The Modern Day Canine

Over the 15,000 year span that dogs were domesticated their roles in human lives were shaped by environmental and functional factors. Through selective breeding dogs have developed into the different shapes and sizes you see today, from the tiny Chihuahua to as large as the Irish wolfhound.  

Dogs have played the role as pet to humans for a very long time but only after WWII as suburbanization increased so did the dogs role in a family. They were primarily used to work for their masters, whether it was companionship, protection or hunting but around 1980 the dogs’ role started to shift as humans started keeping dogs for emotional support. Slowly but surely dogs have made their way into our homes as part of the family.

Because we don’t live in the early 1900’s and don’t have the same needs for our dogs it’s fair to say we shouldn’t train our dogs the same way. Dogs are used for modern day working (keeping us humans happy and entertained) so we need new methods of training that help teach our four legged friends what we want out of them. Progressive Reinforcement otherwise known as Positive Reinforcement is one of the most commonly used training methods today. This shapes your dogs natural instincts into a desirable behaviour by reinforcing what we humans like and ignoring what we perceive as bad.

The modern canine you see today is slowly being shaped to conform to modern day human expectations of personality and behaviour; it’s truly amazing how humans and dogs can co-exist at all.


Poor doggy!

Related Posts by Categories