Article Title: Domesticating The Dog (Part 1)
Author: Van Hoffen
Dogs are smart creatures and so are humans. A long time ago,
the human race saw the value of befriending canines,
recognizing all the potential benefits to a partnership with
these smart animals. Dogs are loyal to their leadership
hierarchy, making them very trainable. Once the dog recognizes
who the leader of the pack it, it will do almost anything to
support that leader. Because of this relationship, a very
diversified species of Canis Familiaris has resulted due to the
selective breeding efforts of humankind.
The main reason that dogs are easier to train than cats is not
because of a difference of intelligence; it's because they have
that instinctual allegiance to the pack and their pack leaders.
Cats are not a pack animal and so do not have a well-defined
group mentality (although lions and cheetahs are an exemption
to this fact.) In the earliest time, human hunter-gatherers
realized that the canine pack leader could be replaced by a
human. The survival of the tribe at that time depended on the
success of the leaders of the hunt. Humans have never been the
physical equal of our prey - we are slow, low on endurance, and
have inept senses in comparison to animals. The only advantages
we had were our ability to work cohesively as a team (like the
dog), our intellect and our tribal loyalty.
Early humans' chief competitors at the time included the wild
dogs which hunted in well-choreographed packs. Humans were at a
disadvantage, as dogs could run faster and longer than humans;
they could operate masterfully as a team and pick up a scent
where no scent was discernible to humans. By establishing a
partnership with these dogs, early humans greatly increased
their chances of a productive hunt.
But which species would be the best candidate for
domestication? Wolves, African hunting dogs, and dingoes all
have a well-defined pack hierarchy in place, and all exhibit
complex social interaction. Because these two ingredients seem
to help create greater cognitive ability, these animals were
the most likely candidates for domestication.
On the other hand, the fox, is a solitary nocturnal creature
and has no pack order at all. Coyotes and certain types of
jackals form permanent male-female pair-bonds, but they do not
establish permanent pack associations.
When it was decided to domesticate these dogs, it was
determined that domestication required more than simply
changing behavior patterns. The animal itself had to be
physically changed through selective breeding to better suit
our needs. For example, wild wolf females come into season only
once a year, in harmony with their prey's season. Domestic dog
females come into heat two to three times a year; this allows
for more rapid selective breeding to occur. Also, most wild
dogs do not reach sexual maturity until they are two years of
age, whereas domestic dogs are sexually capable at six to nine
months. Also, male wolves are potent only during the breeding
season, whereas male domestic dogs are always potent.
About The Author: Find more dog information by Fredrick Von
Hoffen here: http://furl.
http://www.google.
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