Dog Training, Keeping and Selection around 1300, Using the Example of Albertus Magnus and Petrus de Crescentiis.

Simple Summary: Dogs have been raised, trained, and exercised by humans for millennia. While new dog training methods keep emerging and other ones vanish, it should be interesting to travel back in time and investigate how dogs were trained throughout history. Interestingly, much of what we know about dog keeping and training has been practiced since ancient times. The oldest dog training guide was written by Athenian writer Xenophon around 420 BC. Later, in the 13th century, Albertus Magnus wrote his extensive work De animalibus, containing an entire chapter about dogs which covers topics ranging from behaviour and breeding to the treatment of diseases. Petrus de Crescentiis had also already reported how dogs could be used for herding and livestock protection. Using the example of these two authors, we delve into the history of ancient dog keeping and breeding. Historical dog training methods reveal that dog training then and now might not have been that different. While some methods that would be considered unacceptable today have vanished over time, much of what we do today has been practiced historically for a long time. Albertus Magnus' De animalibus and Petrus de Crescentiis' Ruralia commodia deliver us historical evidence on how dogs were perceived, kept and trained by our ancestors. Not only were they already kept as pets, but they were also used in a wide range of professions. Dogs were utilized as guard and watchdogs, for hunting and for herding and livestock protection. Dogs are still trained in many of those professions today. From these historical records, we can learn how the perception and use of dogs has been similar or very different from our view on dogs today. We see how certain training methods have persisted over time, giving us an opportunity to ponder on new training and handling methods for man's best friend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]