Dogs Get Jobs

Since their earliest domestication, dogs helped humans track prey and avoid being preyed upon. The Agricultural Revolution, however, signaled the arrival of specialist dogsthat did more than follow scents and make noise when danger was near. Upon settling down on farms, humans bred dogs with characteristics favorable to specific agricultural tasks like herding livestock—instead of eating them like their wolf ancestors; protecting chickens, pigs, and other farm animals; finding lost animals; and terrorizing and killing pests like mice and rats.