Anna Freud and her dog Wolf
When Freud's daughter, Anna, told her father that she had bought a dog, her father was not really pleased, because the more than 70-year-old Freud’s life at that time was not suitable for the company of dogs, at least that’s what he thought then. But his thoughts completely changed, when his daughter, Anna – who often accompanied him on long walks – became the owner of Wolf, the wonderful and intelligent German Shepherd.
After a few weeks Freud showed for the first time that he was happy about the dog. Eventually, he liked him so much that he fell madly in love with him. So much so that in 1925 Anna, in a fit of jealous anger, wrote this:
“I didn't give papa a gift for his birthday because I currently don't have a suitable present for this occasion… I only brought him a funny picture of Wolf, because I think he really loves him.”
Freud gets a dog
In 1928 Sigmund Freud was gifted by a close friend of his daughter with a beautiful chow-chow dog. The dog was called Lun-Yü and became Freud’s true friend. With this, Sigmund Freud’s transformation into a dog lover was complete.
Freud's idyllic time with his first dog lasted only a short 15 months. A tragedy happened, Lun-Yü was hit by a train. The dog passed away and Freud mourned him as if he were a human.
Seven months later Freud felt emotionally able to welcome another dog into his home, Jofi, Lun-Yü’s sister.
In the 1930s most of Freud’s old friends and colleagues were either already dead, abroad, or held in captivity. During this period Freud began to distance himself from his wife Martha. It is no wonder then that Jofi became Freud’s inseparable companion for a full seven years.
They had only been together for a few weeks when Freud compared Jofi to his previous inseparable companion:
“I already miss her almost as much as my cigar. She is a charming creature, wild, instinctive, intelligent, yet not as dependent on humans as often other kinds of dogs.”
Shortly after Jofi’s arrival Freud visited Berlin to receive a new prosthesis for his cancerous jaw. His wife Martha did not like dogs, which meant that Jofi was transported in a kennel. Freud sadly wrote to his wife: “Does anyone visit Jofi? I often miss her.”
When the Freud family was together at home and there was no active activity in the family, Jofi was excluded.
Freud always pampered the dog with gourmet treats and since he often experienced pain eating with his sick jaw, Jofi ended up eating almost Freud’s entire dinner every time and this factor contributed to the dog’s plump shape.
After a while the analysis became tiring for Freud because the cancer was very painful, but Jofi sat with him, the sick professor, one eye on the clock and with ample yawns and stretches signaling the end of each session, so Freud’s work never exceeded a full hour, not even by a minute. Jofi was a surprisingly accurate timekeeper.
The chow comforted Freud during the time when Freud underwent a series of painful surgeries as well. On one occasion Freud wrote this to his friend, Marie Bonaparte:
“It would have been good if you had seen the sympathy Jofi showed toward me during those hellish days – as if she understood everything.”
Jofi died on January 11, 1937. The German novelist Arnold Zweig phrased the deep sorrow that Freud must have felt at that time:
“Apart from the grief, which is very unreal, one wonders when one will get used to this. But of course, one cannot easily get over 7 years of intimacy.”
More interesting information in the 3rd part of our article series.
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