Classic Art: Dog Wanted

A 1932 poem by Margaret Mackprang called “Dog Wanted” was just, ahem, begging for our attention, so we found some fabulous canine art by Robert L. Dickey to go with it.

“Digging Doggy” by Robert L. Dickey

I don’t want a dog that is wee and effeminate.
Fluffy and peevish and coyly discriminate;
Yapping his wants in a querulous tone,
Preferring a cake to a good honest bone.

“Dog and his Bone” by Robert L. Dickey

I don’t want a beast that is simply enormous,
Making me feel as obscure as a dormouse
Whenever he hurtles with jubilant paws
On my shoulders, and rips with his powerful claws
My sturdiest frocks; the kind of a mammal
That fits in a parlor as well as a camel.
That makes the floor shake underfoot when he treads,
And bumps into tables and bounds over beds.

“Dogs Eating Hat” by Robert L. Dickey

The sort of a pet that I have in my mind
Is a dog of the portable, washable kind;
Not huge and unwieldy, not frilly and silly,
Not sleek and not fuzzy, not fawning, not chilly—

“Poodle Tricks” by Robert L. Dickey

A merry, straightforward, affectionate creature
Who likes me as playmate, respects me as teacher.

“Cat Guards Bowl of Milk” by Robert L. Dickey

Arid thumps with his tail when he sees me come near
As gladly as if I’d been gone for a year;
Whose eyes, when I praise him, grow warm with elation;
Whose tail droops in shame at my disapprobation;
No pedigreed plaything to win me a cup—
Just a portable, washable, lovable pup!

— Poem by Margaret Mackprang
© The Saturday Evening Post – March 5, 1932

“Soots 1926” by Robert L. Dickey

Robert Dickey illustration from 1926 Post story, “Soots” by R.G. Kirk.