Origin of official cynology (initial stages of emergence and development of dog breeding)

Abstract

The article describes the first stages of the origin of cynology in the history of society. Cynological activity has quite ancient roots, the dog is the first animal to be domesticated by man. The purpose of domestication was the need to use the dog's abilities to their advantage. The primary benefits were during hunting and housing protection, later dogs began to be used during hostilities and as sled dogs. Over time, the forms of use of dogs in official activities have changed significantly, they began to be used in police activities, during rescue operations, for sabotage and others. In ancient times, the use of service dogs mostly took place on the hunt. Hunting dogs became widespread in the Middle Ages. Hunting with a dog is initially a privilege of the nobility, but later dogs become an integral attribute of hunters. The article attempts to analyze the process of origin of cynology as a separate branch of science, which can be considered the origin of service cynology in particular. Emphasis is placed on the fact that to this day it is impossible to reliably determine the beginning of the initial stage of cynology development. This is due to the fact that in different parts of the world cynology was born spontaneously and the processes of dog breeding took place almost separately. Methods, forms and methods of using dogs in one or another type of official activity in prehistoric and ancient times are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the main methods of using dogs, which have not lost their relevance and are now a guard service, as well as assistance in hunting. The conditional criterion of distribution of all period of origin and development of cynology on stages is offered.