Natalie Wong

Professor Lynda Haas

Writing 39C

1 August 2015

The Domestication of Dogs: A Review of Canine Cognition and Emotion

Since the publication of The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin in the 19th century,

the early theory of humans as the source behind the domestication of dogs was introduced.

According James Serpell, a Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania,

the discovery of archaeological remains suggest that dogs have been domesticated as early as

14,000 years BP (10). In 1923, Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist and Secretary of the

Zoological Society of London, claimed “animals [to] have no brains [but] only soul” (Mitchell,

Thompson, and Miles 26). During this time, scientific studies of canine cognition or cognitive

ethology had not begun yet. Furthermore, according to Dr. Marc Bekoff, a researcher of animal

behavior and cognitive ethology at the University of Colorado, “researchers [at the time] were

almost all skeptics who spent their time wondering if […] animals felt anything” (xvii).

Although, scientists have only barely begun studying canine cognition and cognitive ethology,

this topic of study has changed dramatically over the past thirty years. As a researcher of animal

behavior and creator of cognitive ethology, Donald Griffin recognized in 1976 that “mental

experiences also include feelings, desires, fears, and ‘sensations’ such as pain, rage, and

affection” (Mitchell, Thompson, and miles 26). In Bekoff’s book The Emotional Lives of

Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy and Why They Matter,

he extends Griffin’s sentiment of mental experiences by commenting how emotions have

evolved as adaptations over time and serve as a social glue to bond animals with one another

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(xviii). This review, following Bekoff’s claim, focuses on scientific studies and their results

concerning the history of canine domestication and how it impacts their cognitive abilities and

emotional capacities. I will begin with an unethical experiment conducted in the 1960’s by

Christopher Peterson, Steven Maier, and Martin Seligman on animal cognition, and then briefly

explain studies on animal brain structures that permit them to experience emotions. These studies

provide a basis for Bekoff’s claim of natural selection as the reason for anthropomorphism-the

attribution of animals with human characteristics-and the role it played in the history of the

domestication of dogs’ history. I will conclude with a discussion on how the cognitive abilities

and emotional capacities of dogs are important while questioning the ethics and responsibilities

we hold in caring for them, which are reflected in our practices.

One of the earliest experiments concerning animal cognition dates back to 1967; in this

study called “The First Learned Helplessness Experiment”, psychologists Christopher Peterson,

Steven Maier, and Martin Seligman, demonstrate that experience of emotions is indeed possible

for domesticated canines. In this highly unethical study, the canines are conditioned to accept the

shocks given to them with no way to escape; when the dogs habituate to the pain produced by the

given stimulus, the researcher provides the dogs with the same stimulus and an escape route, and

observe an emotional reaction. The dogs in the experiment, demonstrate the experience of

learned helplessness or the passive acceptance of certain circumstances, which is similar to the

diagnoses of depression in humans (Peterson, Maier, and Seligman 17-19). This experiment

plays a role in diverting scientists’ focus of animal cognition and animal ethology from why

emotions are felt to how they are felt. From this study, researchers are able to discover that our

primary emotions of “fear, anger, surprise, sadness, disgust, and joy” are made possible by the

limbic system and the amygdala (Peterson, Maier, and Seligman 91). In addition to finding that

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both these structures are found in all mammals, humans and animals also share similar chemical

and neurobiological systems (Bekoff 10). These breakthrough discoveries are extremely

beneficial for this field of research by enabling researchers to take advantage in incorporating

animals into their experiments when attempting to study humans. Since animals and humans are

alike when it involves the primary emotions, scientists begin to anthropomorphize – giving

human characteristics to animals – in studies.

When archaeological evidences were first being discovered, scientists were unaware of

the role anthropomorphism and secondary emotions played in forming the first relationships

between humans and dogs. Serpell indicates in his finding, displayed in Figure 1, that humans

were still hunting, gathering, and foraging when animals were first domesticated, which dated

back to the end of the last Ice Age at 12,000 years

BP (10). Secondary emotions involve consciousness

and thought processing in the cerebral cortex and are

experienced after primary emotions. They may be

caused directly or from complex chains of thinking.

For instance, when one is fearful (primary emotion)

of a threat, anger (secondary emotion) may ensue.

According to Bekoff, anthropomorphism allowed

secondary emotions to assist in the establishment of

a relationship between humans and canines for the

future (xviii). Performing as an evolved perceptual

strategy shaped by natural selection,

anthropomorphism permits researchers to endeavor

Fig 1. Burial of a human with a puppy. (Serpell 11).

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in understanding the cognitive abilities and emotional capacities of canines. Although the history

behind the process of domesticating dogs is uncertain, it is no doubt that anthropomorphism

played a role in allowing the humans to begin developing a bond with domesticated canines as

early as 10,000 years BP (Serpell 10).

Following Serpell’s thoughts about the relationship between canines and humans, in

2008, Leslie Irvine, a professor of sociology and researcher of animal-human interactions

demonstrate her agreement in her book If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with

Animals. In order to explain human’s first encounter and interaction with canines, she states “that

animals were like humans in many ways, but also different enough to be able to explain and

accomplish things that humans could not” (Irvine 35). Besides seeing animals as equals, our

ancestors’ transition into hunter-gatherers was made possible with the aid of the early canines.

Furthermore, Irvine proposes three different theories as to why dogs were domesticated in her

chapter entitled “How and Why.”  The first two theories involve canines’ hunting and

scavenging abilities, which is beneficial to humans by offering a symbiotic relationship where

both humans and canines live together as well as commensalism, in which one species enjoys a

benefit, and the other is not significantly affected. Humans are not the only ones who profit,

because the emotional aspect formed between canines and humans stimulate the primary emotion

of happiness for dogs (Irvine 14). Unlike the many independent animals we see, bears and tigers

to name a couple, canines are more receptive to humans and socializing as a result of the bond

formed between canines and humans. Lastly, Irvine emphasizes this by supporting the idea of

human beings being drawn to specific physical and social traits by stating: “several biological

and behavioral factors predisposed dogs to fit easily within human groups” (14-15). Through

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Irvine’s study, we can see that the emotional aspect allowed the strong bond between humans

and dogs to form including the launching of domestication of canines.

Like Irvine, research scientists Brian

Hare and Vanessa Woods (2013), Professors

of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke

University, suggest the evolution of human-

like social skills in dogs is a by-product of

domestication. Similar results were found in a

2011 study, “Perspective Taking In a Begging

Task” conducted by Monique A.R. Udell,

Nicole R. Dorey, and Clive D.L Wynne in the

article of Can Your Dog Read Your Mind?

Understanding the Causes of Canine

Perspective Taking. This research

demonstrates “dogs’ ability to follow human

actions, [where it] stems from a willingness to

accept humans as social companions, […] combined with conditioning to follow the limbs and

actions of humans to acquire reinforcement” by comparing the performance of pet domestic dogs

indoors and outdoors, shelter dogs, and wolves (300). Udell et. al. tested 60 dogs in which they

had to choose between an attentive human or one whose visual attention is blocked by having the

back turned or having either a book, bucket, or camera covering the eyes. The set up of the

experiment allows the researchers to see if dogs require the interaction or the hand gesture of

pointing from a human, in order to conclude if they will be given food, illustrated in Figure 2.

Fig 2. The Begging Task’s Layout and Procedure. (Udell et. al 293).

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The results of the experiment, demonstrated in Figure 3, reflect how the domesticated dogs are

able to make discriminative choices, because they are “based on past reinforcement histories, in

which certain human actions or orientations serve as predictors of reinforcement upon approach”

(Udell et. al 295). As mentioned earlier in this review of Irvine’s theories, Udell et. al supports

them by concluding that the canine-human relationship has been well accepted by dogs for

beneficial reasons of survival, food and emotional coping-petting for stress relief.  At the same

time, the Udell et. al study endorses Irvine’s third theory by exemplifying that domesticated

canines are more receptive to interaction with humans and enjoy socializing. The socializing

behaviors found in canines allow them

to follow tasks given by humans thru

various interactions of gestures or

commands. Undoubtedly, the canine-

human relationship established as a

result of natural selection after humans

started domesticating dogs because it

benefited both parties; humans got to

pick and breed certain traits while dogs

were able to survive.

In conclusion, we are interconnected with dogs and have been for a very long time even

though researches and studies are still trying to discover more about the human-canine

relationship as well as canines’ cognitive abilities and emotional capacities. Canines have

successfully survived as an entire species, all thanks to the early evolvement and development of

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the human-canine relationship at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, 10,000 years BP. The

different physical and behavioral traits that appeal to everyone is not the only reason why the

human-canine relationships still remains, but also for canine’s willingness to interact and coexist

with humans. Although the rate of domesticating dogs and selective breeding purebred dogs is

thriving and increasing, why do we not consider the negative health effects of some of the traits

that certain breeds inherit? According to an article by Kristine Lacoste, a coordinator for Dogs on

Deployment in New Orleans, a lot of diseases and genetic problems are introduced, such as

blood disorders, skin problems, and cancer (2013). Based on this information, questions about

our treatment towards dogs come to the surface. Why are the unethical practices behind the

business of dog breeding and puppy mills ignored and disregarded? Since humans have

interfered with the dogs’ natural evolution, we are responsible for them as a species, and

ethically should not treat them as inanimate objects. Even after the studies of canine cognition

and canine ethology, making profit is of more importance than the thoughtless breeding and

brutal treatment of canine emotions, which is senseless. Although it is a presumptuous way of

thinking, some see humans as the sole reasons of canine’s survival up to today. On the contrary, I

believe dogs should be taken cared of and be ethically bred solely for human characteristic of

morality. It has been proven that dogs are extremely similar to humans when it comes to

experiencing both primary and secondary emotions and developing bonds, hence the unethical

practices of puppy mills should be terminated ultimately.

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Works Cited

Bekoff, Marc. The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy,

Sorrow, and Empathy--and Why They Matter. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2007.

Print.

Hare, Brian, and Vanessa Woods. “Are We Having a Conversation?” The Genius of Dogs: How

Dogs Are Smarter than You Think. New York: Dutton, 2013. 125-44. Print.

Irvine, Leslie. If You Tame Me Understanding Our Connection with Animals. Philadelphia:

Temple UP, 20044. Print.

Lacoste, Kristine. "Common Health and Behavior Problems in Puppy Mill Dogs" Petful.. 19 Feb.

2013. Web. 28 July 2015.

<http://www.petful.com/animal-welfare/puppy-mill-dog-health-problems/>.

Mitchell, Robert W., Nicholas S. Thompson, and H. Lyn Miles. Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes,

and Animals. Albany: State U of New York, 1997. Print.

Peterson, Christopher, Steven F. Maier, and Martin Seligman. Learned Helplessness: A Theory

for the Age of Personal Control. Oxford University Press, 1995. Web. 14 July 2015.

Seligman, Martin E., Steven F. Maier, and James H. Geer. "Alleviation of Learned Helplessness

In The Dog." Journal of Abnormal Psychology 73.3, Pt.1 (1968): 256-62. APA PsycNET.

Web. 7 May 2015.

Serpell, James. “Origins of the Dog: Domestication and Early History.” The Domestic Dog: Its

Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. 8-

19. Print.

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Udell, Monique A.R., Nicole R. Dorey, and Clive D.L. Wynne. “Can Your Dog Read Your

Mind? Understanding the Causes of Canine Perspective Taking.” Learning and Behavior.

289-302. Springer. Web. 16 July 2015.

<http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13420-011-0034-6/fulltext.html>

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