When it comes to dogs, they are man's most loyal companions and play a very important role in the daily work activities of humans.
Not only can they help humans take care of their homes, they can also go out hunting, and some breeds of dogs can even be special helpers.
But have you noticed that some dogs have particularly short tails, do you think they are born that way? Actually, it's not the result of man-made, and the tails of those dogs are cut off when they are born, why is that?
As early as hundreds of years ago, humans began to domesticate wolves as hunting dogs to help hunt, these hunting dogs need to operate in complex wild environments, such as shrubs, bushes, caves, etc., the long tails of hunting dogs are easy to be pricked by branches in such an environment, or fall into the burrow and cannot get out, such as the hunting badger is small and needs to frequently drill into the fox hole to hunt, If the tail is clamped, the hound will be trapped in the hole, so the hound trainer will cut off the tail for them when they are puppies, to avoid the dangers caused by long tails in adulthood.
In addition, the long tail is also easy to expose the whereabouts of the hound, when the hound quietly tracks the prey, a flick of the long tail may alarm the prey, so the tail docking has also become one of the basic means of training the hound, which can reduce the chance of the prey finding the hound and improve the success rate of hunting.
In the environment of frequent fighting with prey, the long tail is also easy to become the weakness of the hound to be scratched, and the tail can be removed by breaking the tail, enhancing the courageous character of the hound and improving their winning rate in the fight.
It can be said that in the context of that time, tail docking was very important for the growth and hunting of hunting dogs, which could not only protect the safety of hunting dogs, but also help hunting dogs better complete their tasks, so gradually, tail docking became a standard hunting dog training content.
With the development of the times, more and more dogs were kept as pets and no longer needed to hunt, but tail docking surgery was still preserved and gradually evolved into a decorative content.
For example, some breeds that are famous for their appearance, such as schnauzers, will ask for their dogs to have their tails docked, the purpose is purely to maintain their body proportions more elegant, in line with the owner's aesthetic requirements, which has nothing to do with the actual needs of the dog.
There is a similar situation in ordinary family dogs, some owners believe that if some breeds of dogs have long tails, the long hair on the tail will be contaminated with feces and affect hygiene, so the owner will choose to cut off the tail for hygiene reasons.
Still others believe that some dog breeds look more proportionate and more aesthetically pleasing than long tails after tail docking, and that this is entirely due to the owner's personal preference rather than the dog's needs.
On the one hand, the tail is as important to a dog as a human third hand, not only expressing the dog's emotions, but also helping the dog maintain balance.
When the dog is happy, the tail will swing from side to side like a flag, when frightened, the tail will be sandwiched between the legs, and when in danger, the tail will hang vertically, by observing the position and movement of the tail, we can roughly judge the dog's mood.
Some dogs are timid by nature and will tuck their tails in fear when they encounter strangers or sudden loud noises, while lively and cheerful dogs will wag their tails excitedly when they see their owners coming home.
The tail also plays an important role in the dog's running, turning, or other movements that require balance, and it acts like a rudder to help the dog adjust its center of gravity and prevent it from losing balance and falling.
Police dogs, hunting dogs and other breeds that need to run at high speed, this function of the tail is particularly obvious, there are experiments to let several police dogs run at full speed on the training ground, and then fix their tails with ropes, as a result, these dogs are out of balance and fall when turning, which shows that the tail is the "fifth limb" to maintain balance for fast-running dogs such as police dogs.
The tail can also help the dog slow down, it has been observed that when the dog needs to slow down, the tail will swing rapidly, generating a certain air resistance, playing the role of "braking", the hound is very fast when chasing prey, and the "braking" function of the tail is needed to decelerate safely.
In the cold winter, the tail also becomes a small blanket for dogs, and dogs will cover their faces with tails to keep warm, which is very similar to the habit of humans covering their faces with scarves.
For some dogs who are afraid of cold, the tail is undoubtedly their mobile warmer, and in cold climates, long-haired dogs such as huskies and Samoyeds wrap their faces and noses with their tails, just like wearing a warm "scarf".
The tail is also an important social tool for dogs, when two dogs meet, they will first sniff each other's tail area to obtain each other's identity information, the dog's tail secretes a special odor substance, through the shaking of the tail can spread their own smell, so the tail is also a "business card" for dogs.
It can be said that the tail is an important communication tool and balancing device for dogs, it can not only express various emotions of dogs, but also maintain body balance when the dog is running at high speed, we must learn to understand dogs by observing the state of the tail, and live in harmony with them.
Dog as the oldest companion of human beings, the relationship with humans can be traced back to ancient times, according to archaeological findings, as early as 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic Age, human ancestors began to have close contact with wolves, after a long period of domestication, wolves gradually evolved into early dogs, and then tens of thousands of years, under the cultivation of human beings intentionally or unintentionally, the characteristics of dogs have undergone great changes.
Compared with the evolutionary time span in the natural environment, the evolution speed of dogs under human dominance can be described as "stepping on the fast-forward button", and in the natural environment, animals need to rely on random genetic mutations, and then retain favorable traits through natural selection.
The whole process took millions of years to accumulate, but under human control, the evolution of dogs took only tens of thousands of years, and humans retained only those individuals that were beneficial to them through selective breeding, while also creating the concept of purebred, artificially prescribing the appearance characteristics of dogs.
The result of this high degree of control has made modern dogs very different from their wild ancestors, such as smaller size, softer fur, and more docile temperament, all of which are the result of human selection based on their own needs.
Of course, there are drawbacks to such a high-speed evolution, excessive inbreeding of purebred dogs has led to many genetic diseases, and humans have paid too much attention to aesthetics in the process of domestication, which has also caused the functional degradation of some breeds.
More specifically, the process of domestication of dogs can be traced back to about 1 BCBetween 50,000 and 30,000 years ago, wolves gradually lived in tandem with the human community.
After a long time together, humans found that wolves have the advantages of strong vigilance and sensitive sense of smell, and are suitable for helping hunting, sentry, etc., so humans began to selectively domesticate wolf offspring by giving positive incentives such as food, and at the same time, they will kill individuals who show ferocity, and gradually screen out docile characteristics.
Domesticated early dogs, such as pastoral hounds, have obvious differences in size and appearance from modern dogs, they have slender limbs, are larger, and still retain a certain hunting instinct.
It was not until the "dog show" activities that began in the 19th century that humans began to deliberately breed different purebred dog breeds, and now the poodles and pugs that seem cute and small are all derived from the purposeful breeding of humans during this period.
It can be seen that the evolution of dogs is the result of human-led "fast forward buttons", and if natural evolution is left unchecked, the wolves may still remain in their original state without such a huge change in a short period of time.
Of course, the high level of involvement has caused some problems, but in general humans have succeeded in transforming the dog from a wild animal to a friend of humans.