We’ve Always Had Dogs

Life has been crazy and draining recently. My favorite thing about my day really is coming home to dogs who are excited to see me. I honestly love that they jump on the back of the couch and crowd each other to get my attention. Larry places his little paws on either side of neck to try and block Junebug out. She uses her stockier stature to just knock him off the couch. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

But because life is so hectic, I haven’t had much time to think about what I want to write here. So today I’m brining you some science.

With the recent discovery of a 33,000 year old domesticated dog skull in Siberia, scientists are now considering that humans repeatedly domesticated dogs over the course of years and geography. It’s possible that not all dogs have a common ancestor.

I know that doesn’t seem like it should be super surprising news, based on how different modern breeds can be from each other, but scientifically, the evidence is new.

But regardless of the genetic findings, I think this is my quote from Greg Hodgins, one of the co-authors of the study:

The dogs are not necessarily providing products or meat. They are probably providing protection, companionship and perhaps helping on the hunt. And it’s really interesting that this appears to have happened first out of all human relationships with animals.

As a species, before we domesticated animals for food or as beasts of burden, we were welcoming canines into our homes for purposes of protection and companionship, and maybe hunting. The exact same reasons we welcome them in to our homes now.

Some relationships really were just meant to be.