History of The Domestication of Dogs: Are Dogs our Companions or Are We Their Companions?

Humans and dogs have long shared a bond that was based on function. Early dogs that were the least valuable and useful did not make it into today’s time. On the other hand, the most valuable and helpful of dogs remained and created others like them. Ultimately, breed predecessors were produced by breeding the best hunters to the best hunters and the best guards to the best

For millions of years dogs have remained a constant companion of man. Bred from the aggressive and formidable Gray Wolf tens of thousands of years ago the domestic dog now lives in many homes across the world. Where in the far distant past the domestic dog was bred as a guard animal, a beast of burden, and even a food source the dogs of today are bred for a far more endearing purpose-companionship and love. Finding a pet dog that is more of a joy than a chore is necessary when asking: How much is that puppy in the window?

The true origin of the dog is unknown, since there are many theories about how they became to be. The grey wolf is the most probable ancestor of all current dogs breeds. Early humans formed an unlikely partnership with the grey wolf. It was to say that dogs were wild until about 12,000 years ago, but in 1997 a DNA analysis suggested a date of about 130,000 years ago for the transformation of wolves to dogs. Which means wolves began to adapt to human society long before humans settled down and began learning agriculture. One group suggested that wolves and dogs split 32,000 years ago, somewhere in East Asia. An analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 18 fossil canids. They were the first animal we humans domesticated. The fates of our two species became braided together.

If a survey, about what domesticated animal is good for future pet owners, was conducted today, I can bet that most pet owners would say that they prefer domesticated dogs as a pet. Dogs have been man’s best friend since the dawn of homosapiens, approxitmately 15,000 years ago. If humans and dogs have overtime created this bond, then how was that connection created and how strong is it? In Melissa Chan’s article “The Mysterious History Behind Humanity’s Love for Dogs” from the August 25, 2016 issue of TIME Magazine, she successfully implements the rhetoric of logos, and pathos throughout her article to solve the mystery of the bond between humans and dogs.

Canines have the ability to serve as seeing-eye dogs, firedogs, service dogs or just a playful, loyal companion. The closer the dog and human’s relationship is, the stronger the feelings between them are. Canines have a talent of recognizing dangerous situation and being there for humans in their time of

After reading Brian Hare’s The Genius of Dogs, a misconception I previously had was that humans domesticated dogs. I believed that thousands of years ago wolves were brought into the houses of humans and taken on hunting trips and over time they became less aggressive. In fact dogs domesticated themselves. Hare discusses many topics that went against my previous thoughts including dogs understanding of connections, the aspect of fetch, and the play bow, but I have chosen to focus on how dogs domesticated themselves by scavenging through human trash. Brian Hare’s studies on dog cognition and the process of domestication began his sophomore year of college when it was proposed to him that the difference separating humans from other animals was our ability to understand communicative intentions.

Considering the anthropological, social and cultural evidence that has documented the nature of the relationship since the canine was domesticated, what has man learned from his dealings with this unusually loyal of best friends? It is that a dog does not choose you, any more than he or she controls you. Having a dog and imbuing on it the indelible print of dominance is not a form of heinous control, but rather a social baring that the dog needs and wants as much as you need a good dog. Responsibility is point number one. Choosing the right dog, to begin with, is the key to how your relationship is going to work out. If you live in a tiny, cramped, but oh so posh, Manhattan apartment, a Bull Mastiff may not be the ideal pooch for you. If you have your mail forwarded to your office, because you 're there most of the week, then perhaps a wound up, toy dog shouldn 't be wandering the confines of your lonely house. Consider what your life is like. Take into account that your lifestyle needs to mirror the bred personality traits that your dogs already has. You 're not going to make a dog 's genes bend to your will, no matter how hard you try, so, as your first step, do your research; your patience and your dog will reward you, in the end. That apartment we talked about earlier, it 's yours? You should consider adopting Greyhound. Not only could you save the life of something that gave years of its life to degenerate gamblers, but they 're pretty much genetically configured to

3). From the beginning of this chapter, it is apparent that dogs are seen as possessions intended as hunting tools, and they are treated as such. They were instruments used to get tasks done efficiently, to make life easier for the humans - somewhat reminiscent of what machines do for modern humans. Rogers used the phrase, “Hunting was a partnership between men and hounds”1 which suggests that the relationship was fundamentally a ‘business’ one, simply seen as a partnership, instead of companionship or a friendship. Dogs were tailored to fit the hunters’ needs and to do this, they crossed certain breeds to obtain specialized dogs with specific functions, disregarding the natural order of things, forcing their evolution. Evolution is grounded in the idea that a species evolves to adapt a changing environment and these hunters forced the dogs’ evolution without caring about what the dog needs to survive. In one instance they sacrificed one of the more basic functions to obtain a more focused sense: the scent hound, with its long muzzle and long drooping ears made it ideal for scent tracking but minimized hearing2. The hunters also adapted the practice of behavior modification which involved

There are similarities between dogs and humans. These will include homelessness, perseverance in the fight for survival, the apparent lack of organizational hierarchy among our species, and the instinctual survival abilities that have been lost through the evolution of domestication. All these became apparent to me when I started to compare the dogs that Randy has encountered. Consciously or subconsciously, I’ve come to the realization that humans are not very different from dogs. In the sense, both species have progressed through the evolution of domestication.

    Dogs have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. Food from the humans would bring the dogs to them, and the dogs would bark at predators when they came so the people started to feed the dogs to keep them around. In the 1’st century AD in China Roman mosaics show evidence of the present day Pekingese and Roman ladies also had lap dogs. They believe the dogs warmth cures stomach aches. The earliest evidence of any domesticated dog is a jawbone found in Iraq in a cave about 12,000 years ago. We know it is a jawbone of a dog because a jawbone of a wolf is smaller and the teeth is smaller.

It can be argued that along with cats, dogs were one of the first animals to become domesticated. For approximately 10,000 years humans and dogs have more than co-existed, they have developed a special bond unlike any other animal has developed with us. Today hundreds, if not thousands of breeds of dog exist. Although this fact remains true, all dogs belong to the Canis Familiaris family within the animal kingdom. Despite any tamed, domesticated, or docile tendencies, all breeds of dogs have traits that are derived from their wild ancestors and to this day many of those traits still exist and in fact, are quite important to the dog’s survival and mating techniques. Some of the more prominent survival tactics include digging, burying, being

There are several theories on how the evolution from wolf to dog came about. One theory is that the human environment attracted wolves. Wolves started following people around to take advantage of food scraps that were left behind. Eventually, wolves lost fear of people, and people lost fear of wolves. The benefits of this new relationship were not just one way. Wolves also helped humans by sniffing out prey and helping them hunt. Success likely meant the humans would share their food with wolves. This is a very popular theory, but it has been disputed. Archeological digs show that the early dogs were not eating the same mammoth meat that the humans were eating. Instead, their main diet consisted mostly of less popular human meat such as reindeer. The prehistoric dogs also had many broken teeth and severe facial wounds. Although these injuries could be from fighting with other dogs, many scientists believe the dogs had been beaten with sticks, leading many to assume the relationship between man and prehistoric dog was not as companionable as the theory would suggest.

(Transition: Have you had conversations with your dog? I do all the time! Have you ever avoided a dog because it looked scary? Most of us know what a relaxed dog and an aggressive dog looks like. What many don’t and should know are the signals that tell you when a dog is transitioning from being relaxed to a stressed, fearful, or threatened mood. Let’s start with stress and fear signals. Let’s go over a some dog body language so you can evaluate your judgments.)

It is often said that a dog is a man’s best friend. In the last 14,000 years, dogs have accompanied man by helping him hunt, guard, and protect. In our modern world, dogs help us combat in war, search-and-rescue, guide the blind, deaf, discapacitated, rehabilitate patients in therapy, aid law enforcement, and are part of our family as beloved pets (Coren). Although canine superstars such as Lassie, Old Yeller, and Rin Tin Tin portray the perfect dog we all want in our lives, these ideals are far from the truth. Many first-time dog owners expect dogs to know behaviors such as how to walk on a leash, not bite, not destroy the house, and in addition to many others. In reality, dogs must be trained on what their handler wants them to do. It is

As the saying goes, a dog is a man’s best friend. The dog is a loving companion to a man. He is happy to go everywhere with his master. He shows his affection for his master by wagging his tail and licking his hand or face. This timeless relationship continues to evolve into new kinds of human-dog interactions that increasingly benefit society.