History of dogs
History of dogs
It is not
contradictory that in the earliest times when man inhabited this world, he made
friends and companions with a species of aborigines of our modern dog, and that
in return for his help in protecting him from wild beasts, and by When he cared
for his sheep and goats, he gave them part of his food, a corner of his home,
and entrusted them and looked after them. The animal was probably originally
little more than an unusually gentle jackal or a sick wolf, driven by its wild,
marauding pack in
to seek refuge in strange surroundings. One can certainly imagine that the
connection began when the early hunters brought home some helpless young
animals that had to be cared for and raised by women and children. Dogs brought
into the house as toys for children were considered family members.
Traces of a family of native dogs can be found in almost all parts of the
world, with the exception of the Antilles. islands, Madagascar, the eastern
islands of the Malay Archipelago, New Zealand and the islands of Polynesia,
where there is no evidence that a dog, wolf or fox ever existed as true
aborigines. In the ancient eastern lands, and generally among the early
Mongols, the dog remained wild and deserted for centuries, roaming in packs,
emaciated and wolf-like, just as it now roams the streets and under the walls
of all eastern cities. No attempt was made to lure him into human company or
train him to be compliant. It is only when we examine the records of the higher
civilizations of Assyria and Egypt that we discover different forms of the
canine form.
The dog was not held in high esteem in Palestine, and in both the Old and New
Testaments it was generally spoken of with contempt and contempt as a
"dirty animal." Even the well-known reference to the sheepdog in the
book of Job: "But now I am mocked by those younger than I, whose fathers I
would not associate with the dogs of my flock" is not without a hint of
contempt, and it is Significantly, the only biblical allusion to the dog as a
recognized companion of man was in the apocryphal book of Tobit
"Then they both went out, and the young man's dog with them."
The great variety of different breeds of dogs and the enormous differences in
their size, points, and general appearance are facts that make it difficult to
believe that they may have had a common ancestor. One thinks of the difference
between the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the elegant
Pomeranian, the Saint Bernard and the Miniature Black and Tan Terrier, and is
perplexed when one considers the possibility that they could descend from a
common parent.
