Not so long ago, dogs were valued primarily for the jobs they performed. They hunted, herded livestock and guarded property, which required them to have an active prey drive, boundless energy and a wariness of strangers. Even a few decades ago, many dogs were expected to guard the house and the people in it. Prey drive kept squirrels away from the bird feeders and used up some of that limitless energy.
In just one generation, we humans have abruptly changed the rules on our dogs. With increasing urbanization and space at a premium, the wild, abandoned places where children and dogs used to roam have disappeared from many American communities. Dogs have gone from working all day and sleeping outside to relaxing on the couch and sleeping in our beds. They are more a part of our families than ever before – which means they share our indoor, sedentary lifestyle. Americans once wanted a dog that barked at every noise, but modern life is best suited to a pet that will sit neatly under the desk during remote work, politely greet guests, make friends with cats and play nicely (but not hump) in the dog park.
Thousands of years of domestication could not prepare dogs for this abrupt transition. After studying the cognition of 101 Canine Companion service dog puppies at the Duke Puppy Kindergarten, we realized that these dogs are uniquely well-adapted to life in the 21st century. Service dogs (the real, certified kind, not the ones whose humans bought their vests on Amazon) are highly trained professionals. They help with specific tasks that their person cannot do alone, such as helping to load laundry in the washing machine, turning on lights and opening doors. Between all that effort, service dogs fit into their person’s lives in a way that many healthy dog owners want their pets to fit into theirs. For the benefit of dogs and their owners, humans need to breed and train more dogs as service animals, and begin a new wave of dog domestication to help them fit into the new world we have created.
The first dogs began to evolve 40,000 to 14,000 years ago, when humans lived as foragers. (Some evidence suggests that this first version of domestication may have occurred several times around the world.) Our ancestors left trash and debris outside the camp, and the wolves that took advantage of this predictable, energy-rich food source gained a survival advantage. As a result, over generations, animals’ attraction to humans replaced fear and aggression. This natural selection for kindness is also thought to have caused many random changes – such as floppy ears, curly tails and pletchy coats – as well as the ability to make eye contact and read human gestures in a way that wolves cannot.
The second wave of dog testing occurred largely after the Industrial Revolution, when the newly rising middle class wanted dogs that could advertise their owners’ good taste and disposable income. Armed with an early awareness of genetically inherited traits and an obsession with pedigree, Westerners began to control dogs’ reproductive choices, leading to the creation of most of the 200 dog breeds recognized today by the American Kennel Club. Where earlier breeding emphasized hunting or herding abilities, this new wave was primarily about a dog’s appearance. With few exceptions, this is where the focus of dog enthusiasts has remained.
Until around the 1990s, these pedigree dogs were well adapted to the suburban lifestyle. They spent most of their lives outside, perhaps jumping the fence and roaming the neighborhood. They may chase an occasional car or postman, or even wander for a day or two. Veterinary medicine wasn’t what it is today, and if your dog slept on your bed, you’d probably wake up covered in ticks or fleas. But as more urban dwellers adopt pets and cultural shifts have led dogs and humans to spend more time inside, some behaviors that made dogs appealing to our ancestors have become maladaptive. For example, it may become more difficult for a dog to walk around the neighborhood to protect itself from strangers and animals – so it will be stuck in a small yard or a small apartment with tons of pent-up energy. Dogs that are more energetic, agitated, fearful or anxious than average are more likely to be surrendered to shelters where they may struggle to find a new home.
Many owners hope that simply choosing the right type of dog—a hypoallergenic breed, a smart breed, a breed supposedly good with children—will resolve the mismatch between modern expectations and the evolved nature of dogs. But overall, breed does not determine the amount of allergens an animal produces, the speed at which it learns, or how well it interacts with children. The most important thing a dog breed will tell you, with any reliability, is how it looks.
Service dogs are the exception and the answer to the typing puzzle. For more than a century, service dogs have had to sit quietly in a café, calmly negotiate the stress and noise of city life and interact gently with children. They can do this not because they are smarter than pet dogs, but because, like the early proto-dogs, service dogs are exceptionally friendly. Unlike most pet dogs, service dogs are attracted to strangers, even as puppies. And increasing friendliness appears to have changed the biology of these dogs, just as it did thousands of years ago. A 2017 study found that pet dogs have higher levels of oxytocin — the hormone that facilitates social bonding — than pet dogs.
We believe that these changes are the early signs of a third wave in dog domestication. Service dogs may look like your average Labrador retriever, but compared to military working dogs or even the average family lab, they are almost a different breed. If dog lovers shift demand from a dog’s hair color and tail length to their comfort with strangers and new places, this friendliness can quickly spill over through the population and be amplified with each succeeding generation. Russian fox-taming experiments in the 1950s suggested that selecting for a friendly temperament led to increased human attraction, wagging tails, floppy ears and spotted coats within just a decade – even though the foxes with which the experiment began came from fur farms, and were therefore not completely new to selective breeding. The differences between Canine Companion dogs and pet dogs also show how different a population of dogs can become in less than 50 years. Although dog breeders were not as strict as the Russian fox experimenters, a breeding program that prioritized a friendly temperament could show results within a few decades.
Meanwhile, while the third wave of domestication is underway, humans must continue to care for the pets they have now. Service dog organizations not only breed for kindness, but also follow an extensive training protocol. They socialize their puppies as soon as the puppies are vaccinated and introduce them to a variety of people and situations. They crate-train them and get them used to alone time. They use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior and take the puppies on many short walks throughout the day. All of these methods can be used at home – but doing it right is a lot of work. If you’re not prepared for it, don’t get a puppy. Instead, care for an adult dog. Puppies’ personalities change and grow over time, but with foster dogs, who are usually older and have established personalities, you can test whether they are a good fit for your family before you commit.
And for those who already have a puppy or a less-than-perfect dog, please be patient. Try to meet them where they are. Maybe they will never be comfortable frolicking in a park with strange people and dogs. Perhaps protecting your window ledge from every passing squirrel is a responsibility they are unable to surrender. Instead of trying to force them to change, which probably won’t work, recognize that modern life demands more from dogs than evolution prepared them for. Try to focus on the timeless skills that dogs already have: happy greetings, love without expectations, and a light spirit to brighten your days.