Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Volume 1, Adaptation and Learning E-Book

Steven R. Lindsay

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1185

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Twenty-five years of study and experience went into the making of this one-of-a-kind reference. Veterinarians, animal scientists, dog owners, trainers, consultants, and counsellors will find this book a benchmark reference and handbook concerning positive, humane management and control of dogs. Reflecting the author's extensive work with dogs, this book promises thorough explanations of topics, and proven behavioural strategies that have been designed, tested, and used by the author. More than 50 figures and tables illustrate this unique and significant contribution to dog behaviour, training, and learning.

Leseprobe

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

REFERENCES

1 Origins and Domestication

ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD

DOMESTICATION: PROCESSES AND DEFINITIONS

BIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE

EFFECTS OF DOMESTICATION

THE SILVER FOX: A POSSIBLE MODEL OF DOMESTICATION

SELECTIVE BREEDING, THE DOG FANCY, AND THE FUTURE

REFERENCES

2 Development of Behavior

THE CRITICAL OR SENSITIVE PERIOD HYPOTHESIS

EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND REFLEXIVE BEHAVIOR

SOCIALIZATION: LEARNING TO RELATE AND COMMUNICATE

LEARNING TO COMPETE AND COPE

LEARNING TO ADJUST AND CONTROL

PREVENTING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

REFERENCES

3 Neurobiology of Behavior and Learning

CELLULAR COMPOSITION OF THE BRAIN

HINDBRAIN AND MIDBRAIN STRUCTURES

DIENCEPHALON

LIMBIC SYSTEM

LEARNING AND THE SEPTOHIPPOCAMPAL SYSTEM

CEREBRAL CORTEX

NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND BEHAVIOR

NEURAL SUBSTRATES OF MOTIVATION (HYPOTHALAMUS)

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGGRESSION (HYPOTHALAMUS)

NEUROBIOLOGY OF FEAR

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM–MEDIATED CONCOMITANTS OF FEAR

NEUROBIOLOGY OF COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR AND STEREOTYPIES

NEUROBIOLOGY OF ATTACHMENT AND SEPARATION DISTRESS

PSYCHOMOTOR EPILEPSY, CATALEPSY, AND NARCOLEPSY

REFERENCES

4 Sensory Abilities

VISION

AUDITION

OLFACTION

VOMERONASAL ORGAN

GUSTATION

SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEM

REFLEXIVE ORGANIZATION

EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION

REFERENCES

5 Biological and Dispositional Constraints on Learning

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE

INSTINCTS, “FIXED” ACTION PATTERNS, AND FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS

INSTINCTUAL LEARNING

PREPAREDNESS AND SELECTIVE ASSOCIATION

INSTINCTIVE DRIFT AND APPETITIVE LEARNING

CONTRAFREELOADING

GENETIC PREDISPOSITION AND TEMPERAMENT

BREED VARIATIONS

INHERITANCE OF FEAR

HEREDITY AND INTELLIGENCE

REFERENCES

6 Classical Conditioning

PAVLOV’S DISCOVERY

BASIC CONDITIONING ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN CONDITIONED STIMULUS AND UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS

COMMON EXAMPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

KONORSKI’S CONCEPTUALIZATION OF REFLEXIVE BEHAVIOR

RESCORLA’S CONTINGENCY MODEL OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

STIMULUS FACTORS AFFECTING CONDITIONED-STIMULUS ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE

CONDITIONED COMPOUND STIMULI

HIGHER-ORDER CONDITIONING

GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION

EXTINCTION OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY AND OTHER SOURCES OF RELAPSE

HABITUATION AND SENSITIZATION

SPECIAL PHENOMENA OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

CLASSICALLY GENERATED OPPONENT PROCESSES AND EMOTIONS

COUNTERCONDITIONING

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND FEAR

REFERENCES

7 Instrumental Learning

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CLASSICAL AND INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

THORNDIKE’S CONNECTIONISM

GUTHRIE’S LEARNING THEORY AND BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

TOLMAN’S EXPECTANCY THEORY

B. F. SKINNER AND THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR

BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUMENTAL LEARNING

MOTIVATION, LEARNING, AND PERFORMANCE

ANTECEDENT CONTROL: ESTABLISHING OPERATIONS AND DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI

PREMACK PRINCIPLE: THE RELATIVITY OF REINFORCEMENT

LEARNING AND THE CONTROL OF THE ENVIRONMENT

SCHEDULES OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

EVERYDAY EXAMPLES OF REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

HOPE, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND OTHER EMOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH LEARNING

MATCHING LAW

EXTINCTION OF INSTRUMENTAL LEARNING

DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT

ATTENTION CONTROL

TRAINING AND STIMULUS CONTROL

SHAPING: TRAINING THROUGH SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS

ADDUCTION

CHAINING: ORDERING COMPLEX PERFORMANCES

PROMPTING, FADING, AND SHADOWING

REHEARSAL AND STAGING

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

BEHAVIORAL CONTRAST AND MOMENTUM

SOCIAL LEARNING

HIGHER-ORDER CLASSES OF BEHAVIOR

ATTENTION AND LEARNING

A BRIEF CRITIQUE OF TRADITIONAL LEARNING THEORY

PREDICTION-CONTROL EXPECTANCIES AND ADAPTATION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

8 Aversive Control of Behavior

FEAR AND PAIN

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT AND AVOIDANCE LEARNING

MOWRER’S TWO-PROCESS THEORY OF AVOIDANCE LEARNING

A COGNITIVE THEORY OF AVOIDANCE LEARNING

SAFETY SIGNAL HYPOTHESIS

SPECIES-SPECIFIC DEFENSIVE REACTIONS AND AVOIDANCE TRAINING

PUNISHMENT

P+ AND P−: A SHARED EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE SUBSTRATE?

PUNISHERS, REWARDS, AND VERIFIERS

DIRECT AND REMOTE PUNISHMENT

USING TIME-OUT TO MODIFY BEHAVIOR

HOW TO USE TIME-OUT

TYPES OF TIME-OUT

TIME-OUT AND SOCIAL EXCESSES

NEGATIVE PRACTICE, NEGATIVE TRAINING, AND OVERCORRECTION (POSITIVE PRACTICE) TECHNIQUES

REMOTE-ACTIVATED ELECTRONIC COLLARS

MISUSE AND ABUSE OF PUNISHMENT

ABUSIVE PUNISHMENT: THE NEED FOR UNIVERSAL CONDEMNATION

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF PUNISHMENT

REFERENCES

9 Learning and Behavioral Disturbances

EXPERIMENTAL NEUROSIS

GANTT: SCHIZOKINESIS, AUTOKINESIS, AND EFFECT OF PERSON

LIDDELL: THE CORNELL EXPERIMENTS

MASSERMAN: MOTIVATIONAL CONFLICT THEORY OF NEUROSIS

FRUSTRATION AND NEUROSIS: THE THEORIES OF MAIER AND AMSEL

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

CONFLICT AND NEUROSIS

NEUROSIS AND THE FAMILY DOG

REFERENCES

10 Human-Dog Companionship: Cultural and Psychological Significance

THEORIES OF PET KEEPING

FORMING THE ANCIENT BOND

AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP

THE EFFECT OF PERSON

WHEN THE BOND FAILS

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE HUMAN-DOG BOND: CONFLICTS AND CONTRADICTIONS

COMMUNICATING, RELATING, AND ATTACHMENT

THE QUESTION OF ANIMAL AWARENESS

MYSTICISM

DOG DEVOTION: LEGENDS

CYNOPRAXIS: TRAINING AND THE HUMAN-DOG RELATIONSHIP

REFERENCES

Index

STEVEN R. LINDSAY, MA, is a dog behavior consultant and trainer who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he provides a variety of behavioral training and counseling services. In addition to his long career in working with companion dogs, he previously evaluated and trained highly skilled military working dogs as a member of the U.S. Army Biosensor Research Team (Superdog Program). Mr. Lindsay also conducts workshops and is the author of numerous publications on dog behavior and training.

Cover design by Justin Eccles

Text design by Dennis Anderson

© 2000 Iowa State University Press

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Cover image: “Three Puppies,” 1790 by Okyo Maruyama. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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First edition, 2000

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lindsay, Steven R.

Handbook of applied dog behavior and training / Steven R. Lindsay; foreword by Victoria Lea Voith.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Contents: v. 1. Adaptation and learning.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-0754-6

ISBN-10: 0-8138-0754-9

1. Dogs—Behavior. 2. Dogs—Training. I. Title.

SF433.L56 1999

636.7′0887—dc21

99-052013

Dedicated with affectionand respect to my dog,Yuki,

whose gentle and sincereways have revealed the virtuesof the human-dog bond inways that words alone willforever fail to express.

Foreword

THIS IS A monumental work arising from the love of dogs and the pursuit of knowledge. Cynophiles, academics, animal behaviorists (with and without institutional degrees), literate dog owners, and anyone who has ever wanted to know something specific or just plain more about dogs are indebted to Steve Lindsay for this labor of love.

This treatise is an encyclopedia about dogs: in-depth reviews and interpretations of the literature pertaining to the dog’s history, physiology, behavior, and interactions with people, and explanations and evaluations of training procedures, management strategies, and problem-solving techniques. This book is not limited to a review of the literature about dogs but also discusses basic scientific disciplines and discoveries with other species that pertain to understanding dogs. It is obvious that Steve Lindsay has thoroughly read and analyzed every publication he has referenced—an increasing rarity in today’s press. The summaries of research papers or theoretical discussions will suffice for some readers, but others will be compelled to obtain the original works and read them.

Very practical and important aspects of this book are Steve Lindsay’s training, treatment, and management strategies regarding dog behavior. Steve’s broad experiences in the dog world have enabled him to integrate valuable components of a variety of training and management procedures. The techniques are explained very thoroughly and in sufficient detail that an educated person should be able to understand and implement them. His approaches are designed to achieve a satisfying human-dog relationship from the perspective of both species.

This handbook will help dog owners and many, many canine behavior consultants/counselors and trainers. It will also stimulate further discussion, observation, research, and analyses, ultimately leading to more knowledge about dog behavior and human-dog interactions. I consider it the most valuable publication about dogs since Scott and Fuller’s classic text Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, published in 1965.

VICTORIA LEA VOITH, DVM, PHD

Charter Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists

President, American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior

Acknowledgments

MANY PEOPLE deserve acknowledgment for their contributions, but none more so than the dog owners who have given me the privilege and responsibility of helping them to train their dogs or to assist them in resolving a behavior problem. I feel a special debt of gratitude to William Carr, Scott Line, and Victoria Voith. Dr. Carr graciously gave freely of his time to read and discuss the entire manuscript. His knowledge and expertise helped to clarify a number of important areas of relevant research, especially developments in comparative psychology and the study of olfaction. Dr. Line reviewed the entire text and provided useful suggestions for its improvement. Dr. Voith has been a source of sustained encouragement for the project since its inception, giving me valuable guidance and advice. A special thank you is due to Christina Cole for her unselfish help and support. I am grateful to John Flukas, whose editorial advice has been consistently constructive and helpful. Finally, I thank Gretchen Van Houten and the great staff at Iowa State University Press for their assistance and patience in preparing the manuscript for publication.

Introduction

Before you can study an animal, you must first love it.

KONRAD LORENZ (Fox, 1998)

THE DOG has occupied an enduring place in our cultural heritage as an icon of interspecies cooperation and faithfulness. Speculation about the origins of this unique relationship continues to inspire lively debate and discussion, but nothing definitive can yet be said about the motivations guiding the first dog keepers to capture and tame wild or semidomesticated canids as companions and helpers. Even less can be said about the various functions these protodogs served or the methods used by our ancestors to train them. What is known suggests that the dog’s domestication was not the result of a conscious effort or stroke of genius, but rather the outcome of a slow evolutionary process over many thousands of years. The gradual biological transformation of the wolf into the domestic dog appears to have culminated in the development of close social interaction between humans and dogs sometime during the Stone Age. What form this relationship took 14,000 years ago is not known, but it is likely that some practical implications of dogs were recognized and exploited by ancient hunter-gatherers. Most of the potential utilitarian benefits arising from domestication would have been of little use, though, if it had not been for the simultaneous development of the methods needed for managing and controlling dog behavior. The obvious necessity of behavioral control for early humans in their various dealings with dogs led the naturalist G. L. Buffon to write in the 18th century, “The training of the dog seems to have been the first art invented by man, and the fruit of that art was the conquest and peaceable possession of the earth” (quoted in Jackson, 1997).

Buffon’s suggestion that dog training was “the first art invented by man” suffers from a lack of empirical evidence. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to believe that the practice of controlling and modifying dog behavior to serve human purposes springs from very ancient roots that antedate the rise of civilization. Early human association with animals as natural competitors and beasts of prey offered ample opportunity born of strife and necessity to develop an appreciation of animal habits and various methods for controlling animal behavior. Such information transmitted from generation to generation would have provided a viable cultural tradition of animal lore for the development of dog training as an art of considerable sophistication. From an early date, dogs have performed many services, such as assisting human hunters in the pursuit of game, giving alarm to the presence of intruders, pulling sledge or travois, providing warmth and comfort, as well as offering playful distraction for children. Practical uses aside, even the most casual interaction between humans and dogs would have demanded a rudimentary understanding of dog behavior and the ability to control it. Both biological changes (nature) and cultural transmission (nurture) combined to forge the primal human-dog bond—an epigenetic process that is reenacted in the life of every companion dog.

Despite the ubiquitous distribution of dogs throughout the ancient world, historical records describing their early use, breeding, and training are relatively rare and incomplete. A few ancient authors wrote at length on the subject of dog behavior, training, and management, but, for the most part, many important details about the specific methods used by ancient trainers to modify dog behavior are left to the reader’s imagination. The writings of Xenophon are of particular value in this respect, but even the patron philosopher of dog and horse training provides only scant and scattered information about how dogs were trained in the distant past. Although occasional departures from this pattern can be found, very few authors took up the subject of dog behavior and training as a serious area of study, at least until fairly recent times. A turning point away from this general neglect occurred with the appearance of Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Darwin’s evolutionary theories and careful descriptions of dog behavior exerted a profound influence on naturalists sympathetic to his ideas, encouraging them to pay attention to dog behavior as a way to understand better the origins of human conduct. These developments played an instrumental role in the advancement of psychology and paved the way for a wider scientific and popular interest in dog behavior.

The scientific study of dog behavior and psychology was placed on an experimental foundation by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov and his many associates crafted various experimental methods for studying associative learning processes in dogs. The result of this revolutionary research was a collection of detailed and exhaustive analyses of the functional relations controlling the acquisition and extinction of conditioned reflexive behavior. Following in the wake of Pavlov’s discoveries, subsequent developments in the science of behavior and learning theory were extremely energetic and enthusiastic, with many thousands of studies being carried out and their findings published over the ensuing decades. In America, around the same time that Pavlov was making his mark on the history of psychology in Russia, Edward Thorndike was conducting a systematic study of voluntary or instrumental behavior at Columbia University. His detailed observations on how animals learn to escape from various puzzle boxes through trial and error (or, as he might prefer, “trial and success”) established the study of instrumental behavior. Together, Pavlov and Thorndike formed the intellectual and methodological foundations for the experimental study of animal behavior and learning. Most behavioral research in the 20th century can be traced back to the pioneering work of these two experimentalists.

Darwin’s evolutionary approach to the investigation of animal behavior was embraced by another group of scientists, mainly composed of Europeans, who emphasized the importance of direct observation of species-typical behavior occurring under natural conditions. Their efforts set the foundations for the development of ethology. In America, comparative (animal) psychologists, who, like their European counterparts, were also interested in the evolutionary continuity of behavior across species, also took up the Darwinian banner. Unlike the early ethologists, however, comparative psychologists stressed the need for experimental methodology, thus limiting their research to a few species (mainly primates, rodents, and birds) housed under laboratory conditions.

These combined scientific efforts have produced an authoritative body of knowledge about animal behavior. Much of this information is highly specialized, sometimes difficult to access, and often only available as isolated research reports. Consequently, an important purpose for writing this book has been to draw upon these various trends in order to establish a foundation of principles and methods for understanding and managing dog behavior. The material reviewed for this purpose has been selected based on two general criteria: scientific validity and relevance for the practical management of dog behavior. In surveying the literature, I have made a conscientious effort to review the original materials. It became apparent early on that many reports and secondary texts had been either inappropriately interpreted or generalized beyond what is justifiable by the available data. I have done my best to avoid such pitfalls and to correct errors of the past where appropriate. The topics covered in Volume One include origins and evolution, ontogeny, neurobiology, senses, biological constraints, classical conditioning, instrumental learning, aversive control, and behavioral pathology. A concluding chapter examines the human-dog relationship, including its cultural and psychological significance. Volume 2 (in press) covers the etiology and assessment of behavior problems, aggression, fear and phobias, separation distress, hyperactivity, compulsive behavior, destructive behavior, and social excesses.

Many of the experiments described in the following chapters were performed at a huge cost of suffering for scores of laboratory animals, including thousands of dogs, experimented upon for the sake of scientific curiosity and the advancement of our collective knowledge. It is heartening to know that, over the past decade or so, many reforms (often led by experimental scientists themselves) have taken place with respect to the way experimental animals are treated and housed. These regulatory changes would make many historically important studies very difficult or impossible to perform under the current standards of laboratory animal care and welfare. However, to ignore this significant body of scientific literature because of the suffering it has brought to laboratory animals would be tantamount to a double injury. It seems fitting that such knowledge should be applied whenever possible for the benefit of those animals whose sacrifice made it possible. Morally speaking, there are no good or bad scientific facts, but there are good and bad ways in which experiments are performed and scientific knowledge applied for practical purposes.

Finally, dog behavior problems represent a serious welfare concern. Currently, the vast majority of dog behavior services are performed by dog trainers, with a handful of veterinary and applied animal behavior consultants providing regional counseling services through veterinary schools and private animal behavior practices spread out thinly across the country. It is difficult to pin down exactly how professional services are divided between these groups, but a recent survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association (1997) suggests that a relatively small number of companion animals are referred for behavioral counseling. The report estimates that less than one-half of 1% of dog owners in the United States utilized veterinary behavioral counseling services in 1996. This is a somewhat surprising and puzzling statistic, considering that some authorities suggest that behavior problems represent a leading cause of euthanasia, causing the death of more dogs each year than die as the result of infectious disease, metabolic conditions, and cancer combined. Although this estimate appears to be inflated (see When the Bond Fails in Chapter 10), dog behavior problems do, undoubtedly, represent a significant source of distress and death for dogs. Obviously, cooperation between all applied animal behavior professionals is required in order to service the behavioral needs of the dog-owning public most efficiently and effectively. Animal behavior counseling, dog training, and veterinary behavioral medicine bring a variety of specific contributions and unique strengths to the practical control of dog behavior and the management of dog behavior problems. Recently, leadership from these various professional groups made the first tentative steps toward constructive collaboration by establishing various educational programs, sponsoring interdisciplinary forums, and organizing other mutually beneficial ventures. Unfortunately, however, practitioners from these various disciplines are not always familiar with the specialized knowledge and skills utilized by others working outside of their immediate domain or not sharing their academic and practical background. It is my sincere hope that this book will play a constructive role in ameliorating this situation by bridging some of these gaps and contributing to the process of professional and educational reform of dog training and behavioral counseling.

REFERENCES

American Veterinary Medical Association (1997). U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook. Schaumberg, IL: AVMA, Center for Information Management.

Fox MW (1998). Concepts in Ethology: Animal Behavior and Bioethics. Malabar, FL: Krieger.

Jackson F (1997). Faithful Friends: Dogs in Life and Literature. New York: Carrol and Graf.

1

Origins and Domestication

For thousands of years man has been virtually, though unconsciously, performing what evolutionists may regard as a gigantic experiment upon the potency of individual experience accumulated by heredity; and now there stands before us this most wonderful monument of his labours—the culmination of his experiment in the transformed psychology of the dog.

GEORGE ROMANES, Animal Intelligence (1888)

Archeological Record

Domestication: Processes and Definitions

Interspecific Cooperation: Mutualism

Terms and Definitions: Wild, Domestic, and Feral

The Dingo: A Prototypical Dog

The Carolina Dog: An Indigenous Dog?

Biological and Behavioral Evidence

Biological Evidence

Behavioral Evidence

Effects of Domestication

Morphological Effects of Domestication

Behavioral Effects of Domestication

Paedomorphosis

The Silver Fox: A Possible Model of Domestication

Selective Breeding, the Dog Fancy, and the Future

Origins of Selective Breeding

Prospects for the Future

References

UNDERSTANDING THE dog’s behavior and appreciating its unique status as “man’s best friend” is not possible without studying its evolution and domestication. From ancient times onward, numerous species have undergone pronounced biological and behavioral changes as the result of domestication. The purposes guiding these efforts are as diverse as the species involved. Utilitarian interests such as the procurement of food, security, and other valuable resources or services derived from the animal were surely important incentives, but utilitarian motives alone are not enough to explain the whole picture, especially when considering the domestication of the dog.

Many theories have been advanced to explain how the progenitor of the dog was originally tamed and brought under the yoke of captivity and domestication. These theories often include colorful portraits of primitive life, motives, and purposes that rely on a number of questionable and unprovable assumptions about prehistoric existence (Morey, 1994). For example, one popular view suggests that humans may possess an ageless and universal (innate?) urge to keep animals as pets. Although this theory has some attractive features, it is difficult to defend scientifically. Certainly, dogs share an intimate place in Western society and are often treated with affectionate care in many modern primitive cultures as well (Serpell, 1986/1996); nonetheless, one cannot exclude the possibility that this so-called “affectionate” motive is a rather late cultural development. Further, although it is true that keeping pets as attachment objects is common around the world today, one cannot jump from this observation to the conclusion that a similar set of motives guided ancient people to capture and domesticate wild animals. Attitudes about animals and, in particular, dogs appear to be guided by beliefs and customs that are to a considerable extent conditioned and dependent on cultural, economic, and geographical circumstances (see Chapter 10).

Undoubtedly, a dog’s life during the early stages of domestication was very different than it is today. Over the centuries, the dog’s functions have evolved and changed, sometimes dramatically, depending on the assertion or absence of relevant cultural and survival pressures. In times of scarcity and need, the defining motive for keeping dogs was probably dominated by utilitarian interests; whereas, during times of abundance and well-being, dogs could be readily transformed into convenient objects for affection, comfort, or entertainment.

ARCHEOLOGICAL RECORD

Despite the difficulties, discovering when and how this enduring relationship first appeared are questions of tremendous scientific interest and importance. Authorities differ with respect to the exact historical moment or time frame, but many prehistoric sites show that a close association between humans and dogs has existed continuously for many thousands of years. Although a loose symbiotic mutualism probably existed long beforehand, the earliest archeological evidence of a “true” domestic dog is dated to 14,000 years before the present (BP). The artifact (a mandible) was unearthed from a Paleolithic grave site at Oberkassel in Germany (Nobis, 1979, in Clutton-Brock and Jewell, 1993). Protsch and Berger (1973) have collected and carbon dated canine skeletal remains taken at various sites around the world, showing great antiquity and geographical dispersion: Star Carr (Yorkshire, England), 9500 BP; Argissa-Magula (Thessaly), 9000 BP; Hacilar (Turkey), 9000 BP; Sarab (Iran), 8900 BP; and Jericho, 8800 BP. One of the most famous of these archeological finds is a Natufian skeleton of an old human (sex unknown) and a puppy buried together some 12,000 years ago at Ein Mallaha in Israel (Davis and Valla, 1978). The human’s hand is positioned over the chest of the 4- or 5-month-old puppy (). One is moved by the ostensible intimacy of the two species buried together, and even tempted to ascribe a feeling of “tenderness” to the embrace binding the person and puppy together over the centuries.