Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
A New Dog Museum for New York
There is a saying in American English: “every dog has its day.” It means that everyone sees success at some point in their lives.
At one American museum, though, every dog has its day – every day.
That museum -- the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog -- is returning to New York City next month, after operating for 30 years near St. Louis, Missouri.
The museum will open on February 8.
Visitors to the museum will find pictures of royal and presidential dogs. They also will find fossils and other evidence of canine history – dating back to 30 million years ago. People can even try to find out which kind of dog they look like most and “train” a virtual puppy.
Although there will not be real dogs– except for special events -- the museum hopes to give visitors “an understanding of the history of dogs, how they came to be in such different varieties,” said Alan Fausel. He is the museum’s director.
Inside the museum is a library with around 15,000 books from the American Kennel Club collection. Readers will find pictures and information about different kinds of dogs – from bulldogs to terriers.
This Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, photo shows a British Edwardian-style Dog House for a Chihuahua on display at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in New York. The museum opens Feb. 8. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The museum even has a dog house specially designed for a Chihuahua, as well as movie advertisements of dog stars such as Lassie and Beethoven.
The museum’s collection also includes a painting of Caesar, a fox terrier beloved by Britain’s King Edward VII. America’s White House is represented with former President George W. Bush’s Scottish terrier, Barney, and former President George H.W. Bush’s English springer spaniel, Millie.
Next to a picture of Millie in front of the White House is a letter written by then-first lady Barbara Bush. She wrote, “Dogs have enriched our civilization, and woven themselves into our hearts and families through the ages, and I am delighted to see them acknowledged.”
This Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, photo shows a wall of movie posters celebrating canine stars on display at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in New York.
The museum first opened in the kennel club’s former headquarters in New York in 1982. It moved to St. Louis in 1987 in hopes of appealing to more visitors. But Fausel said the museum only received 10,000 visitors last year.
The kennel club hopes the new museum, which is close to New York’s busy Grand Central Terminal, will see close to 100,000 visitors this year.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Associated Press news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
_________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
royal - adj. of or relating to a king or queen
puppy - n. young dog
variety - n. a number of different things
weave - v. to create something such as a story
delighted - adj. very happy