The Men Took Care of the Dogs
If the crew was going to be stuck, at least they had friends to play with. There were sixty dogs on board the Endurance. The ships carpenter created kennels and small igloos, “dogloos,” made from blocks of ice and covered in snow, seal skins or materials from the ship to keep wind out. Some dogloos had wood floors and door frames. The crew even gave one dog, Sailor, a church with its own spire. Despite their luxury housing, the dogs chose to sleep outside unless the weather was too harsh. The dogs were well by the standards of the day. The dogs were fed well; their diet consisted of seal meat, blubber, biscuits, a mix of fat and protein called pemmican, and Spratt’s dog cakes, a dog biscuit similar to today’s dog food. Modern analysis of Spratt’s dog cakes indicates nutrition similar to today’s dog foods.