Living with man
Cave drawings discovered in the Pyrenees from the Upper Palaeolithic period (some 12,000-10,000 years ago) show archers and dogs co-operating in a hunt. The dogs are lightly built and long-legged, with pricked ears and pointed muzzles, very like the wolves that inhabited southern Europe, but with differences that show that humans were beginning to select the ‘dogs’ best suited to their purpose.
Around 5,000 years ago, humans were beginning to settle and farm the land. This led to the development of types of dog suited to various tasks, such as herding and guarding, and not just exclusively for hunting. As humans became more prosperous, they could afford to keep dogs simply as pets and companions. Humans learned how to train a puppy for domestic and work purposes, and to breed dogs of all sizes and shapes for a wide variety of tasks – from the huge Mastiff-like war dogs of the Babylonian Empire to the fleet-footed hunting hounds bred by the Assyrians.
In more recent times, dogs have been used to accompany carriages, hunt, provide entertainment’ fighting pits for gamblers, be pampered lap dogs and drag heavy loads such as sleds.
Gradually, throughout the twentieth century, many of the traditional canine uses were phased out, to be replaced with nothing more than humans’ desire to keep dogs as pets, and in working roles of helpers for less able people and in law enforcement. In many ways, dogs continue to contribute to the quality of our lives.
Tags: cave drawings, dogs as pets, how to train a puppy, hunting hounds, lap dogs, pointed muzzles