I’ve heard it said that without the dog, man could never have undergone the transition from scavenging or hunting to herding, and then from herding to large-scale agriculture. That was because the dog has made himself useful to man, not as a tool, a means of locomotion, or a direct supplier of food, but as a comrade, a cooperator. The domesticated dog was able to pick off young and healthy specimens of the large animals from their herds — the wild oxen in Europe, and rams, goats, horses, and so on — without which there could be no herds, and no large domesticated draught animals for pulling the plow. The man and his dog learned to work together at a common enterprise — or common enterprises, because the intelligent dog could be bred for all kinds of tasks, such as herding, tracking, birding, watching, retrieving, and so on. They say it’s been about 40,000 years since the domestication of the dog. By now, the dog is the only creature on earth whose inborn directives are by nature oriented towards man. We can tell it is so, can’t we? I mean this in no sentimental way. The dog by nature considers himself as part of the human pack.
Anthony Esolen, whose post also includes a pic of himself and Jasper the Wonder Dog.
Reminds me of something Maurice Maeterlinck said:
We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us.