Dog

The tale—or tail?—of the canine has been fundamentally entwined with humanity since prehistory, and this ancient and fascinating story is told in Susan McHugh’s Dog.

This book unravels the debate about whether dogs are descended from wolves and moves on to deal with canines in mythology, religion, and health; explore dog cults in ancient and medieval civilizations as disparate as Alaska, Greece, Peru, and Persia; and trace correspondences between the histories of dogs in the Far East, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Dog also examines the relatively recent phenomenon of dog husbandry and the invention of breeds, as well as the canine’s role in science fact and fiction—from Laika, the first astronaut, and Pavlov’s famous conditioned dogs, through to science fiction novels and cult films like A Boy and His Dog.

Showing how dogs today contribute to human lives in a huge number of ways, not only as pets and guide dogs but also as sources of food in Asia, entertainment workers, and scientific and religious objects, McHugh reveals how we have shaped these animals over the millennia, and in turn, how dogs have shaped us.