Man’s best friend

Man has domesticated many animals, but only two of those are carnivorous. Today, they are our constant companions - the dog and the cat. Although cat lovers would disagree, the dog is universally referred to as Man’s Best Friend. Even though the dog is no longer the world’s foremost pet (that position now belongs to its nemesis the cat), there is no denying that man and dog have an inseparable, emotional bond that is not quite matched by its feline counterpart.

That is a very old relationship by all accounts. Earlier, scientists thought that the man - dog link is around 15,000 years old, but news research indicates that it goes much further in time. (Cats have been with us for nearly 14,000 years).

Scientists have now found that the close bond started in Ice Age Europe between 19,000 and 30,000 years ago. That was when wolves, ancestors of domestic dogs living today, were first tamed by ancient hunter gatherers, according to new genetic evidence. Some have suggested domestication occurred even earlier than that, perhaps as long as 33,000 years ago, based on some dog-like skulls found in Belgium and in Siberia.

The findings, published in the prestigious journal Science last week, challenge a previous theory that dog domestication happened some 15,000 years ago in eastern Asia, after the introduction of agriculture.

In reality, the history of the bond between dog and man appears to go back much further, to a time when fur-clad humans were living in caves and hunting woolly mammoths.

Scientists used a tried and trusted technique of DNA analysis to establish what populations of wolves were most related to living dogs. DNA from domestic dogs most closely matched that extracted from the fossil bones of ancient European Ice Age wolves, as well as modern wolves. There was little similarity with DNA from wolves, coyotes and dingos (Australian wild dog) from other parts of the world.

Trained

The researchers believe that tamed wolves may have been trained as hunting dogs or protected their human masters from bigger predators.

“Conceivably, proto-dogs might have taken advantage of carcasses left on site by early hunters, assisted in the capture of prey, or provided defence from large competing predators at kills,” said Professor Johannes Krause, one of the researchers from Tubingen University in Germany.

Domestication of a “large and dangerous carnivore” was likely to have occurred partly by accident, possibly after wolves were attracted to hunter camp sites by the smell of fresh meat. The research contradicts previous thinking that early farming brought wolves sniffing around villages, leading to them forming relationships with humans.

The findings reveal another surprising fact - that dogs were human companions long before they kept goats, sheep or cattle, which are all herbivorous animals. It will also be fascinating to study how dogs learned not to hunt and kill Man’s herbivorous friends and instead actually opted to guard them from other wild predators. They still do that in many parts of the world.

The study included genetic data on 18 prehistoric wolves and other dog-like animals, as well as 77 dogs and 49 wolves from the present day. Most of the DNA from modern dogs was traceable to just one lineage, closely related to that of a wolf skeleton found in a cave in northern Switzerland. It is a great discovery in our quest to find more about the present-day dogs.

While cats love humans on their own terms, dogs love their masters unquestionably at all times. In fact, the dog is the only living thing that loves its master more than it loves itself. This could only have come from an association that goes back to around 30,000 years, which, over a period of hundreds of generations, could have ingrained a love for humans in every dog’s psyche from the moment it is born. It is a time-tested relationship that shows no signs of abating now or in the future.

It is an enigmatic animal that will take many more studies to understand fully. (Note to cat lovers - I know that cats are even more enigmatic). For example, man has always suspected that dogs (and even many wild animals) have an innate sixth sense that warns them of impending danger. We saw evidence of this during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when many dogs ran inland way before the tsunami hit the coast.

Life-threatening

Dogs are selfless creatures who will not think of themselves when their masters are faced with a life-threatening situation. One recent glaring example was the Filipino ‘hero dog’ who jumped in front of a motorcycle that was about to knock down his master’s children, severely injuring himself in the process. His life was saved thanks to extensive surgery performed in the US, but the physical and emotional scars will remain for life. After all, dogs do have almost all the emotions we experience, including grief, remorse, happiness and even jealousy. Studies must be conducted into these behavioural patterns of dogs, as to how they have acquired such almost-human qualities.

It was heartening to see rescue dogs scouring the debris for any signs of human or animal life after the recent super typhoon in the Philippines. No other animal matches the unique abilities of the dog, from acting as a guide to the blind to detecting narcotics. Not even the much more intelligent primates have such capabilities. The origins of such traits too could have been ingrained in dogs over the millennia.

Yet, there are millions of puppies and adult dogs around the world that are abused, tortured and left to die on the streets (Just read the recent story about Heaven, the seven-month old pit bull who was beaten and abandoned).

Fortunately, there are plenty of takers for most of these dogs who get a second chance to find a good home. There is also an abhorring trade in dog meat in certain countries, which should be ended. Animal cruelty laws must be strengthened here and around the world to afford more protection to our closest companions - the dog and the cat. Only then will our centuries-old link with these adorable creatures will have any real meaning.