The Dog

The year 2006 is said to be the Year of the Dog in the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese is a very old civilization. Their folk wisdom is very highly respected. Likewise, they rank among the most advanced in the world, especially in the fields of medicine and natural science.

For the dog to be included by the Chinese in the set of twelve animals believed to hold meaning to the human existence is something. It suggests that, indeed, this common household pet wields an important influence in man's life. Yet, to many, this companionable creature-considered as man's best friend-has virtually remained a stranger.

Dos are generally believed to be the first domesticated animal. Goats were reportedly domesticated a bit sooner than dogs in a few regions of the world, but this fact would be the exception rather than the rule.

The first dogs may have been brought into the human circle as early as twenty five thousand years ago, in the Old Stone Age, when humans lived by gathering plants and hunting animals with chipped stone implements.

The domestic dog actually belongs in the same family as wolves, coyotes, foxes, and jackals. The animal eventually developed into being man's trusted work partner and beloved pet as it learned to live with humans. Its direct ancestors were the wolves that once roamed Europe, Asia, and North America.

But the relationship between humans and the dog's immediate predecessor, the wolf, must have certainly started as one of competition. Both man and wolf must have hunted each other or competed in hunting other animals. Soon, perhaps owing to the keen intellect and skills of both of them, the two competitors may have learned to develop a cooperative relationship between them.

Humans likely took advantage of the skill of the wolves in locating and pursuing prey, and wolves must have learned that people's dwellings yielded a dependable supply of bones and other edible leftovers.

Humans probably had adopted orphaned or captured cubs of their new-found allies, tamed them, and bred them. Then, after thousands of years, may have resulted a new line of wolves that felt comfortable in human company-the dogs.

All dog breeds known today are members of one species, Cannis familiaris. The closest ancestor of the dog was almost certainly a smallish subspecies of wolf known as Canis lupus pallipes, which is still found in southern Asia, from Israel to India. Domestication probably began within this area.

Domesticated dogs soon became distributed from one society to another as objects of trade and as special gifts from ruler to ruler, starting from the early times. A study of the early transport of dogs would undoubtedly reveal a great deal about the social interactions of early humans.

Some cultures accorded dogs with a certain religious regard. The Pekingese dog was considered sacred by the ancient Chinese. A particular breed, the Greyhound, was revered by the Greeks as a god or near-god. Literary references to the dog can also be found in the Bible.

An ancient Persian cemetery, dating to the 5th century BC, yielded thousands of dog skeletons. Their formal burial and the positioning of the dog remains reveal the esteem in which the ancient Persians held their dogs. A statue of the half dog, half jackal Egyptian god Anubis was discovered inside King Tutankhamen's tomb, constructed in about 1330 BC.

Although the way in which humans and dogs first learned to coexist remains a matter of conjecture, it is clear that people had soon discovered the many ways dogs could enrich their lives. Dogs have been used to hunt for food, herd animals, guard livestock and property, destroy farm rats, pull carts and sleds, perform rescues, and apprehend lawbreakers. During wartime, dogs were also trained as sentinels and message carriers.

Today trained dogs are used to alert deaf people to common household sounds, such as a ringing telephone or doorbell; guide the blind, or retrieve objects for quadriplegics. The most common of many roles served by the domestic dog, however, is that of companion. Dogs have strong social tendencies and crave close contact with their owners; thus, loving bonds easily develop between them.

Recent medical studies suggest that companion dogs may contribute to their owners' physical as well as psychological well-being. Lower blood pressure and fewer heart attacks have been noted among older people who keep pet dogs. The same studies have also found that severely ill dog-owners tend to have higher survival rates than comparable patients without pets.

Dogs are now also being used in crime detection. They sniff baggage at airports for certain illegal items and have been notably effective in the fight against the trafficking of illegal drugs. Dogs are also used in bomb detection. A trained dog would sit down quietly next to a suspicious object and whine. This behavior will alert civilians in the area to move away and allow the professional crime busters to do their work.

Dogs belonging to hundreds of breeds, as well as crossbreeds and mongrels of every description, constitute the present world pack of dogs. There are now dogs as big as a small horse or as small as a big rat. They continue to enrich people's lives by fulfilling traditional as well as new roles.

Sad to say, however, the profound importance of dogs to the human experience is still not so appreciated by all. In some parts of the world, especially in Third World countries, man's best friend is still man's favorite meal.