Dogs: Our Reason For Civilization

Let me start off this post by stating dogs are not only “man’s best friend” but are the vary reason we have large communities, cities and civilization as we know it.  Big assumption, I know, but hold on and I will have you believing the same thing!

I didn’t always think dogs were that important, trust me. And when I first heard this theory I was convinced it was pretty far-fetched too.  But the evidence is pretty compelling. Let me start with how I heard this in the first place.

The other day, one of my professors gave what is probably the most interesting lecture I’ve attended.  His name is Dr. Richard Uwiera and he teaches my Animal Science 120 “Companion animals and Society” class.  This specific lecture was on the evolution of dogs as the domestic pets or laborers that they are today. It featured a video from BBC, called The Secret Life of the Dog, which you can view in part here, where various historians, scientists and dogs owners were interviewed. Basically the video had two main arguments as to why dogs are the reason we live as we do.  The correlation of the beginning of large civilizations with the domestication of dogs, and our ability to communicate with these animals unlike with any other species.

The main theory of the beginning of dog domestication is as follows: Humans were hunters and gatherers, leaving bits of game and food behind while they foraged.  Dogs discovered that by following humans they could obtain easy meals.  Humans and dogs began to get closer and closer, until humans got the idea to use dogs to hunt.  As this became more successful, humans could feed larger groups and did not have to rely on gathering, meaning they could stay in one place for longer amounts of time.  Soon larger civilizations could take root with dogs assisting in hunting for food, guarding crops and people and eventually livestock.  And so began civilization as we know it, or so said the historian. However convincing this argument was, I was still not sure that this actually happened. It is only a theory after all.

Monitoring direction of dog's gaze on presentation of human face

Testing 8-week-old puppy's ability to follow pointing

The video then turned to the behaviorists and scientists who described our deep bond with dogs, a bond that is unlike that of any other species.  You may say, “I have a pretty deep bond with my cat.” Well let me tell you why you will never connect with your cat like you could with a dog. First of all, have you ever had the feeling that your dog could sense your emotions? A study featured in this video gives evidence of just that! As humans, our faces are not symmetrical. Each side on it’s own will show a slightly different emotion than the other. So, subconsciously, we read the left side of each other’s faces to have a consistent reference. In this study, dogs were shown faces of humans with different emotions.  Every dog consistently looked first to the left of the person’s face, as soon as it appeared.  Pretty cool I thought. The video further convinced me by pointing out the unique ability of dogs to understand human gestures.  Have you ever tried looking at your cat and pointing at something else? If your lucky they might continue to look you in the eye, or by fluke, find something interesting in that direction. However, if you point at an object in front of a dog, they will immediately look to where you’re pointing to find what’s up. The video showed that even 8-week-old puppies exhibit this behavior.  And with a little work, will even look or go to where you are looking, no pointing needed.  

This ability to understand human gestures is not seen in any other species, not even our closest relative the chimpanzee.  This incredibly unique understanding shows how dogs have evolved so closely with us.  So, if dogs can interpret our emotions and gestures, can we understand theirs?  The video then went on to examine just that. Many people believe they know what their own dog is trying to communicate, but what about with different dogs?  The scientists taped the barks of dogs in different situations. Some were excited to play, anxious at being left alone, tied up and wanting to run, or angry at something.  They then played these barks for various people.  They guessed the situation with incredible accuracy, stating that the high or low pitch of the bark showed anger or excitement.  Pretty cool, hey?

Nian Liu goes into great detail about the theory and importance of communication in her blog post. She makes an excellent point that "Creatures can't live without communication". Communication is essential so it makes sense that two very different species, evolving closely together, would develop some method of communication. Even if it is limited to hand gestures, bark pitches and eye movements. 

This ability of dogs to understand us like no other animals, and our seeming ability to understand their communication, convinced me of our close evolution.  Even untrained puppies showed the ability to understand gestures, where hand-language knowing monkeys could not! This adds a lot of support to the beginning of civilization and the crucial role dogs played. So, are you convinced? 

References:

Cohen, A., & Child, D. (Producer). (2010). The Secret Life of the Dog [Online video]. BBC One. Retrieved April 11, 2012, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pssgh

Pictures are screen shots from above video