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We humans are ingenious creatures.

As early humans learned to plant and harvest crops; the seeds of our modern day agriculture system were planted. Almost as quickly, humans learned to domesticate animals to help with the heavy labour associated with intensive farming.

Horse and oxen were employed to plow fields and pull carts. But what of man’s best friend? Too small to pull heavy machinery or transport loads of crops, the domestic dog and family pet made himself useful to early farmers in other ways. In the early to mid 20^th century we saw the rise of “dog-powered” machines.

What were dog-powers? These were treadmill like machines that significantly lightened the workload of the farmer and his family. There were dog-powered water pumps like those pictured from 1937 above. And dog-powered cream separators, like the one pictured here. That’s the Goodfellow Family dog, Major. You can watch Jean Warrington talk about the day this photo was taken of her mother, Isabel Goodfellow, in 1908 as part of our oral history series.

If you are interested in seeing a dog-powered machine in person, the Museum on the Boyne in Alliston has one on display in their collection. The Goodfellow example is unique in that it may represent a design that was patented by John Tackaberry of Alliston in 1882. This information and more can be found at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office website.