…Since, therefore, the history of dogs has many parallels to our own, it is worthwhile spending a little time on it in order to probe, perhaps, into our own future. The Canidae were derived- fairly recently, in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene epochs- from more primitive predators. Among the Canidae was the wolf, a species having much in common with early man, for each exhibited co-operative behavior when attacking its prey.
—François-Hubert Drouais (1727–1775)—click image for source…
Wolf and man were direct competitors, and this similarity of life style may have had much to do with their eventual union. It is believed that all modern dogs derive only from various subspecies of Canus lupus and that the association of wolf and man that led to dog happened again and again: American Indians frequently captured wolf cubs, either to amend their dog stock or to start afresh. This process of turning wolves into dogs was probably spurred on by considerable growth of forest at the end of the Ice Age, when man’s extreme inability to smell out his prey in that tangle of hiding places became a terrible disadvantage.
—
Vos, Joos Vincent de (1829-1875)
Acrobat dogs
Date: 1875
Movement: Romanticism—click image for source…
Anyway, the dog, a remarkable social invention, was the first domestic animal. Man’s new accomplice could be tamed, if caught early enough and reared in human company. It could hunt. It could herd animals. It could protect and give warning, although wild Canidae are not as given to protective barking as the tame varieties are.
—Looking into the matter further, defecating dogs seem to be a minor theme in Dutch art of Rembrandt’s period. …
The catalogue makes no comment on the meaning of the dog, but states that:
The defecating dog seems to derive from the work of Ludolf de Jongh (R.E. Fleischer, Ludolf de Jongh, Doornspijk, 1989, p.57 and fig.48).
Works by Ludolf de Jongh (1616-1679) are present in the Getty Collection and the Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. –click image for source…
However, a good forest dog is not necessarily suitable for open plains, or for herding semidomestic stocks, or for guarding encampments. Therefore, there had to be selective breeding for specific purposes. This is thought to have occurred primarily during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages, or a long time ago, between twenty thousand and ten thousand years ago, according to evolution theory. Recognizably different breeds of dog have been recovered from archaeological sites of that time, notably in more northern regions, and by the time the Mesolithic was yielding to the Neolithic there were hunting dogs, sheep dogs, and even toy dogs of the Maltese type. At least five major kinds lived with the early Egyptians: the basenji, the greyhound, the Maltese, the mastiff, and a sort of chow. ( to be continued)…
—Jan Steen, Children teaching a cat to dance, c. 1665–68 (Rijksmuseum)—
COMMENTS
