First Friend: A History of Dogs and Humans - Hardcover

Rogers, Katharine M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312331886 ISBN 13: 9780312331887

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2005

Synopsis

From the beginning of human memory, dogs have been living with virtually every human society on earth. Of all the animals, the dog has long maintained the closest relationship with man. In First Friend, Katharine M. Rogers explores the history of that relationship - from what is known about how it first came about - and how it developed through the centuries. From work-mate to beloved pet, from the ancient world to modern times, First Friend is a charming, compelling work exploring that closest of interspecies bonds.

About this title

About the Author

Katharine M. Rogers helped establish the Women's Studies programs at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center. She has published six books, including The Cat and the Human Imagination, and edited four anthologies. She lives in Maryland.

From the Inside Flap

The relationship between dogs and humans is one of the most storied in the whole of human experience from the earliest surviving myths to the present day reality, the dog has assumed a unique role in virtually every human society. Extending beyond the limits of recorded history, dogs and humans have forged and maintained the deepest of emotional bonds and the most tightly interdependent relationship.
In First Friend, Katherine M. Rogers explores the history of dogs and humans from the beginnings and follows it as it has changed and developed over the centuries, as the dog was domesticated, trained and bred for specific roles and the various breeds so well known today emerged, as the dog slowly moved from being primarily a dependable workmate to a cherished pet. From how the dog was depicted in art and literature, to exploring the myths and realities about the dog/human relationship, First Friend is a charming, compelling work, generously illustrated with images from the 7th century B.C.E. to the present day, that is sure to delight, enlighten and astonish dog-lovers the world 'round.

Reviews

This graceful and charming study by the author of The Cat and the Human Imagination should please social historians as much as dog lovers. Rogers has researched the role dogs have played in society from ancient civilizations to the present. Her careful analysis is buttressed by literary references throughout the centuries, such as Jack London's White Fang, Virginia Woolf's Flush and excerpts from Shakespeare. It wasn't until the 19th century, she notes, that dogs became thought of primarily as companions. Before then, they were hunters, herders and guarders whose job it was to protect houses and property (although early Egyptian wall paintings depict dogs as both hunters and beloved family members). Rogers documents how working dogs were forced to pull heavy carts beyond their abilities and subjected to other cruel treatment. For instance, bullbaiting (for which the original bulldog was bred) was a form of entertainment for 16th-century crowds that maimed and killed many animals. With dogs seen more as companions in the 19th century, systematic classification of breeds became popular, leading at mid-19th century to the development of the competitive show. Rogers well understands and portrays the symbiotic relationship between people and their dogs. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)
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Rudyard Kipling referred to the dog as "First Friend" in Just So Stories, and his tale parallels what has been discovered about the domestication of the dog. Roughly 10,000 years ago, wolves probably started the process on their own by hanging around human camps to scavenge scraps. The dog's consequent long dependence on, and long exploitation by, humans is explored in this new history of the dog-human bond. Rogers (The Cat and Human Imagination, 1998) examines all aspects of this long association, following the changing role of the dog in ancient civilizations, as hunting partners in medieval Europe, as working members of agricultural societies, and as pets whose only duty was companionship. A series of illustrations, ranging from Roman sculpture through medieval religious paintings, Flemish portraits, Victorian sentimental works, and modern paintings (all of which have lengthy captions), also reveals the changing iconography of the dog. The text is conversational and eminently readable. Nancy Bent
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Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312331886
• ISBN 13: 9780312331887
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288