Topic: Humans and Dogs bond

Random factoids:The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million and rising. Approximately 83% of these dogs live unrestrained.

Americans own over 86.4 million cats and 78.2 million dogs. The number of households that have pets even tops the number that has children.”

Millions of street dogs coexist with people in the center of the country’s booming cities. Because of this, thirty-six percent of the world’s rabies deaths occur in India.

Jenny and I got a dog! She is a golden retriever puppy named Chloe. Here are the two most surprising things about having Chloe for just a few days:

• She picked up cues and reinforcement very quickly. Within the first day, we had her fairly well kennel and potty trained. However, she can still wreck chaos and is nowhere near the other dog tricks or heeling for a walk.
• I immediately felt an emotional connection to her and she reciprocated. She lays on Jenny and I's feet as we cook and lights up when we enter the room.

For this Beach Bi-Weekly, we will explore the unique relationship between dogs and humans.

Scientists found that dogs were buried with two humans 14,000 years ago. It's not only astonishing that the bond between humans and dogs goes back that far, but that we would choose to be buried with our dogs. Imagine that.

Humans and dogs go beyond a symbiotic relationship, such as barnacles on a whale. No other animals have a cross-species relationship like dogs and humans. There is a much deeper connection.

Dogs vs Wolves?

Dogs split from wolves about 30,000 years ago, most likely due to DNA change. Dogs and wolves still share 99.9% of their DNA. However, dogs have a chromosome that codes for hyper-sociability. Our ancestors obviously didn't know the difference in chromosomes but could pick up on the difference between the hyper-social "wolves" and the actual wolves. Wolves/dogs would scavenge for scraps of food after our dinners around the fire. We would drive the wolves away but couldn't resist the "hyper-social wolves" with their looks of sweetness and attentiveness.

In the picture below, it is easy to guess which one is the dog and which is the wolf.

Wolves are carnivores and dogs through domestication with humans have evolved to break down starch. That's why today dogs are omnivores.