Dogs 'entering new phase of domestication'
Ever since man first domesticated wolves, dogs have been used for guarding and herding, search and rescue, and also as companions.
Canine domestication dates back around 40,000 years. The first wave of domestication began when humans lived as hunters and foragers, and often left food waste on the outskirts of their settlements. Pic:But scientists have recently discovered that dogs are entering a third wave of domestication and it's all driven by our desire to have pets who are calm, and gentle and enjoy our increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
Just a few decades ago dogs were primarily used to guard livestock and homes and mostly lived outside, but now all of that has changed and people are now referring to their pets as 'fur babies'.
The need for a dog to have a 'herding' or 'guarding' instinct has been slowly changing, as this instinct would make life difficult for a pet to handle domestic situations or even just simply interacting with other dogs in their neighbourhood. Pic: Getty Images
Companionship has now become the most important thing for us humans to have with our pets and scientists have found that this shift has increased the levels of Oxytocin in our pets, a hormone responsible for social bonding in dogs, especially service dogs.
The study, conducted by researchers at Sweden's Linköping University in 2017, investigated how dogs developed their unique ability to work together with humans, including their willingness to 'ask for help' when faced with difficult situations.
Researchers observed 60 Golden Retrievers as they attempted to open a jar of treats by lifting the lid, which was intentionally made impossible to open.
They then took DNA swabs from inside the dogs' noses to determine their levels of Oxytocin.
The dogs performed this task twice, once after receiving an oxytocin nasal spray and once after a spray of saline. The study found that the dogs who reacted strongly to the oxytocin were much more likely to turn to their owners and 'ask for help' in opening the jar of treats.
In other words, a dog's social skills are partially ingrained in their genetics, specifically in the genes that control their sensitivity to oxytocin.
The team also timed the dogs to see how long it would take before they would give up the task and turn to their owners to 'ask for help'.
These findings offer new insight into how domestication has altered the genes that influence dogs' social skills.
The research has concluded that dogs' behavioural traits are undergoing a third wave of domestication and that the role our pets play in our lives has moved from worker to almost totally companion animal, and that this in turn has altered their actual biology.
Dog behavioural scientists have concluded that for the happiness of dogs and their owners, humans need to train more dogs like service animals, embarking on a new wave of dog domestication to 'help them fit into the new world we have created,'
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