By Tim Lambert
Early Dogs
Dogs are man’s best friends. Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated, and they have been companions and helpers ever since.
About 40,000 years ago, wolves began to live with humans. At that time, people were hunter-gatherers. Some wolves may have gone to their camps looking for scraps. In time, they began to assist humans in hunting. Eventually, people began to breed types of dogs for certain purposes.
In Ancient Egypt dogs were used for hunting. They were also watch dogs. However, dogs were also family pets. Some dogs were mummified when they died and were buried with their owners.
In Ancient Greece too, dogs were companions and they were used for hunting. In the epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus owns a dog called Argos. When Odysseus returns from his adventures Argos recognises him and wags his tail. In Greek mythology Cerberus was a huge three headed dog who guarded the underworld. He prevented the dead from escaping.
Dogs were common in Rome. A famous mosaic from Pompeii shows a dog with the words cave canem (beware of the dog). Dogs were used for hunting and as watchdogs but they were also pets.
The Anglo-Saxons also had dogs. They were working animals used for hunting and herding but no doubt they were also pets. In the Middle Ages too, dogs were kept for hunting and as watchdogs. However, they were also kept as pets, especially by the wealthy and nuns.
Modern Dogs
In 1545, Henry VIII’s warship Mary Rose, sank near Portsmouth. When the wreck was excavated in the 1970s, the skeleton of a dog was found. He was a type of terrier, and the Mary Rose Museum named him Hatch.
Only one dog is named by Shakespeare, Crab in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
In the 18th century Dachshunds were bred in Germany to run down burrows and hunt badgers. German shepherds were bred in the late 19th century.
People have always given dogs scraps, of course but modern dog biscuits were invented in 1860 by James Spratt. In 1907 Carleton Ellis started making dog biscuits in the shape of bones.
In the 19th century many new breeds of dog were created by selective breeding. The first Crufts Dogs Show was held in 1891. It was organised by Charles Cruft.
Police dogs were first used in Belgium in 1899. In the USA police dogs were first used in 1907, and in Britain, they were first used to patrol docks in 1908.
There is evidence that since Roman Times dogs have been used to guide blind people. However, the modern guide dog movement began in Germany during the First World War when many men were blinded by gas. In 1916 Gerhard Stalling opened a school to train guide dogs.
In the USA a woman named Dorothy Eustis trained a guide dog called Buddy. He guided a man named Morris Frank. In Britain, two women Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond, trained four guide dogs in 1931. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was founded in 1934. In Britain Hearing Dogs for the Deaf was founded in 1982.
Dogs are also used for therapy. In 1796 the York Retreat opened. It was a new, humane asylum. It had domestic animals as it was realised that they could calm patients. In the 1850s the famous nurse Florence Nightingale wrote that pets had a therapeutic effect on patients. However therapy dogs were first formally used in the 1950s by a child psychologist called Boris Levinson. In 1962 he wrote an article ‘The Dog as ‘Co-therapist’. In the early 21st century therapy dogs became common in hospitals.
Dogs can also detect cancer using their very acute sense of smell. Dogs can also be trained to detect when their owner is about to have a seizure.
Dogs have also served in war since Ancient Times. During the First World War dogs were used to carry messages. The US Army officially formed a K-9 unit in 1942.
There have been many cartoon dogs. Disney created Pluto in 1930 and Goofy in 1932 (Goofy was originally called Dippy Dawg). Snoopy was created by Charles M. Schulz in 1950. Scooby Doo was created in 1969 by Hannah-Barbera.
Today it’s estimated that 13 million dogs live in the UK. There are about 90 million dogs in the USA. Over 1 billion dogs live in the world. Dogs are the world’s most popular pet.
Lastly, 26 August is National Dog Day.