A Dog’s (for) Dinner...

Replicas of pottery Aztec dogs

The Aztecs only domesticated two animals, dogs and turkeys, both of which were eaten (usually only at feasts). Dogs were well fed (enlarge the main picture to see what on...). Above all the Aztecs enjoyed eating small, hairless, mute dogs brought to Aztec markets from the town of Acolman - the ‘itzcuintli’, a relative of the chihuahua (Pic 1). Though meat was a relative luxury, the Aztec diet was ‘ample, nutritious and well-balanced’, in part at least thanks to some unusually efficient and nutritious foods: the Aztecs were anything but fussy - they ate ‘practically every living thing that walked, swam, flew or crawled...’ (Professor Bernard Ortiz de Montellano). (Written/compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

They had a great respect for the quality of faithfulness in dogs: when a nobleman died, a dog was often killed and buried with him to guide him on the long journey across rivers and mountains to the next world. In the case of a commoner a pottery model of a dog was often used instead. Aztecs believed that it took 4 years to reach the soul’s final resting place, Mictlan.
Note, in this context, how superstitious the Mexica were: they believed that if you tricked a dog - eg by pretending to offer it food and then whisking it away - the dog would trick you on the way down to Mictlan and wouldn’t help you cross the fast-flowing river (learn more about the challenges of getting to Mictlan from the link below...)

Despite its association with death, Dog was a generally favourable calendar sign, a predictor of success in work, wealth and fertility.

Picture sources:-
• Photos by Chris Tims and Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Illustration of Dog calendar sign by Felipe Dávalos/Mexicolore

A legacy from Aztec times? The modern Mexican Spanish word for ‘to put [an animal] down’ is ‘sacrificar’ - mis-translated as ‘to sacrifice’ in the Mexican film Temporada de Patos.

‘Dogs as guides for souls of the dead to Mictlan’Chihuahua pots from Mexico and the southeastern USA

Comments (5)

Mario

6th Oct 2022

Not true, dog was not eaten, all this based on Cortez’s writings which was all assumptions.

Mexicolore

Have you consulted the works of world experts such as Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano, Frances Berdan, Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, Elizabeth Morán,who all confirm that dogs WERE eaten, but basically only during feasts? The Florentine Codex mentions specifically in one feasting ceremony ‘And some plucked and removed the feathers from birds, and dressed them; or slew, singed, and dressed dogs; or prepared and cooked meat, and braised it in pots...’

nancy

10th Mar 2015

hi
i have a terrocotta corn dog can i see you a piture
i found it in a shed wrapped up in 1914 paper with a nut cracker

Mexicolore

By all means! We’re here to try and help...

Kylee Smalley

12th Sep 2014

Alright I’m getting REALLY confused on these topics. I’ve read that dogs were seen as Filthy and Immoral creatures but at the same time I’ve seen them as Guides and Loyal. which ones are they?

Mexicolore

We have no idea where you got the idea that the Aztecs considered dogs ‘filthy’ and ‘immoral’?! The fact that the Mexica round of 20 calendar signs includes Dog suggests they held the animal in high regard...

Arij

14th May 2012

Wow they ate their dog!

pete veilleux

15th Jan 2010

the most delicious meat i’ve ever eaten in my life is agouti which is called Tipizquintli by most indian groups in Central America and in Mexico.

Replicas of pottery Aztec dogs