Sigmund Freud’s „dog-loving” transformation
Among Sigmund Freud’s patients, there were plenty of celebrities as well. Freud’s studies do not reveal exactly which of them met Jofi during the therapeutic treatments, but Gustav Mahler, the world-famous Austrian composer and Princess Marie Bonaparte, Napoleon’s niece definitely could have met him, since both belonged to Freud’s patients.
Freud had already been pondering long before the chow-chows moved in about what role dogs might play in human thinking.
We can learn about Sigmund Freud’s feelings toward dogs based on the words of his daughter, Anna Freud:
„What Freud loved about his dogs was their charm, their appearance, their devotion and loyalty. According to him, these qualities are missing in people. Freud believed that people are incapable of pure love and always confuse love and hate in their own relationships.”
1. Wolf, the German Shepherd
Before Jofi, the Freud family had a German Shepherd named Wolf who moved into the family in 1925. The German Shepherd was not kept as a pet but rather served as a bodyguard for Freud’s daughter, Anna. Wolf accompanied and protected them during their evening walks, which he gladly undertook, as the German Shepherd was excellently suited for this task. Through the presence of the German Shepherd, Freud found increasing joy in the house. It was through Wolf that he personally experienced for the first time that he could express feelings through the dog. This is how Wolf became a dog who wrote poetry, and these poems were also about Sigmund and Anna Freud.
2. Freud’s first chow-chow, Lun-Yü
In 1928, the first chow-chow moved into the Freud house, named Lun-Yü. The female dog was a gift; Freud received the dog from his daughter’s friend, Dorothy Burlingham. Upon arriving in the family, the female dog greeted the family members with Freud’s hands! According to Lun-Yü, she came to the family to offer help to Freud in his social loneliness. This statement was based on the fact that Freud had a repressed desire for „need for love,” which the chow provided to Freud and his daughter instead of the German Shepherd. The time spent with Lun-Yü ended in 1929, after 15 months, when the female dog suddenly died in an accident.
3. The therapy dog, Jofi’s arrival
After Lun-Yü’s death, another chow-chow named Jofi came to the Freud house. His presence during therapy sessions raised the importance of the dog; psychoanalysis became clear to Freud together with him. Freud recorded that Jofi kept his distance from patients who showed signs of anxiety. Or that the female dog sat closer to the patient and let herself be petted if signs of depression were detected on the patient. Similarly, he noted that the presence of the female dog had a calming effect on his patients. He also noticed that some of his patients only opened up and participated constructively in therapy when Jofi was present.
I also recommend our article series part 4, which also contains interesting information.
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