Why Bronze Statues Of Dogs Have Golden Noses

Bronze has a very special way of immortalising memories, which often becomes increasingly important as the rushing passage of time has a habit of taking us all by surprise.

A bronze casting of a newborn baby’s tiny hands means a lot when it is initially cast, but throughout the years as that baby grows up to be whomever they are meant to be, it means so much more.

The same is true of pets; as they often do not live as long as we do, capturing the wonderful life-affirming memories of their existence can be more critical than ever.

This is why services exist to cast their paws, and why some dogs, in particular, have entire statues dedicated to them.

One interesting quirk of many of these statues is that whilst many of them are made of bronze, they often have noses that have a particularly bright golden sheen.

An example of this seen in Edinburgh is the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, a tiny Skye Terrier who was the best friend of Auld Jock, a night watchman who patrolled the cold Scottish streets at night until his death from tuberculosis in 1858.

Bobby stayed at his graveside for the next 14 years until his own death in 1872, after which he was immortalised with a statue that has since developed a distinctive golden nose.

This is also the case of Bobbie the Wonder Dog in Silverton, Oregon, who became a national story after spending six months walking over 2500 miles from Indiana back to his home and would have a golden nose once he died and was immortalised in bronze.

The reason for this is that touching the nose is often seen as a sign of good luck, and over years, decades and sometimes centuries, this rubbing leaves a golden mark where it has been touched regularly.