Sociology of Dogs

By Attila Márton

SEEKING THE ROOTS

DO NOT FEEL PUZZLED IF THE WORD IN THIS TITLE DOES NOT RING ANY BELLS. DON’T RUSH TO LOOK UP THE MEANING AND DON’T BOTHER TO GOOGLE IT. HONESTLY, RELAX. THIS WORD HAS NEVER EXISTED AND THAT IS THE SOLE REASON I FELT IT IS HIGH TIME I WRITE ABOUT IT.

Anyone who is connected to the world of dogs and loves to learn new facts on the topic is pretty likely to know the term ‘domestication’. The word itself originates from the Latin word ‘domesticus’, which means ‘belonging to the house’.
The process of domestication does not refer exclusively to dogs; moreover it also involves plants besides animals. The ex- planation behind why the human race invited other species to ‘be- long to the house’ was very likely about making human life easier. Thousands of years ago human society and man’s everyday rou- tine was totally different from that of today. Hunting animals and gathering plants was a major task for daily survival. It was a good idea to try different things to make life easier. This included experimenting with bringing prey into the household instead of going out all the time, depending on luck, and facing risk.

To keep food at home this way—whether animal or plant— had many advantages. During the early days of man, nature dominated the globe and humanity had not yet conquered our planet. Domestication of animals saved our ancestors time, en- ergy and, in some cases, their own lives. They did not need to go out hunting and gathering as often, which took much of the jeopardy out of becoming hunted by predators or returning home without sufficient food for the whole colony. That was most likely the motive behind the idea of bringing wildlife into the household instead of going ‘out’ all the time. We still breed and keep these domesticated farm animals and grow domesticated plants for everyday consumption. In contrast to thousands of years ago, not every- one is a farmer today. However, we can pop into the stores, malls or restaurants for food or supplies. We can even order online to fulfill our most basic need to eat. Moreover, it is very likely that there is one correlation between ancient people beginning to settle down and give up the nomadic lifestyle: domestication.

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Posted by Alex on Jun 17 2016. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.