Domesticated dogs are well known to be “man’s best friend.” They are friendly and loyal, they greet us at the door, they play with us when we are bored, they protect us when we are in danger, and they comfort us when we are sad. No other animal has been so capable of integrating themselves into a person’s life. What allows them to do so? What is it that separates dogs from the rest?
To truly understand, we must look at their history. Domesticated dogs have relied on mankind for centuries. It began when wolves started scavenging for humans’ scraps. This slowly lead to a more docile relationship between those wolves and people. Much later, after people discovered dogs’ usefulness, they were trained to help people with everyday needs and tasks. They were trained to be hunters, guardians, herders, and eventually lapdogs and family pets. This ensured their species’s survival but not the individual’s. The dogs who were more capable of understanding us were the ones who were most likely to be fed and sheltered. Thus, over time, they learned how to read human facial expressions.
Unlike other types of animals, dogs can read both our body language as well as our facial expressions. This means that they can almost instantaneously know what mood someone is in (sometimes even before we have comprehended it ourselves) and know how to act accordingly. This meant that if a dog’s owner was in a nasty mood, it knew to stay away and not be obtrusive. If its owner felt frightened, it knew to be on the alert. This level of communication allowed for not only coexistence to be possible but the amount of companionship that we feel today.
Nowadays, dogs are primarily used as family pets and are considered to be our friends. Most people no longer need them to hunt down game or herd cattle. Even so, people continue to seek the company of dogs due to our nurturing instincts and overwhelming desire for companionship. The communicative skill that they developed continues to establish their place in a world that has been overtaken by mankind.
dhall47 