A few weeks ago, I
blogged about how my cat is loving life during the pandemic as it means more of me-at-home-time. I thought I'd follow that blog up with a look at (wo)man's other best friend: dogs. Unfortunately, Gertie won't allow me to get a dog, so I've had to phone a few friends to see how their animals are adjusting to our new stay-at-home lifestyle.
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| Disco Lady and Roxie hard at work keeping the HMS Florida Arches database up and running! |
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Fonzie is always ready for some moral boosting. And belly rubs.
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| Reese keeps trying to take lead on our Zoom staff meetings, but she still hasn't quite figured the camera and microphone settings. |
Dogs have been (wo)man's best friend for thousands of years. The earliest archaeological specimen of a
Canis lupus familiaris is a jaw bone from the Bonn-Oberkassel site in Germany dating to around 14,700 years ago. However, some researchers estimate dogs were domesticated as early as 20,000-40,000 years ago. Our domesticated canines are descendants of wolves and are even still considered a subspecies of the grey wold today (
Canis lupus).
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Burial of a dog from the Koster Site in Illinois - one of the earliest known dogs in the US, dating to about 10,000 years ago. From Netburn 2018.
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Dogs are among the only domesticated animals we know of in pre-contact America - and the only in Florida until the Europeans arrive! The earliest dog remains are around 10,000 years old, found at a site in Illinois, and we have evidence of dogs in Florida for at least 8,000 years. Dog-related artifacts in Florida include not only dog burials, but tools and art made from their remains, as well as representations of the animals made from clay and wood. The earliest pups came with the first people who populated the new world and are most closely related to dogs found in Siberia. During colonial times, Europeans also brought dogs to the new world. In fact, genetic evidence suggests that modern dog communities in the United States are more closely related to those brought by the Europeans. This suggests that the population of dogs living with Native Americans for millennia disappeared during the colonial times.
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Toy dog figurine from a late 18th/early 19th century trash pit in downtown St. Augustine. From the City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program.
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People could have chosen to domesticate dogs for any number of reasons: hunting skills, companionship, removing them as predators or rivals. But the thing that is most remarkable about them is how they've changed from their wolf ancestors into an animal that bonds with us, relies on us, and even uses us to help them solve problems! They are able to pick up on social cues from humans, including being one of the only animal that understands pointing (something Gertie will apparently never master, but it won't be from my lack of trying!). So keep those pups close in these crazy times!
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Reese's understanding of human cues and needs has also recently expanded to leading yoga classes to help reduce stress.
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