Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Jewish origin Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, founder of the psychoanalytic school. By reading his published books, we can already know a lot about his life, work, and theories, but as a "dog person," we have not known him until now.
On the following pages, divided into 5 chapters, as well as 9 parts and eras, we present the last 15 "dog-related" years of Sigmund Freud's life combined with his family life, together with a little historical overview – his attraction to dogs, their role in psychoanalysis, and from friends' recollections, we can get to know Freud's self in a different way than we previously knew. We will learn how the "dog-loving" Sigmund Freud was viewed by the "world" then and how he is viewed today.
Let this interesting "excursion" begin, the first chapter now starts:
Freud and his therapy dogs, Wolf and Jofi
Sigmund Freud was not only the father of psychoanalysis but also a pioneer in introducing dog therapy. In his last years, his own chow, Jofi (according to records, Jofi was the first therapy dog in the world) often stayed in his office during treatments, and Freud noticed that Jofi’s presence helped reduce the tension in the room.
Freud thought that Jofi had a calming effect on people, especially children and adolescents. Freud also acknowledged that the dog helped him mentally assess his patients – wrote Stanley Coren in his 1997 book "What Do Dogs Know?" in the chapter titled "A dog-loving psychologist". When patients were calm, Jofi would sit beside them and allow petting, but distanced herself from patients who were anxious.
Freud found that patients responded more openly and honestly to his questions when Jofi was also present during treatment. And Jofi’s judgment was not influenced by pretense, it was completely natural. As Freud wrote:
"Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, unlike humans who are incapable of pure love and always confuse love and hate in their own relationships."
At that time, Freud shared his Vienna office with his daughter, also a psychotherapist Anna, and her German Shepherd dog. According to psychiatrist Roy Grinker (who worked with Freud in 1932), whenever the bell rang, both dogs ran out of the office and began loud barking.
If patients lied during therapy sessions, Jofi perceived and signaled this to Freud. If Jofi scratched the door with her nails, Freud would say "Jofi does not accept what you say, so she wants to go out." When Jofi returned to the room, Freud said "Jofi decided to give you another chance."
On one occasion, when Dr. Grinker was very nervous, Jofi jumped over his head and Freud said "Jofi is so excited that she can already recognize the source of anxiety."
You can read more interesting information about Freud's connection to dogs in the 2nd part of our article.
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