I was bored at work last night, so, I wrote an off-topic, but typical MFW
off-topic, essay.
Why I Love Dogs
Our civilization as it exists today, and, possibly, our very existence as a
species, is due, in large part, to the ancestors of that tail wagging,
tongue licking, four legged bundle of energy, lying at your feet: your pet
dog.
The story of the domestication of the wolf and evolution into the dog is
unique in all of human history. While many animals have served us.horse,
cat, cow, sheep, among others.only the dog CHOSE to do so. As Nobel Laureate
in Literature Maurice Maeterlinck wrote: "We are alone, absolutely alone on
this chance planet; and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not
one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us."
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, bands of early humans wandered the
Earth, hunting and gathering, never staying in one place too long. They
moved a lot because the food moved a lot, and they were not very efficient
hunters. Additionally, the inevitable by-products of humans.waste, both food
waste and feces.made staying in one place too long both unpleasant and
unhealthy. It was a scary world, filled with both imaginary and real
dangers.animals that hunted them, other humans that warred with them. All of
these early humans' energy went into their basic survival.
By sheer chance, as evolution usually works, another species of animal was
wandering the Earth at the same time. The wolf was a social animal, like
man; living and moving in groups; expending all their energy in basic
survival.
In any large group of organisms, most psychological characteristics exist on
a spectrum, a bell curve of sorts. Wolves, then and now, have a critical
distance from possible threats that they are not willing to cross. But, just
a small percentage of wolves are more fearful of threats, a small percentage
is "braver", willing to get closer and stay longer than the rest.
To this equation, we add the principle, from the science of ecology, that
organisms will adapt and evolve to fill all available niches. And the
evolution of apes into groups of hunters, tossing waste food and crapping,
was a whole new ecological niche. And those "braver" wolves were in the
right place, at the right time, to take full advantage of this new source of
energy.
Keep in mind the principle: energy is reproduction. It takes considerable
energy for animals to reproduce and raise the offspring to independence. In
times of scarcity of resources, animals will often refrain from reproducing,
and may actually kill and eat the newborns if they are produced. Anything
that makes finding and consuming energy.food.easier, allows more energy to
be expended in reproduction.
And so, the wolf. The "braver' wolves, who were willing to get closer to the
humans, to spend more time closer, eating the rich, easily obtained, new
food source: our waste. These wolves now had an evolutionary advantage: less
energy was expended finding and obtaining food, more energy was available
for making baby wolves. And those baby wolves inherited their parents'
shorter critical distance. And were better fed than the other baby wolves.
And so, with each succeeding generation, the wolves got shorter and shorter
critical distances, and produced babies at an accelerated rate, compared to
the "normal" wolves with the "normal" critical distance. The "braver' wolves
thrived, the others declined.
That's what the wolves got out of the initial relationship. But, the humans
weren't just ignoring this development. Wolves were a frightening predator,
and humans feared them. Enter the bell curve once again. Most human bands
did not tolerate the wolves' increasing closeness, and drove them off. But,
a small percentage of "braver" humans, who, by that sheer chance of
evolution, were in the proximity of some of those "braver" wolves, DID allow
the wolves to approach. And, in doing so, without realizing it, they had
just increased their own reproductive ability. The wolves were eating waste
products, making the human encampments more pleasant and more hygienic. The
humans were, therefore, less prone to the diseases that rotting waste can
breed, and were able to stay in one place longer, taking advantage of a
favorable environment. That is what the humans got out of the initial
relationship: an evolutionary reproductive advantage over other, not so
brave, humans.
And so, wolves and early man begin their journey together. Millennia after
millennia, they evolve together, the brave wolves evolving and thriving,
closer and closer to man, and the brave humans, thriving compared to the
humans without wolf "hygienic engineers". And then one night, somewhere on
the planet, it happens: a friendly wolf, sleeping near his human friends,
hears the approach of a large predator, or of a rival group of humans, and,
roused from it's sleep, sounds an alarm. A growl, a howl, a bark. Now,
wolves had a new job: early warning systems. THIS was something the humans
could understand as beneficial. They may not have connected the decreased
disease rates to the wolves, but THIS was an obvious good thing, and marked
the beginning of man's deliberate efforts to encourage the wolf presence.
Now, not only would the wolf be tolerated, but would be fed some extra food.
The friendlier the wolf, the more prone to sounding an alarm, the more it
got fed. Man was engaged, without knowing it, in selective breeding, giving
additional reproductive advantage to wolves with two characteristics:
friendliness and alarm sounding tendency. And the wolves were giving these
particular humans an increased reproductive advantage by making the world a
little bit safer.
And together, over additional millennia, the journey continued. Wolves
evolved as friendlier and more prone to sound an alarm. The "other" wolves,
with their reproductive disadvantage, were in decline. The humans with the
wolves flourished, compared to those without.
Wolves, and dogs, can learn by watching others. Scott and Fuller, as part of
their groundbreaking research in the 1960's, tested puppies that had watched
other dogs being taught a behavior, versus puppies that had not watched. The
puppies that had watched learned the behavior much faster than those that
had not done so.
And so then, one day, somewhere on the planet, it happened. A friendly wolf,
who had watched his human friends hunt many times, seeing that they both
hunted in a similar manner.stalk, encircle, attack.went along and assisted
in the hunt. This must have REALLY impressed the men. And, now again, the
wolf had a new job. Hunting became more efficient; more energy was available
to make babies. Wolves were more valuable, they got fed more, they made more
puppies.
And together, over additional millennia, the journey continued.
Neotony: the retention of juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Studies
have clearly demonstrated that humans are attracted to certain features
shared by babies, puppies, and kittens: large heads in comparison to the
body, big eyes, flattened faces, and, in puppies, floppy ears. Our ancestors
in this story were now surrounded by friendly wolves that sounded alarm,
scared off enemies, and assisted in the hunt. And the humans were
selectively encouraging those traits by favoring those with these
characteristics. And now they began to get even more discriminating, by
favoring puppies that, by the sheer chance of evolution, had physical
characteristics that appealed to them: shorter muzzles, bigger, rounder
eyes, and floppier ears. And so, over the millennia, the wolf, which had
been changed psychologically and emotionally, now began to be changed
physically. The wolf was becoming the dog.
People psychologist and famous dog book author, Dr. Stanley Coren wrote: "As
perpetually juvenile apes, we have created for ourselves a playmate, in a
perpetually juvenile wolf." The dog is, in many important respects, a wolf
puppy.
And together, over additional millennia, the journey continued.
Fast-forward many thousands of years. The wolf is now recognizable as a new
species, the dog. Man has established permanent and semi-permanent
settlements: villages. The village dogs provided sanitation, protection,
hunting assistance, and companionship. Men had begun to domesticate other
species, and were keeping small groups of these animals. Some of the village
dogs showed a natural tendency to include these animals as part of the
"group" and defended them against predators, including, ironically, their
own ancestors, the wolf. Humans recognized this as a valuable
characteristic, and began to selectively breed for it. Bigger, more
protective, more independent, dogs evolved: the flock guards, the most
ancient of the breed types. The Anatolian and the Great Pyrenees are good
modern examples.
From the village dog and the flock guard, man selectively bred all the breed
types to follow: the herders, the war dogs, the hunting dogs of various
types.
Back to my opening paragraph. Our civilization as it exists today, and,
possibly, our very existence as a species, is due, in large part, to the
ancestors of that tail wagging, tongue licking, four legged bundle of
energy, lying at your feet: your pet dog.
It is indisputable that mankind would not have reached our current level of
civilization without the dog. It's contribution to the reproductive
advantage, by eliminating waste; it's contribution to the hunt; it's
function in allowing villages to exist; it's protection of man; it's
advancement of animal husbandry by protecting and herding the domestic
animals: we would be far less advanced without them.
Not as indisputable, but an idea I greatly favor, is that by giving [censored]
sapiens early ancestors an evolutionary advantage, the dog allowed us to
become the dominant primate of the planet. Without the dog, and his
ancestor, the wolf, [censored] sapiens might have lost the evolutionary battle to
the physically stronger Neanderthal. We might have been the ones to become
extinct. Our very existence might be owed to the dog.
Next time you're watching your beloved pet dog run around the park, chasing
chipmunks and pigeons, run the film in your mind backwards in time. See the
early man, huddled around a fire, listening to the night around him. Feel
the fear he felt at the unknown out there. Even the fire, despite the
comfort, was a fearful strange thing that could hurt him. The world was a
scary place. Now watch as he looks down at the furry figure curled up at his
feet. See the small smile that comes on his face, as he reaches down to
stroke the head of his friend. A friend that will help him survive, a friend
that would die to defend him. A friend that makes the scary world just a bit
less scary. That is his dog.
And THAT is why I love dogs.
David