Dogs are perhaps our most popular pets, and certainly
one of the best-loved of all animals. They are not only
humanity's best friend, they are also its oldest: burial
sites dating back 12,000 years indicate that dogs moved
alongside prehistoric people before, during and after
both species settled the world. The story of the canine
has been fundamentally entwined with that of humanity
since the earliest times, and this ancient and
fascinating story is told in Susan McHugh's ''Dog''.
This book unravels the debate about whether dogs are
descended from wolves, and moves on to deal with canines
in mythology, religion and health, dog cults in ancient
and medieval civilizations as disparate as Alaska,
Greece, Peru and Persia, and traces correspondences
between the histories of dogs in the Far East, Europe,
Africa and the Americas. ''Dog'' also examines the
relatively recent phenomenon of dog breeding and the
invention of species, as well as the canine's role in
science fact and fiction; from Laika, the first
astronaut, and Pavlov's famous conditioned dogs, through
to science fiction novels and cult films such as ''A Boy
and his Dog''.Susan McHugh shows how dogs today
contribute to human lives in a huge number of ways, not
only as pets and guide dogs but also as sources of food
in Asia, entertainment workers, and scientific and
religious objects. ''Dog'' reveals how we have shaped
these animals over the millennia, and in turn, how dogs
have shaped us. |
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