Dogs Decoded: Nova

Looking at the evolution of the relationship of dogs with humans (aka the domestication of dogs). Notable facts: Dogs are evolved directly from wolves, not african wild dogs or coyotes or any other canine species. They were partnered with humans thousands of years earlier than we first believed -- humans were certainly hunter-gatherers at the time, but the presence of "working" dogs probably helped societies to transition to herding and farming.

Humans and wolves shared the characteristics of being carnivores who hunted in daylight (not that common), which offered the potential to become natural allies. After humans ate, there would be bones and carcasses for the wolves to scavenge, drawing the wolves into proximity with humans. A few generations of selective breeding for non-aggressive traits would be enough to yield an animal domesticated enough to be a hunting partner.

Breeding experiments in Russia over the past 50 years (designed to domesticate Silver Foxes) have proven the ability to domesticate from wild wolf into helper dogs would have taken far less time than we first thought. And over the thousands of years since initial domestication, those non-aggressive wolves have evolved into 400 kinds of dogs, as humans started selecting among the non-aggressive offspring for what had been inadvertent traits such as curly tails, floppy ears, shorter legs, etc. They could similarly select for various kinds of intelligence (ability to herd cattle, follow scents, bark intruder warnings, etc). Because humans were able to domesticate, select and train dogs over the course of centuries if not millennia before climate conditions were ripe for agriculture to take hold, dogs probably played a substantial role in transitioning human society from hunter-gatherers to herders and farmers.

The importance of the domesticated dog in helping humans to control flocks and herds as a means of creating the shift in societal structures ties in well with the ideas examined in the previous post on: Guns, Germs and Steel. That pushes the theory that geographic location was the determining factor behind which societies developed herding and farming. Geography determined the available grains and growing conditions as well as which animals were accessible to domesticate as livestock. As it turns out, these same groups of people living at the latitude and environment of pre-ancient mesopotamia also were in proximity to wolves and able to reap the benefits of the domesticated offspring.

Animal temperament is a biological product of the domestication process (selective breeding), which is why wild animals are still wild even if raised in captivity under loving conditions. However, most wolves in the juvenile "pup" stage (up to 8 weeks or a few months), exhibit non-aggressive tendencies. Breeding dogs from wolves meant selecting for non-aggressive traits over generations, essentially creating an animal in a permanent juvenile state. Other than non-aggression, the primary quality of the juvenile state: cuteness!

And the human brain responds to cuteness in animals the same way it responds to cuteness in human offspring: baby faces inspire the the urge to protect and care and coddle. So on some level, yes, puppies are replacing babies in the homes and hearts of people. After all, dogs retain their juvenile qualities and don't lose their dependence on their human parents as human offspring do. And while most people today may not use their dogs as helpers in their hunting or herding, dogs remain nevertheless an important part of human societies given that the emotional response they illicit in their owners has the tendency to make their humans happier and healthier.