Introduction
The idea that dogs helped accelerate the development of human civilisation is a compelling idea, even a romantic one. Dogs are our most loyal companion after all. Whilst it is not directly proven, there is archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic evidence to suggest that dogs enhanced human survival and may have been the catalyst for key social and technological shifts
Key Ways Dogs May Have Accelerated Civilisation
- Improved Hunting Success – Dogs helped humans track, corner prey, and guard kills
Evidence: Dog remains in hunter-gatherer sites like Bonn-Oberkassel (Germany) (~14,000 years ago)
Impact: Higher calorie intake, food surplus, and support for larger groups of humans
- Security and Guarding – Early dogs likely guarded camps and warned occupants of danger
Evidence: Ethnographic parallels in Amazon, Africa, and Arctic cultures
Impact: Safer camps enabled longer stays or semi-permanent settlements, and higher numbers
- Transportation and Labour – Dogs were used to pull sleds or carry loads in some cultures
Impact: Extended range of travel, trade support, and survival in harsh environments
- Food Storage and Settlement – More hunting success meant more food, leading to storage needs
Impact: Encouraged the abandonment of nomadic lifestyle, and enhanced early settlement patterns
Conclusion
While causation is hard to prove, the correlation between dog domestication and human development is strong. Dogs likely contributed significantly to our hunting success, and therefore our access to food, safety and social cohesion – overtime enabling us to build larger and more permanent settlements, breed for successfully, and grow as a species. Thank you, dogs.