Animal Behavior

a stylized illustration of a wolf, a spiral, and a spear etched in a rock
Riding the Revolutionary Wave of Dog Science

By Jennifer Bishop Jenkins

There has been a flood of new scientific research into dogs in recent years, and it is changing a lot of what we thought we knew about man’s best friend.

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e should also share it with our clients and use it to train our employees and co-workers—for it is surely the dogs themselves that stand to benefit the most from the research being done about them.

The scientific study of dogs is called cynology. Canine science is an interdisciplinary field that includes research on dog biology, psychology and much more. Cynologists—those who study dogs—are adding a great deal to our knowledge of this species, including training for cooperation, mental abilities, the benefits of pet ownership, genetic mutations and much more.

Some of the most interesting discoveries in recent decades are those that have shattered previously popular theories about dogs. For example, many of us grew up being taught that the dog descended from the wolf. However, in 2010, Harvard Professor Pontus Skoglund, an expert in ancient DNA working with a team of Swedish scientists, published the DNA findings in their discovery of an ancient jawbone found in the Taimyr Peninsula in the Arctic region of Siberia.1

There were several important findings in this research. First, they discovered that the dog did not descend from the wolf. Instead, we now know that the modern wolf and the dog descended from a common ancestor yet unnamed and undiscovered. Some are calling it the “proto-wolf” or the “ancestor wolf.”

A diagram showing the relationship between Taimyr wolves and domestic dogs
The diagram Skoglund published (Figure 1) with their discoveries also shows only the Arctic/Primitive/Northern line of dogs ever inter-bred with wolves. We can clearly see this connection in not only the appearance of the Husky and Malamute, for example, but also in the more distant and slightly “wilder” behavior of these breeds.
Second, Skoglund and his team found that the domestication of the dog happened much earlier than previously thought—at least approximately 33,000 to 40,000 years ago. Previous thinking dated the relationship beginning at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. One of the other fascinating findings in their data is that, genetically, there are only two “breeds” of dogs: Arctic/Primitive/Northern breeds, such as Huskies, Malamutes, Samoyeds, Chows and Pomeranians; and all the other domesticated dog breeds we know, from Yorkshire Terriers to St. Bernards.

The diagram Skoglund published (Figure 1) with their discoveries also shows only the Arctic/Primitive/Northern line of dogs ever inter-bred with wolves. We can clearly see this connection in not only the appearance of the Husky and Malamute, for example, but also in the more distant and slightly “wilder” behavior of these breeds.

A speculative but well-grounded line of inquiry raises questions about how the domestication of the dog occurred. And while dogs have long been understood to be the first domesticated animal, research at Duke University by Dr. Brian Hare, among others, points to evidence that the earliest dogs approached humans first, seeking food. In both books, The Genius of Dogs and The Survival of the Friendliest, Dr. Hare combines archeological, genetic, behavioral and historical research to build the case that dogs first approached us, teaching us the benefits of inter-species friendliness.

Here is a summary of some other recent findings that directly affect our work and can be helpful in our interactions with dogs:

Eye contact is the most critical form of our communication with dogs. Studies show that dogs read specific muscles in the “T-zone” of our faces—across our brows and down the center of our eyes, nose and mouth.
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Brain recordings show that playing with dogs helps people concentrate and relax. Animal-assisted activities with dogs such as meeting, playing, feeding, massaging, grooming, photographing, hugging, and walking have measurably positive psychophysiological and emotional effects on humans.2
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Unlike other creatures, including humans, dogs’ physical appearance is determined by a very small (0.25%) percentage of the genes in their DNA. This likely explains why dogs are the most physically diverse mammal species on earth. Very small changes in their DNA can render significant changes in their physical appearance.3
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Though meat is still the primary and best food for the carnivorous dog, the line that diverged to create the domesticated dog separate from the wolf included a mutation that allows the dog to better digest starches and carbohydrates in their diet, allowing them to live and work together better with humans and live off our food scraps.4
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Eye contact is the most critical form of our communication with dogs. Studies show that dogs read specific muscles in the “T-zone” of our faces—across our brows and down the center of our eyes, nose and mouth. They read our emotions, often mirroring our emotional states, and decide what the status of the relationship is, all based on this facial reading ability.5
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Dogs have been shown in MRI brain studies, run at Emory University by Dr. Gregory Burns, to “feel” emotion like humans. When both humans and dogs are scanned under an MRI machine, both show emotional responses to each other.6
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We can even “talk” to each other! A study in Hungary has proven the amazing ability of humans and dogs to correctly understand the sounds we make to each other and interpret their emotional state.7 The importance of positive visual and verbal communication between humans and dogs cannot be underestimated.
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Human beings’ primary sense is our vision, but for dogs, it is their smell. Dr. James Walker mapped the canine olfactory system and published several findings that confirmed what we have long suspected about dogs—they have amazing noses!8 Letting them smell us and the new environment in which we care for them is very important for a dog so they will feel comfortable in an unfamiliar space.

There is so much more exciting science being done into everything from canine cognition and genetics to the sensory and behavioral aspects of our lives with them. This research can be used to enhance the work we are privileged to do with dogs every day.

As dog professionals, we do not want to leave these amazing findings in the academic world. We need to bring them into our everyday interactions with dogs and share them with others who love them.

References:
  1. Skoglund P, Ersmark E, Palkopoulou E, Dalén L. (2015, June 1). Ancient wolf genome reveals an early divergence of domestic dog ancestors and admixture into high-latitude breeds. Curr Biol. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26004765/
  2. Yoo O, Wu Y, Han JS, Park S-A (2024) Psychophysiological and emotional effects of human–Dog interactions by activity type: An electroencephalogram study. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298384
  3. Stanford University Medical Center. (2010, August 11). Dogs’ physical traits controlled by small number of genetic regions, researcher finds. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100810203503.htm
  4. Axelsson E, Ratnakumar A, Arendt ML, et al. (2013) The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11837
  5. Müller CA, Schmitt K, Barber AL, Huber L. (2015, March 2). Dogs can discriminate emotional expressions of human faces. Curr Biol. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25683806/
  6. Emory University. (2017, September 6). What’s it like to be a dog-cognition scientist? eScience Commons. https://esciencecommons.blogspot.com/2017/09/whats-it-like-to-be-dog-cognition.html
  7. Owano, N. (2014, January 19). Budapest team studies how humans interpret dog barks. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2014-01-budapest-team-humans-dog-barks.html
  8. Walker D, Walker J, Cavnar P, et al. (2006, May). Naturalistic quantification of canine olfactory sensitivity. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159105002194

Jennifer Bishop Jenkins has been grooming, breeding, and showing dogs and cats for over four decades. A retired career school teacher holding Masters degrees in History and Education, Jennifer is an International Certified Master Groomer and PGC with an expertise in the science and history of dogs and coat types. She has managed boarding kennels and opened the multi-award-winning grooming salon and daycare Love Fur Dogs in Illinois in 2014. Jennifer also writes and has won an award for her blog. She has been active in legislation that affects pet professionals, and helps in building professional associations and credentialing.

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