Dog Days (Emylee)

11/7/2024

Everyone knows the saying “dogs are man’s best friend.” This species became domesticated through interaction with humans between 27 and 40 thousand years ago. We basically fed them food and cultivated symbiotic relationships with them, joining them for hunting and other activities. Then, we began breeding them for desirable traits and keeping them as companions with a large appeal toward their cute appearance. How do you think the world would be today if we had never undergone this process and let natural selection and breeding run its course? Would we view dogs and other animals as more threatening and/or capable competitors, with their hierarchies still developing and their traits becoming more powerful? What do you think the next few eras would look like, if you are able to make an assumption based off of the facts of today and the researched trends in evolution (if you believe in it) after the last many thousands of years? The movie Isle of Dogs presents a unique narrative in which the government of Japan is flooding the public with “anti-dog propaganda”, secluding them on a desolate and gloomy island away from the rest of civilization due to fearful stereotypes of violence and dirtiness. While I think this is mostly a commentary on the political phenomenons observable in humans throughout history, I also think it is an intriguing topic for discussion. I think anything is possible, but barring the possibility of other living organisms developing speech and other types of culture beside us, do you think that humans will have a more shocking opposition against wild animals in the extremely far future? This could mean simply because of evolution that their predatory skills become more dangerous, or if you are more adventurous in your thinking, that civilizations separate from humans are projected to intermingle with our race. What is your stance on this “wild” subject?

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/did-another-advanced-species-exist-earth-humans-ncna869856

26 Comments

Brylee Ganske

11/10/2024 02:47:59 pm

I feel if we never went through the process of domesticating dogs all those years ago I don't think they would exist and they would just be the everyday wolves. Now with saying this they is the possibility that if the weren't ever domesticated there would probably be more breeds of wolves in some areas just because those few weren't domesticated and different traits could mix, there is also the possibility that they could have become more clever. Their is one last chance is that we could have never made it to where we are currently, I think this because having an animal able to help us hunt or protect us in the beginning was huge, so without them we could have just starved to death and or eaten by them or other animals before we got far enough in technology.

Chanci Phillips

11/10/2024 04:27:05 pm

I agree that without domestication of dogs or even other animals, earlier humans would not have survived. There would be wolves better adapted to the environment than just bred for looks.

Megan

11/10/2024 05:44:57 pm

You share a good point!

Daniel Davidson

11/10/2024 06:07:52 pm

I agree Brylee. Undomesticated dogs are just wolves. Wolves are the freeze frame snapshot of what happened in the evolution of those animals when humans didn’t interfere and breed them.

Emylee Perkins

11/10/2024 06:33:13 pm

I agree with the account you provided of wolves in various areas exhibiting unique traits that we haven't seen before. I also wonder what kinds of adaptations they would develop if a different course of domestication and history had occurred. I also think that wolves would have impacted our journey through discovering technology and making advancements for the lifestyle of humanity.

Kennedi Reagan

11/10/2024 07:41:22 pm

With them still being wolves though, I figure we would still try and domesticate them. And I also would like to ask, do you think the only purpose for dogs is to protect or hunt? I believe they hold a more emotional connection in our lives.

Mariah

11/10/2024 07:53:08 pm

I agree that even though humans are the "superior" creature and we are definitely much more intelligent than other species, I think we would have struggled a lot more without dogs. They definitely helped us hunt and they protected us when humans weren't quite as civilized, and I think they were one of our biggest assets.

Chanci Phillips

11/10/2024 04:24:55 pm

I think that no matter what, humans would have domesticated dogs because we are curious beings and can’t keep to our own business. If they hadn’t become companions, I do think they would be kept as a food source or considered as pests, like coyotes. These animals would probably be hunted to near extinction because of our lack of care for this world and I think life would be very bleak without animals such as dogs. Overall, I can’t imagine a world where humans would ever lower themselves to live equally with the rest of the living creatures because of our “superior” ways.

Megan

11/10/2024 05:44:12 pm

I agree with you!

Daniel Davidson

11/10/2024 06:10:14 pm

That’s a neat and perceptive perspective. Humans do seem the kind to have the taming of animals in the nature. If humans thousands of years ago were doing it, and we’re still doing it today, that seems to be pretty clearly a staple of human living.

Abbigail Williams

11/10/2024 07:53:45 pm

I agree with you 100% knowing that people like to go hunt wolves and coyotes, I think that if we would not have domesticated dogs than people would do the same to them as they do the coyotes or wolves.

Deanda Lamping

11/10/2024 09:35:31 pm

I fully agree

Brylee Ganske

11/11/2024 02:52:47 pm

I agree we are very curious as a society and would have domesticated animals.

Megan

11/10/2024 05:43:35 pm

I think the devopment of wolves and other species are all related to house dogs as well as a few of their traits. I think some related animals from the wolf are adapted to human nature and become house pets. However, some popular videos online show how having pet dogs differ from having a pet wolf, showing the different generations of wolves and dogs that take part in every day life for humans.

Abbigail Williams

11/10/2024 07:55:44 pm

I get where you are coming from! Great example Megan! I know people who have pet coyotes and they say it can be a little scary because they act different than a pet dog!

Daniel Davidson

11/10/2024 06:11:46 pm

I don’t believe that dogs would ever become a form of civilization beyond pack hunters. Although, undomesticated in such large numbers, I agree that they could prove to be a threat of some sort. Maybe we would view them as a pest. A scary one. Like how some cultures in the mountains, few black bears. Or the people in the Congo view snakes.

Emylee Perkins

11/10/2024 06:31:07 pm

I like how you mentioned that different cultures fuel our perception of wolves. Often, we think of wolves as predators and the villain in fairy tales. This is just like how in Africa and other places, snakes are seen as a huge threat and can be used for figurative illustrations of concepts such as poison and temptation.

Kennedi Reagan

11/10/2024 07:44:16 pm

I believe that we could still tame “pests” to become pets. I think we fear too much and, though all animals can cause harm, it’s a matter of respect and care.

Deanda Lamping

11/10/2024 09:37:06 pm

Interesting point, never would have thought of it that way.

Chanci Phillips

11/11/2024 12:33:52 pm

I agree that they could impose as a threat if not regulated.

Brylee Ganske

11/11/2024 03:02:05 pm

I definitely read that as "I don't believe in dogs" but after rereading I agree that they would've never become of pack hunters.

Kennedi Reagan

11/10/2024 07:39:16 pm

I guess I’m a little confused on what the questions are asking, but what I think was asked was “what would our world think about dogs without them being domesticated” and “what animals do we judge and fear because they are wild”. To answer the first one, I truly think that we as a human race would not have close connections with many animals, which I know sounds kind of stupid, but think about it! Man’s best friend, pet of all pets! We have to explore to know what kind things we can trust and respect. So that leads to the next question, what about other animals? Do we wrongly fear them? I personally had a fantastic couple years with a house sparrow, not your usual pet. I found that this bird was incredibly smart and cared for its owner very much. He wouldn’t leave me and was the cutest bird to me. I think animals have such a strong affect on people and softens our hearts. I believe we threaten each other, but it all depends on how we look at each other.

Mariah

11/10/2024 07:50:47 pm

I often wonder the same thing, if we could domesticate other animals but we wrongly fear them. For example, it has always been a desire of mine to own a raccoon, but people tend to believe that they wreak too much havoc, have rabies, and are too wild. This is definitely true, but it we domesticated them the same way we did with dogs and cats, they wouldn't be that way!

Mariah

11/10/2024 07:48:58 pm

The world would certainly be different without the domestication of dogs. For one, we wouldn't have the use of service dogs or emotional support dogs which can greatly help people out with disabilities or mental struggles. Besides this, however, our geography, along with other animal population, would be different as well. There is a unit in the AP Environmental Science class that outlines how the population of wolves affects the amount of other animals, such as deer and elk (because they are prey to wolves), therefore affecting the abundance of grass, bushes, trees, and other plants. The lack or increase of these roots then affect how loose the soil is which can cause rivers to start flowing other directions. If we hadn't domesticated dogs, there would probably be more wolves. Based off the research of this study that I explained, the geography of our rivers would be different because of the population of wolves.

Abbigail Williams

11/10/2024 07:50:55 pm

I feel that if humans had not domesticated dogs long ago then they would not be around now. I think they would have became more of a wild animal and not so much a pet. Now we use them as a partner or sometimes even more. We rely on dogs and they rely on us as well. Without dogs my life would definitely be different just because I have grown up around animals. I feel like most other people can agree with that.

Deanda Lamping

11/10/2024 09:34:27 pm

If we hadn't domesticated dogs to be our companion it would be a sad sad world. On another note, dogs like any animal, would revert back to their primal ways if given the chance. I don't think people would resist making friends with animals, especially dogs, we need animals in the same way they need us. I think it was the one smart move us humans did, was make these animals our companion. There will hopefully always be a shared contribution between the two species. They improve our quality of life and we improve their's, hopefully.

Dog Days (Emylee)

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories