R. Norris Williams claims he swam face to face with him after Titanic had gone down. I suppose both things could be true, or that Williams met another dog in the water. Williams' account (it would be an odd thing to misremember) does tell us that *someone* freed the dogs- wherever they were.
Three survived, Sun Yet Sen was saved in boat #3, and the two Pomeranians belonging to Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Rothschild were saved in boat #'s 6 and 7 respectively. Post sinking, one woman was found to have her arms wrapped around her dog both having died of hypothermia. There's a suspicion it was Elizabeth Isham and her Great Dane (and since she was one of four first class women who died it's highly possible) but we have no direct confirmation.
Fun fact: Captain Smith's dog Ben was on board for one day but disembarked before Titanic sailed.
Fun Fact #2: There were reports that an unofficial dog show was being planned for the following day but nothing on Titanic's schedule indicates this was a thing. It may have been an off hand comment or idea discussed by the owners but it has come down through the years as lore. No evidence, but a bit of Titanic dog related rumor.