Welcome to Dog Days of Summer

If you're anywhere in the northern hemisphere right now, you've probably noticed that it's hot, like Satan-decided-to-build-a-sauna hot. It feels like we haven't had any relief from the heat since June. We've entered the Dog Days of Summer.

Except, what are the Dog Days of Summer? Why do we refer to the extreme hot weather that occurs between July and August as Dog Days? I know dogs can be cute and fluffy, but unholy hot?

Look at this face!!!

This question popped up while I was at work last week (or I think it was last week - time seems to be melting together as I age). I'd always heard the phrase Dog Days of Summer, in fact I can recall several songs that feature the phrase. Florence + The Machine have the song "Dog Days are Over" and I remember Fear Factor's cover version of "Dog Day Sunrise" (originally by  Head of David) from the mid-nineties. However, I never actually knew what exactly a Dog Day of Summer was.

I'm not entirely sure how the topic was brought up, but I think it had something to do with our office building sponsoring an adopt-a-dog day while it was unbearably hot outside. One of my coworkers explained that it had to do with astronomy, specifically when the star Sirius (not the Harry Potter character) is spotted at sunrise during the summer months. This astronomical occurrence always occurs in a 40 day period after the summer solstice - typically July to August. The star Sirius is part of the dog consultation and literally means the dog star.

Hear that guys, you have a star named for you.

For the Harry Potter fans out there, this is there is a character that turns into a big black dog called Sirius Black,

This cycle has been known and recorded since as early as the ancient Egyptians. For the Egyptians, the rising of the star Sirius signaled the fortuitous time of the year when the Nile River flooded, bringing life to the desert. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac the new moon after the first siting of Sirius also signaled the Egyptian new year.

On the flip side, the ancient Greeks and Romans weren't as fond of this period of summer as the Egyptians. In fact the Greeks thought that Sirius brought heat and drought to the land as well as lethargy and fever to humans. This belief continued until the modern age of science and medicine took over. Apparently purging through vomiting and blood letting was frowned upon during "Dogge daies" of summer because "the Sunne is in Leo" and "then is nature burnt vp & made weake" (from the 1564 English medical book "Hope of Health").

So the next time the Dog Days of Summer are referenced, remember it's not our best furry friends that are being blamed for the heat. It's just an extremely bright star in the sky.

Also while we're on the subject of our furry friends, please remember that the heat does affect doggies too. Keep your dog well hydrated and try to keep their paws off of the pavement while the sun is directly shining down on it. We wear shoes, dogs don't.

Stay cool until next week!

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