History of Dogs As Pets

Today's domesticated dogs are popular companions for humans, but their ancestry dates back to wolves thousands of years. The history of the human-canine relationship began when wolves first wandered onto human territory around 10,000 B.C. They continue to be popular pets, possessing many of the same traits as their wild ancestors.

  1. First Contact

    • Wolves' natural sociability and pack behavior made them ideal for domestication and human companionship, according to the Animal Freedom Foundation. Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, humans and wolves first made contact with each other when wolves entered villages looking for food. Humans used wolves as protection from wild animals and as herd animals, feeding them and, over time, domesticating them.

    Ancient Dogs

    • Ancient civilizations are known to have kept dogs as pets, according to the BBC. The ancient Romans and Greeks bred dogs such as the bloodhound, greyhound and mastiff, and the Romans had a dog deity named Procyon. The BBC also states that ancient Egyptian tombs have drawings of a domesticated dog called the Saluki as far back as 2,100 B.C.

    Medieval Dogs

    • In the Middle Ages, having a pet dog was considered a sign of high status, and people began keeping and breeding dogs, according to the Animal Freedom Foundation. Medieval hunters also took dogs hunting with them. As R. Swinney explains in "Medieval Hunting in Modern Times," dogs scared off unwanted prey and took turns chasing game until the target stopped and turned to fight the dog, at which point hunters would release their arrows.

    Dalmatians in the 1800s

    • In the 1800s, people trained Dalmatians as carriage dogs, teaching them to run alongside horse-drawn carriages to protect the horses from dogs that might spook them, as the BBC explains. When fire departments trained Dalmatians for similar purposes, the Dalmatian was made the fire department's mascot.

    Today

    • Today's domesticated dogs still show traits of their ancient wolf forefathers. Just as the first pet dogs guarded villages and hunters from wild animal attacks, modern watch dogs bark to alert their owners to approaching strangers. They also have become a part of the United States' presidential household, as several presidents have made their dogs famous, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt's terrier Fala, Lyndon B. Johnson's dogs Him and Her, Bill Clinton's dog Buddy, George W. Bush's dogs Barney and Spotty, and the Obama family's dog Bo.