Do Our DOGS Really LOVE Us?

pantom · March 1, 2003, 3:45am

Well, I did a google on dog evolution and did come up with one article citing a study that came up with a date of 135000 years ago. Needless to say, this is controversial:

A comparison of wolf and dog sequences indicated that the earliest dogs may had been domesticated about 135 000 years ago. The actual number may be smaller, as mtDNA sequences can have very uneven rates of change. The date contradicts archaeological evidence that has suggests dogs were domesticated about 14 000 years ago. It has been pointed out that early dogs most likely resembled wolves morphologically, so very old dog fossils have most likely been identified as wolf fossils (Wayne, 1997).
The 135 000 year date has been questioned by many wolf biologists and molecular geneticists (i.e. see Federoff and Nowak, 1997).  Since mtDNA sequences do have high rates of change, the estimate that dogs may have been domesticated over 100 000 years ago may be very inaccurate.  Also, the rate of mtDNA change between dogs and wolves may differ greatly from the rate of mtDNA change between wolves and coyotes because dogs breed twice a year and wolves and coyotes can only breed once.  It has also been pointed out that the early human societies that existed 100 000 years ago may have been unable to keep dogs separate from wolves. 

Full article here:
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jzgurski/dog.htm

Mothchunks · March 1, 2003, 3:56pm

who are we to assume that man is the only species capable of real love?

Captain_Amazing · March 1, 2003, 4:01pm

Well, what is love? I think we need to define that.

Slip_Mahoney · March 1, 2003, 4:43pm

So, Cro-Magnon had dogs and the Neanderthals didn’t? I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is, I’m compelled to ask why.

My understanding is that Cro-Magnon won the evolutionary race due to their higher technology.

CrazyCatLady · March 1, 2003, 4:47pm

Of course our dogs love us. Haven’t you ever seen a dog pick one special person out of a household? Everybody feeds, pets, and takes care of the dog, but there’s that one person who the dog waits for, and snuggles with, and so on, more than anyone else.

The dog my parents have now was my dog when I lived at home. Actually, it was more like I was her girl. Mom fed her and let her in and out 500 times a day, and Dad gave her treats and shared his dinner with her. She played with them some, but she’d leave them mid-pettting when she heard my feet hit the floor upstairs or my footsteps coming to the door. The summer I was gone for a month, she refused to have anything to do with my parents. She just lay under a table and pretty much quit eating. Now she sulks when I visit and bring my pets with me.

Other dogs took up with my brother and ignored the rest of us. Others latched on to Dad. Dr.J’s cat wallows all over him and only occasionally acknowledges me, even though I’m the one who feeds her, gives her treats, brings her toys, and cleans her litterbox.

There’s no advantage for an animal make that sort of difference among the people who take care of it, and indeed it seems counterproductive to lavish attention, cuteness, and protection on anyone but the person who feeds you. Animals do it all the time, though, so I can only conclude that they truly do love us.