Rotisserie Dogs

I came across a fun bit of culinary trivia in the book Jefferson and Monticello, by Jack McLaughlin. In a discussion of cooking arrangements at Monticello, Mclaughlin writes (p. 231), "Before the invention of mechanical spit-turners, meat was often turned by a small 'turnspit dog.' The dog was trained to walk on a treadwheel which turned the spit."