Research on dog Origins
There is evidently a lot of time, energy and money being spent on determining how and where dogs were first domesticated. Asia has been held as home of the domestic dog because of the genetic diversity to be found there but most recently scientists are leaning toward Africa. I have to wonder if in the grand scheme of things such as pandemics and world economic collapse it really matters.
As a life long owner of canines I know one thing for sure: Man did not domestic the dog. Woman did. If the origin of dogs are wolves (or even jackals which are another counter theory based on white on throat and tail) then it was done as puppies and only women would plead the case of a litter of wolf puppies. Tribal man who just killed the mother wolf would have seen the puppies as future moccasins.
However, I do hold to the theory that dogs domesticated themselves. Early man developed trash dumps and the omega wolves (bottom of the pecking order) in a pack would have seen that as a buffet. Omega wolves are into pleasing the providers of food and that would have been women. I don't see primitive man as taking out the trash. No doubt the cutest of the trash puppies got fussed over and ultimately taken home. Then the trash does not have to be taken to the dump. The garbage disposal is right there. And more than willing to please its new pack leader - the woman feeding it.
As to dogs being used for hunting and herding by men I think that was only on the urging of females. "Take him, honey. I am sure he will be a help chasing the elk back toward you." Women tended the goats and sheep. A dog that ran the sheep was of no use so pawn him off on the men.
Nobody paid me any money for this research. It is entirely independent but if Pedigree wants to give me a few bags of dog food for my fur kids I have no objection. They prefer lamb and rice.
Interesting reading - certainly deserves a few bags of dog food!
ReplyDeleteSeriously it is interesting. Only a woman would have the patience and of course, dogs love the hand that feeds them. Having said that my husband is an avid dog lover and has trained some real hardened canines that some said could never be trained. He always says that there is no such thing as a 'bad dog, only 'bad owners'. My father was a dog man too (cats as well) so it runs in the family.
Actually my father raised dogs and also owned several field champions that he trained. But he trained them to do useful things like chase rabbits past his gun and we trained them to roll over and play dead and sit up. Silly things in his opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd they trained themselves to keep us away from snakes and find our way back home from walks.