Jonathan Franklin, author of “The Wolf in the Parlor,” has re-written the narrative about the long-time relationship between Man and Dog. Conventional wisdom has Man domesticating the Dog somewhere around 6,000 years ago. But Jon Franklin, through extensive research, has shown that Man didn’t really “domesticate” the Dog. Instead, approximately 12,000 years ago, Man and the Wolf evolved simultaneously into a partnership in which Dog (the evolved Wolf) took on the responsibility of guarding over Man, and Man accepted the responsibility for the care and feeding of Dog. At the same time — archeological records show — Man’s brain mass decreased by about 10% (because he didn’t have to guard the fort at night) and Dog’s brain mass decreased by about 20% (because he didn’t have to scavenge for food). It’s a fascinating story, well told. It truly explains the warm psychological bond between Man and Dog.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Books, Dog Bonding, Podcasts, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.