Imagine you are all worn out from a long day at work. The first thing you see as you walk into your house is an animal with an uncontrollably wagging tail coming at you and melting away all your stress. Whether or not you have a pet in your house, you can tell with absolute confidence that it is a dog that I am talking about. In fact, this distinctly friendly characteristic is so closely associated with dogs that it is almost impossible to think of a more friendly species.
Before I explain why dogs are such lovable and trustworthy friends of humans, it is important to trace back to the very first interaction between these two species. According to the American Kennel Club, there are about 193 dog breeds in the world (‘Breeds by Year Recognized’) and each breed has very distinct features, characteristics, and behaviors: Pugs are adored for their wrinkly faces and short snouts, Golden Retrievers make you want to dig your hand in their cream-colored wavy hair and Corgis give you an irresistible temptation to squeeze their chubby cute-looking butts. Still, if their lineages are traced back far enough, all dogs are descendants of ancient wild wolves. While the time and place where the ‘destined’ friendship between dogs and humans was struck up are not yet pinpointed, by studying wolves’ fossils and DNA, scientists estimate that their lineages split from their wolf ancestors at least 12,000 years ago in Asia and Europe. After that, Eastern wolves followed humans to the West and became the dominant ancestors of our canine companions (McAlpine, ‘Did We Domesticate Dogs, or Did Dogs Domesticate Us?’). It is also intriguing to note that it is still a topic of debate whether humans domesticated dogs or dogs domesticated themselves. Scientists supporting the latter repudiated the theory that humans somehow captured wolf pups and raised them as pets. Instead, they hypothesized that wolves established mutually beneficial relationships with hunter-gatherers. They helped prehistoric humans kill large prey or scavenged dead animals in the proximity of human settlements or kill sites. ‘Survival of the friendliest’, as this theory is called, suggests that some of them were less anxious and aggressive towards humans, thus coming to close contact with them, settling in human-dominated environments and developing stronger bonds generation after generation (Handwerk, ‘How Accurate Is Alpha’s Theory of Dog Domestication’).
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During the self-domestication process, wolves not only became increasingly friendlier towards humans but they also went through other major behavioral changes. One of them is the diminishing ability to work collaboratively with fellow wolves. In an experiment, different pairs of dogs and wolves were presented with trays of food, each of which was attached to a pair of ropes. The only way they could get the food was having each one of a pair pulling on a different rope simultaneously. Results showed that the pairs of wolves succeeded 100 out of 416 attempts while the pairs of dogs managed to get the food twice (Pennisi, ‘Why Wolves Are Better Team Players than Dogs’). Another remarkable change is that dogs have evolved to avoid conflict. In other words, they tend not to deal with problems hastily and impulsively. In a similar experiment, researchers presented dogs and wolves with unsolvable problems to observe their reactions. While the wolves dealt with the problems by immediately trying different strategies, mostly using physical force, dogs behaved completely differently: they turned to their human companions for guidance or help (Daley, ‘Why Wolves Work Together While Wild Dogs Do Not’). This observation also tells us that dogs have developed an ability to understand and respond to human social cues. Indeed, imagine your dog runs into your bedroom, asking for a cuddle while you are working against the clock to meet your English homework deadline. Without saying a word, you coldly point your finger towards the open door. The most likely chains of reactions of your dog are being taken aback, bewildered and acceptingly walking out of the door. Why is it able to pick up your ‘now-is-not-the-time’ signal and walk away right in the direction where your finger points? The explanation is that dogs, over the course of self-domestication, developed substantial proficiency in reading and interpreting human communicative behavior. Researchers tested this assumption by setting up opaque containers with food or attractive objects hidden inside one of them and looking at or pointing towards that container to see if the test subjects successfully located the hidden objects. Surprisingly, even chimpanzees, a species that is famously proficient at solving social problems, were much less skilled than dogs in tackling the same test (Brian, 137–159).
It is equally important to also look at the friendliness of dogs from a genetics perspective. ‘Hypersocial’ is the word researchers use to describe the behavioral trait of dogs compared to that of wolves. Even if dogs and wolves are hand-raised in the same environment, dogs prove to be more comfortable interacting with humans, including strangers, and may spend more time doing it. Surprisingly, the underlying reason for this can be found in people with the Williams-Beuren syndrome, a disorder that affects a person’s mental functioning and physical appearance, but can also make them extremely friendly and desirous of social interaction. The cause of this syndrome lies in the deletion of genes GTF2I and GTF2IRD1, variants of which were found in hypersocial dogs in a study carried out by Bridgett von Holdt of Princeton University and her colleagues (Arnold, ‘Why Are Dogs So Friendly? Science Finally Has an Answer’).
However, are these genetic variants responsible for a crucial characteristic of dogs – a strong need for physical interaction with humans – in particular, cuddling? To answer this, again, we have to go back tens of thousands of years ago, when blankets were not readily available for humans to cover themselves when the weather got chilly. Besides assisting humans in hunting and warding off predators, the ancestors of our four-legged friends snuggled with humans to keep one another warm. If you ever heard of the term ‘three dog night’, you might imagine a night so cold that a person had to cuddle three dogs in order to keep themself from death. Besides, cuddling is also a way dogs express their affection, which is pivotal in bonding with their human friends. Attila Andics, the author of a canine neuroimaging study – i.e., research about dog brains – said that “Bonding with owners is much more important for dogs than other pets” (‘Voice-Sensitive Regions in the Dog and Human Brain Are Revealed by Comparative fMRI’). This study also revealed that the way dogs interact with their owners is similar to the way babies interact with their parents. While other pets, such as cats or horses, tend to run away at the sign of danger, dogs make a beeline for their owners when they are scared or nervous. This is exactly what a distressed baby will do instinctively with their parents. It is also interesting to note that apart from primates, dogs are the only species that look people in the eye. Whether dogs do this when they expect their owners to throw them a piece of food or give them guidance in a particular situation, a certain amount of oxytocin, a hormone that creates a feeling of happiness, is released into the bloodstream (Mark, ‘Why Does My Dog Stare and Look into My Eyes?’). This means that dogs already feel happy by staring at their owners.
In conclusion, if you are about to brag about your 10-year friendship with your BFF, your dog may embarrass you with the story of his friendship with humans that lasted for tens of thousands of years and generation after generation. They have met, lived, fought, changed, and survived the roughest days side by side. The purpose of all the pieces of information I just provided you with is not only to give you a deeper insight into dogs, but it also serves as a reminder for you to never take for granted the slightest gestures of your dogs because in a dog’s world, happiness is as simple as an exchange of look with his best friend.
References
- American Kennel Club. ‘Breeds by Year Recognized’, 2019. https://www.akc.org/press-center/facts-and-stats/breeds-year-recognized/
- Lauren McAlpine. 'Did We Domesticate Dogs, or Did Dogs Domesticate Us?'. https://ed.ted.com/featured/BgazrKXt
- Brian Handwerk. ‘How Accurate Is Alpha’s Theory of Dog Domestication?’, Aug. 15, 2018 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/
- Elizabeth Pennisi. ‘Why Wolves Are Better Team Players than Dogs’, Oct. 16, 2017 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/10/why-wolves-are-better-team-players-dogs
- Jason Daley. ‘Why Wolves Work Together While Wild Dogs Do Not’, Oct 19, 2017 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wolves-out-score-wild-dogs-when-it-comes-cooperation-180965293/
- Hare Brian. 'Communication of Food Location Between Human and Dog (Canis familiaris) (1998).
- Carrie Arnold. ‘Why Are Dogs So Friendly? Science Finally Has an Answer’, Jul 19, 2017 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/07/dogs-breeds-pets-wolves-evolution/
- Attila Andics. ‘Voice-Sensitive Regions in the Dog and Human Brain Are Revealed by Comparative fMRI’ (2014).
- Dr Mark. ‘Why Does My Dog Stare and Look Into My Eyes?’, May 29, 2019 https://pethelpful.com/dogs/My-Dog-and-My-Eyes
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