Moscow's Marvellous Stations And Nine Statues of Dogs

Problem
Where are the nine dogs in Moscow?

Answers
Some are statues inside stations, others outside.

The most memorable is the knee high statue of a little dog on a plinth. I first read about this when I was researching stations in Moscow and around Russia.

The Dog Malchik
This dog was a popular little dog in a Moscow station. Until unfortunately a lady stabbed the dear little dog to death. Passengers were so upset they started fundraising for a memorial statue. People bring flowers to place on the statue.

The dog's name was Malchik.

The Station Mendeleyevskaya
The station was Mendeleyevskaya.

How do I remember the name of the station? I start with the name Mendel. Then eye. Finally v-skaya.

Mosco's Begging Dogs In General
Moscow metro has many stray dogs, some of which beg for food. I was surprised.

On the London underground dogs are usually on leads. Some dogs lead blind people. Others accompany owners patiently, sitting patiently at their feet. Sometimes a dog is led through the carriage, accompanying a beggar. Few people wish to engage with a beggar or a dog.

But the Moscow stations have unaccompanied dogs which beg for food and ride on trains and sleep.

Four Dogs On Ploshchad Revoluyutsee Metro station

Let’s start from the undoubtedly most famous dogs in Moscow: they are the four bronze ones inside the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (станция метро Площадь Революции). 

Victory Park station is below the Victory Park where you can see a monument showing an army dog which was used to locate injured soldiers. (Photo in Tripadvisor about the Vicory Park.)

Specific Dog
My second favourite is the small dog on the huge monument.

Moscow's Cemetery Dog
Moscow has a dog statue on a grave in a cemetery. The devoted dog on the grave. Haven't we heard that story before?

Britain's Cemetery Dog
In Britain the famous dog is the one in Edinburgh. You can see the statue for free in the street on a plinth. You might pass it in a car or bus or taxi. It stands on one of the main routes, opposite a large building holding events. I had given up hope of seeing the dog statue, when I came across it when we parked nearby to enquire about getting tickets for a show during the Edinburgh Festival

Recently doubt has been cast on the veracity of the story. The account of the devoted dog was written so late after the death of the man whose grave the dog favoured, that there had to be another explanation. Dogs don't live that long. Either the dog in the first written account of somebody who saw it and recorded the story was not the original dog, although it could have been the descendant of the first dog.

Another version of the explanations was that the man looking after the cemetery had a dog and collected money by telling the phony story, or pretending that his dog was the original one, possibly persuading it to sit on a nearby grave by placing meat there on a regular basis. Personally I was upset by the story of the devoted dog not finding anybody else to look after it and coming to the grave and not finding a living person. I am quite happy with a myth and a statue of a cute dog.

The dog was immortalised in a popular film.

Yes, Moscow's dog is not the only one.

So, you can get free amusement just by admiring the statues of the Moscow's dogs and learning about them. They say that the British are a national of animal lovers. But it seems that the people of Moscow are equally keen on dogs.

I could not find copyright free pictures of dogs. But you can see the images by typing in the words images and Moscow dogs and trains.

You can read a whole article on the different types of dogs and their strategies.
https://lidenz.ru/hidden-dogs-moscow/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeleyevskaya

Trips To Russia
https://www.visitrussia.org.uk

Author
Angela Lansbury, writer and photographer, author and speaker.