The Siposium Presents – Part of the Family: The Origins of Pet Dogs

Come join us at The Siposium where we laugh, play, and learn together through experts. Grab a drink, join our topical trivia round, and then enjoy our expert discussion in an intimate gathering. Audience interaction and questions are encouraged as we all grow in our understanding together.

Part of the Family: The Origins of Pet Dogs and More-than-Human Families is an exciting event that explores the history and evolution of our beloved pet dogs. Join us for a fun, informative, and dog-friendly evening filled with fascinating insights into the relationships between humans and their furry companions. Many dog breeds feature occupational terms like shepherd, retriever, and terrier. This is despite that most dogs in modern industrialized nations do not work. Instead, they are family members whose health and happiness are maintained by their humans. Family dogs are a recent historical phenomenon that transformed the traditional human-dog relationship premised on the idea that most dogs worked to earn their keep. This talk takes listeners back to Victorian England to understand the origins of the pet dog phenomenon which, over the following 200 years, surged outward from the United Kingdom to transform modern human-dog relations across the globe.

Speaker Bio: Neil earned his PhD in environmental history from The Ohio State University in 2024. His dissertation, titled “In a Dog’s Age: Fabricating the Family Dog in Modern Britain, 1780-1920,” examines how, why, and where the modern pet dog originated. When not writing about dogs he enjoys spending time hiking with—and forever tossing tennis balls to his golden retriever.

Event sponsor is Hollywood Feed who has lined up some great prizes for you canine friends! Check them out at https://www.hollywoodfeed.com/

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