Figure 1.--A boy and his dog is a staple in America and mny European countries. You just know these two had a great time together. Dogs are, however, viewed differently in many other countries. |
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Dogs are one of the two most common pets. Dogs are believed to be the oldest domesticated animal. Anthropologists can only speculate about the origins of the relationship between the dog and man. Clearly there were mutual benefits to the relationship. Dogs are believed to have been a major asset to prehistoric man. The domestication of dogs began at a much earlier point that tht of cats. Dogs helped hunters at the hunter gther stage and assisted pastoralists as agriculture began to develop. Dogs as a family pet are a much more recent phenomenon. We see royalty with pet dogs in the 17th century. Ordinary people did not have pets until later. This dates to the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era. The wealth created by industrialization gave ordinary individuals greatly expanded income. And pets became something many families chose to acquire. And as a result, we see the development of small breeds more suitable for city dewllers. Dogs have come in many different breeds and we see children with virtually every different breed as wellmas the standard mutt. A great example of a boy and his dog is Elford and Wolf. We also notice the Clark boys in 1897. And British boys who got the dog they walways wanted when they came to America. We notice vast cultural differences among countries concerning keeping dogs a pets.
There were for many years uncertainty about the origins of the modern dog. Researchers specukated abbout wolves, African wild dogs, and cayotes. Thahks to DNA work, we now know that that the modern domestic dog evolved from wolves. Dogs are one of the two most common pets. Pet is, howver, a very modern concept. Dogs are believed to be the oldest domesticated animal. Clearly there were mutual benefits to the relationship. Dogs are believed to have been a major asset to prehistoric man. Anthropologists can only speculate about the origins of the relationship between the dog and man. The archeological record suggested something like 10,000-12,000 years ago. DNA research has upturned this assessment. Researchers using Mitochondrial DNA have come with estimates more like 100,000 years ago. This means dogs werte with our abcestors as we were becoming human. Dogs werre of enormous benefir=t to hunter-gathering peiple, increasingv their hunting capabilituies and thus survival skills in a very dangerous world. Thus dogs are believed to have played a key role in the final evolution of man and the success of a very small population. The domestication of dogs began at a much earlier point that that of cats. Dogs helped hunters at the hunter-gather stage and assisted pastoralists as agriculture began to develop.
Dogs as a family pet are a much more recent phenomenon. We see royalty with pet dogs in the 17th century. Ordinary people did not have pets until later. This dates to the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era. The wealth created by industrialization gave ordinary individuals greatly expanded income. And pets became something many families chose to acquire. And as a result, we see the development of small breeds more suitable for city dewllers.
Dogs have come in many different breeds and we see children with virtually every different breed as wellmas the standard mutt.
A great example of a boy and his dog is Elford and Wolf. We also notice the Clark boys in 1897. And British boys who got the dog they walways wanted when they came to America.
We notice vast cultural differences among countries concerning keeping dogs a pets.
The Western view of dogs as loving friends companions is not accepted in the Muslim world. Dogs are seen as haram' (unclean by Muslims. Most Muslims as a result have not wanted dogs as pets. A few Westernized Muslims have kept pets, but it was not very common. Apparently the Western media has begun to change minds. There are differences among countrie. One of the countries reporting a dog craze. Websites have sprung up like 'Woof woof Iran' where Iranian dog owners can exchage udeas on pet care and grooming and stories about their pets. The only problem is that the Iranuian mullas have passed laws making it illegal to buy and sell dogs. Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi issued a fatwa (Islamic religious finding) denouncing dog ownership (2010). The Parliament subsequentkly passed a law criminalizing dog ownership. which was declared a manifestation of 'vulgar Western values' (2011). As a result, the country's Morality Police are now cruising the streets to arrest dog owners found in public spaces. [Fassihi, p. a1, 10.]
Dogs have also been used in war. They were particularly important in World War I and World War II. The Germans employed dogs on a huge scale, perhaps a reflection of their manpower limitations. The United States used them extensively in Vietnam. Most recently a dog was part of Seal Team Six that found and killed Osama bin Laden (2011). Guard duty was a major assignment for military dogs. In modern warfare they have more active assignments. One author writes, "'If you see my dog coming, you can shoot my dog or you can shoot at me,' he said. 'And if you shoot at my diog, I will shhot you. If you shoot me, the dog will get you. This draws the attention of the bad guys and gives you a few seconds to make that entry.'" [Rogak]
Fassihi, Farnaz. "A craze for pooches in Iran dogs the moraklity police," Wall Street Journal (July 18, 2011, pp. A1, 10.
Rogak, Lisa. The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love, and Loyalty of Military cWorking Dogs (2011), 240p.
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