Since dogs are often associated with rabies, there was a time where any bite from a canine was feared to carry the disease. This meant that even healthy dogs paid the price with their life if they bit someone. In this article, you will learn more about this belief and other dog superstitions.
The Rabies Curse
It was a former belief that if the dog later came in contact with a rabid animal and contracted the disease (even if it was many years later), anyone who was bitten by the dog would also become afflicted with rabies. If a mad dog bit an individual, one of the remedies of the past was to force the victim to eat a part of the diseased dog. Sometimes, it was a piece of cooked liver, while other times, it were their hairs.
Cure for Sickness
Sometimes, dogs played a role in curing illnesses. One piece of old folklore involved the treatment of childhood sicknesses. Some believed that if you placed a patient’s hair in between slices of bread and butter and feed them to a dog, the sickness would transfer to the animal and the patient would heal.
Stranger Danger?
If you live in Scotland, welcoming a strange dog approaching your house isn’t uncommon because some people believe it symbolize the coming of a new friendship.
Strike it Rich
In England, if you are a businessman on your way to an important meeting or deal, coming across a black or white dog with spots is considered good luck.
Color Matters?
If you’re looking for a bit of luck, hope to see three white dogs traveling together, where as three blacks are seen as a sign of impending bad luck , especially if they cross your path or start following you and refuse to leave you alone.
Unlucky with the Fish
Some fishermen believe that dogs are bad luck and refuse to take on out on their boat. Even the mention of the word ‘dog’ while traveling the sea is considered unlucky.
Curing the Sick
To this day, elders on some reservations still practice the South Dakota Lakota Sioux Native American tradition of laying the sick down beside a dog so that the sickness would transfer from the tribal member into the canine.
Other dog superstitions include:
· Ancient Greeks believed that dogs could foretell evil happenings.
· The next time your dog stares with an intense gaze with no apparent reasoning behind it, look between his ears and you might catch sight of a ghost.
· If a sleepy dog scratches himself, look for a change in the weather to take place.
· While some people believe a dog eating grass is a sign of rain to come, while others feel that a dog rolling in the dust suggests the same change in weather.
· Old folklore suggests that if a dog falls asleep with his or her paws drawn up with tail pointing straight out, death may take place in the same direction of the tail.