When did dogs start living inside? (The answer may differ by region or country.) I see many anecdotal stories of dogs living in the house/apartment as far back as the 40’s, but nothing concrete. Can anyone shed any light on that? Also, why were dogs brought in? Was there a mindset shift or some other cultural phenomenon? Thanks.
Off the top of my head
Which Chinese emperor popularized sleeve dogs and chows?
Weren’t Chihuahuas originally bred to live indoors and catch mice?
So when is a few thousand years ago.
Several hundred years ago, farm families had only one building, and the people and livestock all lived in it. The cows and pigs downstairs and the people upstairs. This was probably the case throughout the history of animal husbandry, so the first domesticated dogs snuggled right in there with everybody else.
Furthermore, dogs were domesticated before humans developed structured site-built houses.
In other words, dogs living indoors is as old as human habitation.
see: longhouse. Animals lived inside since at least the medieval era, but probably earlier than that.
Just to confirm what I’m reading, are you saying that the animals lived inside a structure (ie longhouse) or that they co-habitated inside the same structure as humans?
Yes. Though it has probably never been particularly unusual for family pets to live outside either, in general in pre-modern European societies it was normal for animals to share households with owners. The poorer you were ( with less land and resources to build multiple dwellings ), the more common it would have been. Kennels were for the wealthy that might keep dozens or hundreds of hunting dogs and the like. Though even then favored pets would still often have the run of some local magnate’s castle, sleep on his bed and eat at his feet*.
- Yes, fleas were pretty damn common on people back then.