Jada Daley

A Man’s Best Friend 

Jada Daley

HI303 

Brooke Blower

05/05/2023

When you hear the saying “A man’s Best Friend” what automatically pops into your head? If you were to say a dog, then you would be correct. The term “A man’s Best Friend” is used to describe a domestic dog. Adjectives that are associated with dogs are loyal, companionship, and friendship - all of which are things that humans value in one another as well as animals. The phrase came from a proverb “A Dog is a man’s best friend” in 1789, which was accredited to King Frederick of Prussia. It is he who said that “the only, absolute and best friend a man has, in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his dog”. However, this idea of companionship between dogs and man didn't always start that way. Throughout American history, dogs have played an important role as loyal companions to not only men but also women and children due to their evolution and domestication. Therefore, it is essential to recognize and appreciate the significant emotional and practical support that dogs offer to individuals and families and to recognize the enduring value of dogs in human lives and their impact on society from ancient history to the present times. 

The evolution of the domestication of dogs is a hard timeline to follow. Researchers state that dogs, which are from the Canidae family, evolved from grey wolves in Asia around 15000 years ago. Other members of their family also include wolves, coyotes, and jackals. The domestication of dogs is often hard to trace due to evidence of different dog fossils being found in present times in different countries. However, it is known that many different dog species can be found in different environments around the world ranging from the desert to the Arctic.  

The evolution of a dog's timeline dates back over 60 million years ago. The animal structure was very different compared to dogs today, often compared to “a weasel which had much shorter legs and a smaller brain than modern-day dogs. It also had the typical distinctive carnivore teeth but walked on the soles of its feet.” (“Time for Paws”). As they began to evolve many defining characteristics such as their teeth and what made up their digestive systems were key indicators of domestication. Over the years one species of wolf became a more generic and less threatening demeanor compared to a wolf and humans began to start to domesticate them. 

When the European settlers arrived in the 1500s, they bought dogs as a tool to help conquer and win wars. They used different breeds of dogs such as bulldogs, sheepdogs, and guard dogs after the conquest to accumulate in the new world. Humans are the first to introduce the idea of breeding these animals to fit certain characteristics needed to survive. The Sheepdog, which can be dated to around the pyramids of Egypt, “were clearly natural born sheep-slayers, and the motive abides by this day in all the breeds which have the strength to assail our unresisting flocks. (Shaler, “Domesticated Animals”, 19). Shaler is describing the use of certain dogs, and why they are built in a specific way to get a role or task done. Also, the Journal mentions the use of dogs strictly for their intelligence and how they can adapt and accustomed to the life of their master swiftly.  Shaler mentions that if there is a need for employed labor, the association with a superior being was a very high measure of serving or intending to be educated by their master. However, as years go by, the early condition of humility was when a master would go through a famine and the normal tradition of feeding on their animals decreased with the ones who showed more affection and companionship, thus building a sense of trust. 

Around the 18th century, middle-class families would begin to develop new roles for dogs, switching from dogs being a protector to a sign of wealth and status. Dogs such as lap dogs began to rise in popularity, they were designed to sit on a lady’s lap. Due to their unusual size and variation, the use of these dogs was questioned; they were only associated with domestic and private life and had no connection to work like other unusual breeds before the 18th century.  This new breed of dogs will create riffles in newspapers and among the neighboring community with different stereotypes.  These dogs were now being put on a new pedestal and it was due to a new reason from before.  (Austen, “Lapdogs in the Eighteenth Century).

Pet-keeping which arrived when the European settlers came to America has now since evolved to a more intimate and personal inclusion of animals in a domesticated household or scene. Keith Thomas appoints a 3 criteria system of pet-keeping stating that a pet living in a domesticated area, as well as it having a name given to it by the owner and belonging to an animal species that doesn’t belong to a food source, was deemed as a fit pet. This newfound definition would lead to a lot of revolutions of keeping pets inside a household and many benefits that would succumb. Furthermore, building this idea of companionship expands to not only a man but to women as well. 

With the newfound definition in the late 18 century in European culture, pets began to be seen as a companion to help fill empty voids in human relationships such as replacing loved ones who passed away.  Lapdogs can be accredited to the first introduction of having an intimate relationship with your pet, due to these dogs giving society something that is indeed missing in this generation, which was affection and love. During this developing relationship, owners were known to have their pets sleep in their beds, eat at the same table, and even wore jewels, and the most prominent of them all is pets being in family portraits. 

The industrial revolution was a time period that changed the way the average American worked. It switched many farm men to office men leaving their wives with an empty void in the house as they began to leave for work as opposed to staying.  Even though a dog is coined to be “A man’s best friend”, it was a woman's partner during the late 18 century into the 19th.  Women began to depend emotionally on dogs during this time, thus expanding their emotional connection. During this time literary culture started to portray lap dogs as a substitute for intimate human relationships among women. Many criticized the relationship calling it immoderate and unordinary as I brought some shame to those who were either single or in a relationship. However, the increased amount of affection and love shown to these pets started a new realization that they too needed to be protected, just like humans, thus switching from being the guard dog to being a member of the family. 

As we move into the 19th century, pet ownership would begin to become more socially acceptable due to the new moral values pets had in the household. The idea of a dog only being beneficial to men was beginning to change as people realized the benefits it had for children. 

The Victorians, who were people who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837- 1901, started to theorize that having these pets would build character for children, specifically boys. Hamlet said, “The Victorians were very interested in the home and domestic life, and bringing up children was seen as very important for creating the right kind of morality in society,”. (Ferguson, “How the Victorians turned mere beasts into man’s best friends”). Hamlet was making the argument that pets were now needed to help develop morality and a lot of advice manuals during this time explained the importance of that. However, this only applied to the middle class, due to the amount of money it took to upkeep these dogs. The lower class would often go for blackbirds and linnets to build these relationships and help raise their children. With the absence of men in the house, women now had to take on more of the role of caregivers and often relied on animals, especially dogs. 

With the increased presence of pets in the household, Women during the Industrialization period were turning to these nonhuman companion animals to help socialize their children. Katherine Grier mentions the split into two domains that greatly opposed each other during the 19 century, from “a Bank-note World”, where “One was hard and rational, commercial and masculine, which made no place for ties of the heart”, to a “private and decidedly feminine” (Grier, Childhood Socialization and Companion Animals: United States, 99). With this new split, Home Interest is now at the front and is being pushed in weekly newspapers and Sunday- School Union. Therefore, creating a new wave of parents shifting to this private home lifestyle and adding pets into their household to help strengthen it. 

Middle-class American families started to become convinced that animals can play a role in socializing children with the new virtues of kindness and sympathy. They were used to train children about cruelty and self-consciousness. Victorians brought traditional wisdom into their domestic idea of kindness further incorporating animals into the household. Additionally, religion played a factor as well, with evangelical Protestantism, which argued the importance of emotions. Grier elaborates on the push to use animals as a resource to help “boys we were developmentally prone to cruelty and whose youthful cruelty had implications both for the future of family life and for the body politic.” (Grier, 95). We can thus correlate the rise of dogs in the household during this time to Victorians, religion, and the industrialization period. With the use of dogs, the term “A man’s Best friend” is beginning to correspond with helping a man or boy in this case, be kinder and affectionate to those around. With a newfound dependence on the kindness of their owners and constant care, pet keeping made It very useful for the socialization of middle-class boys. Pets keeping during the 19 century was explicitly made to “help create good men in a culture that worried a great deal about the nature of manhood itself” (Grier 113).  Furthermore, building that trust and connection between a boy and their pet establishes a co-dependence on one another that would grow into companionship. 

Companionship and the roles that came along with it were often argued. The idea of having pets in the house was often switched from good and bad in the 20th century. During the health reforms in the Early 20th, some stated that adding pets to your house can transfer diseases to your children. However, many pet shop owners such as Henry bishop, address these concerns in his book titled “Treatise on Birds and Aquaria”, mentioning it made houses more healthful. The naming of pets also showed increased signs of companionship as it expressed psychological closeness in the 20th century. Along with the importance of play, it could help the emotional intelligence of children and the rise of boys' and girls' hood of the 19th and 20th centuries. The well-being of pets became an important factor in the household as the bond began to strengthen. The increased dependence that humans put on dogs made it so that the general physical well-being of their animals was taken care of. This practice continues to this day in the 21 century. With the introduction of fleas, many owners would spend money to protect their pets and even send them to veterinarians to get them examined often. The continued development of kindness and care for non-human individuals would continue for centuries and the bond that a human has with their pet is undeniable.

 The evolution over time of a man's best friend can be accredited to multiple things. Many different factors have played a role in why humans are so emotionally attached to these furry animals, making it hard for some people to live without them.  Our loyal companions have been by our side for decades and continue to provide humans with protection and affection from day one. Not only do they provide emotional support for men, but multiple different members of the family. The emotional connection that has grown over the years has now grown to dependence as well to build one's character by showing love and respect to all. Dogs have changed the way humans look at life from an emotional standpoint and have further developed humans’ emotional intelligence and ability to love.

End Notes 

1. Grier, Katherine C. Pets in America: A History. Harvest Book, 2006. 

2. Guardian News and Media. (2019, October 19). How the Victorians turned mere beasts into man's best friends. The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2023, fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/19/pets-how-victorians-turned-beats-into-mans-best-friends

3. Childhood socialization and companion animals: Katherine C. Grier1 ...(n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2023, fromhttps://www.animalsandsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/grier.pdf

4. Shaler, N. S. (1895, January 1). Domesticated animals. Retrieved March 22, 2023, fromhttps://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/93575#page/13/mode/1up

5. Lapdogs. eighteenthcenturylit [licensed for non-commercial use only] / Lapdogs. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2023, fromhttp://eighteenthcenturylit.pbworks.com/w/page/112788235/Lapdogs

6. FIGURE 2.1. Horace Parker Chandler (1842–1919), unidentified man throwing a ball for  a dog, 1880s. Courtesy of Historic New England/SPNEA

7. Creator: Charles Ansell (1752-1784) 

                 Title: A group of ladies and gentlemen in a garden

                 Date: 1791

                 Repository: British Museum Dept. of Prints and Drawings, 1890-5-12-5 

                 (http://www.britishmuseum.org/) 

                 Collection: Gernsheim Photographic Corpus of Drawings

8. Pet Ownership Statistics in 2023 | the Zebra. https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/pet-ownership-statistics/. 

9. Nakaya, Rion, director. The Kid Should See This, 6 Mar. 2023, https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/wolf-to-dog-evolution-how-dogs-eventually-became-our-best-friends . Accessed 3 Apr. 2023. 

10. “Where Do Domesticated Dogs Come from? A Guide to the Evolution of Dogs: UKS #1 Pet Blog.” Time for Paws,https://www.timeforpaws.co.uk/s/Complete-Guide-To-Dog-Evolution.

11. “Marley & Me Trailer [HD].” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Mar. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1nBOa-MkNw.

12. “A Stunning Stat: There Are More American Households with Pets than Children.” Www.nar.realtor, 13 Mar. 2023, https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/a-stunning-stat-there-are-more-american-households-with-pets-than-children. 

13. “How Dogs (Eventually) Became Our Best Friends.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 Mar. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDt0HKSdRRw. 

14. Bishop, Henry. Bishop the Bird Man's Book on the Care of Birds and Aquaria. Henry Bishop, Inc., 1934.