Our Oldest Companions
Our Oldest Companions

Author: Pat Shipman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2021-10-19

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0674971930

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How did the dog become manÕs best friend? A celebrated anthropologist unearths the mysterious origins of the unique partnership that rewrote the history of both species. Dogs and humans have been inseparable for more than 40,000 years. The relationship has proved to be a pivotal development in our evolutionary history. The same is also true for our canine friends; our connection with them has had much to do with their essential nature and survival. How and why did humans and dogs find their futures together, and how have these close companions (literally) shaped each other? Award-winning anthropologist Pat Shipman finds answers in prehistory and the present day. In Our Oldest Companions, Shipman untangles the genetic and archaeological evidence of the first dogs. She follows the trail of the wolf-dog, neither prehistoric wolf nor modern dog, whose bones offer tantalizing clues about the earliest stages of domestication. She considers the enigma of the dingo, not quite domesticated yet not entirely wild, who has lived intimately with humans for thousands of years while actively resisting control or training. Shipman tells how scientists are shedding new light on the origins of the unique relationship between our two species, revealing how deep bonds formed between humans and canines as our guardians, playmates, shepherds, and hunters. Along the journey together, dogs have changed physically, behaviorally, and emotionally, as humans too have been transformed. DogsÕ labor dramatically expanded the range of human capability, altering our diets and habitats and contributing to our very survival. Shipman proves that we cannot understand our own history as a species without recognizing the central role that dogs have played in it.

Our Oldest Companions
Our Oldest Companions

Author: Pat Shipman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0674269934

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How did the dog become man’s best friend? A celebrated anthropologist unearths the mysterious origins of the unique partnership that rewrote the history of both species. Dogs and humans have been inseparable for more than 40,000 years. The relationship has proved to be a pivotal development in our evolutionary history. The same is also true for our canine friends; our connection with them has had much to do with their essential nature and survival. How and why did humans and dogs find their futures together, and how have these close companions (literally) shaped each other? Award-winning anthropologist Pat Shipman finds answers in prehistory and the present day. In Our Oldest Companions, Shipman untangles the genetic and archaeological evidence of the first dogs. She follows the trail of the wolf-dog, neither prehistoric wolf nor modern dog, whose bones offer tantalizing clues about the earliest stages of domestication. She considers the enigma of the dingo, not quite domesticated yet not entirely wild, who has lived intimately with humans for thousands of years while actively resisting control or training. Shipman tells how scientists are shedding new light on the origins of the unique relationship between our two species, revealing how deep bonds formed between humans and canines as our guardians, playmates, shepherds, and hunters. Along the journey together, dogs have changed physically, behaviorally, and emotionally, as humans too have been transformed. Dogs’ labor dramatically expanded the range of human capability, altering our diets and habitats and contributing to our very survival. Shipman proves that we cannot understand our own history as a species without recognizing the central role that dogs have played in it.

The Invaders
The Invaders

Author: Pat Shipman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2015-03-10

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 0674736761

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A Times Higher Education Book of the Week Approximately 200,000 years ago, as modern humans began to radiate out from their evolutionary birthplace in Africa, Neanderthals were already thriving in Europe—descendants of a much earlier migration of the African genus Homo. But when modern humans eventually made their way to Europe 45,000 years ago, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Ever since the first Neanderthal bones were identified in 1856, scientists have been vexed by the question, why did modern humans survive while their closest known relatives went extinct? “Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins.” —Toby Lester, Wall Street Journal “Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman—and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves.” —Daniel Cressey, Nature

How the Dog Became the Dog
How the Dog Became the Dog

Author: Mark Derr

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2011-10-27

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1590209915

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This “informative account” of canine evolution will “appeal to dog lovers with a curiosity about the origins of their favorite companion.” (Publishers Weekly) Many have made the case that dogs have evolved from wolves but the evolutionary link between wolves and dogs remains a mystery. In How the Dog Became the Dog, Mark Derr posits that the dog’s evolution from wolf was inevitable due to the mutually beneficial nature of the relationship between wolves and hunter-gatherer humans. How the Dog Became the Dog presents the domestication of the dog as a biological and cultural process that began with a reciprocal cooperation between dogwolves and humans that evolved over time, from the first dogs that took refuge with humans against the cold at the end of the last Ice Age, to the 18th century, when humans began to exercise full control of dog reproduction, life, and death, through centuries of natural and artificial selection that led us to the many breeds of dogs we know and love today. “A transporting slice of dog/wolf thinking that will pique the interest of anyone with a dog in their orbit.” —Kirkus Reviews

Love Heels
Love Heels

Author: Patricia Dibsie

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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Describes the process of training Canine Companions for Independence service dogs from breeding and puppyhood to graduation and presents intimate portraits of the relationships between individual dogs and the partners they serve.

The Forever Dog
The Forever Dog

Author: Rodney Habib

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0063002620

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#1 New York Times Bestseller In this pathbreaking guide, two of the world’s most popular and trusted pet care advocates reveal new science to teach us how to delay aging and provide a long, happy, healthy life for our canine companions. Like their human counterparts, dogs have been getting sicker and dying prematurely over the past few decades. Why? Scientists are beginning to understand that the chronic diseases afflicting humans—cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration, and autoimmune disorders—also beset canines. As a result, our beloved companions are vexed with preventable health problems throughout much of their lives and suffer shorter life spans. Because our pets can’t make health and lifestyle decisions for themselves, it’s up to pet parents to make smart, science-backed choices for lasting vitality and health. The Forever Dog gives us the practical, proven tools to protect our loyal four-legged companions. Rodney Habib and Karen Becker, DVM, globetrotted (pre-pandemic) to galvanize the best wisdom from top geneticists, microbiologists, and longevity researchers; they also interviewed people whose dogs have lived into their 20s and even 30s. The result is this unprecedented and comprehensive guide, filled with surprising information, invaluable advice, and inspiring stories about dogs and the people who love them. The Forever Dog prescriptive plan focuses on diet and nutrition, movement, environmental exposures, and stress reduction, and can be tailored to the genetic predisposition of particular breeds or mixes. The authors discuss various types of food—including what the commercial manufacturers don’t want us to know—and offer recipes, easy solutions, and tips for making sure our dogs obtain the nutrients they need. Habib and Dr. Becker also explore how external factors we often don’t think about can greatly affect a dog’s overall health and wellbeing, from everyday insults to the body and its physiology, to the role our own lifestyles and our vets’ choices play. Indeed, the health equation works both ways and can travel “up the leash.” Medical breakthroughs have expanded our choices for canine health—if you know what they are. This definitive dog-care guide empowers us with the knowledge we need to make wise choices, and to keep our dogs healthy and happy for years to come.

The First Domestication
The First Domestication

Author: Raymond Pierotti

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2017-11-28

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0300231679

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A riveting look at how dog and humans became best friends, and the first history of dog domestication to include insights from indigenous peoples In this fascinating book, Raymond Pierotti and Brandy Fogg change the narrative about how wolves became dogs and in turn, humanity’s best friend. Rather than describe how people mastered and tamed an aggressive, dangerous species, the authors describe coevolution and mutualism. Wolves, particularly ones shunned by their packs, most likely initiated the relationship with Paleolithic humans, forming bonds built on mutually recognized skills and emotional capacity. This interdisciplinary study draws on sources from evolutionary biology as well as tribal and indigenous histories to produce an intelligent, insightful, and often unexpected story of cooperative hunting, wolves protecting camps, and wolf-human companionship. This fascinating assessment is a must-read for anyone interested in human evolution, ecology, animal behavior, anthropology, and the history of canine domestication.