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Eventually, early humankind found that the canines would bark at approaching danger, alerting the people living there. This led to ancient humans intentionally feeding and training these animals to perform useful tasks around their homesteads, such as guarding the property, protecting livestock, herding livestock, and assisting with hunting food, and this soon extended into warfare against other tribes. Archaeologists think that dogs were first used by humans for warfare purposes about 15,000 years ago when animals were first domesticated.

This illustration depicts war dogs in ancient Assyria. The Assyrians were one of many ancient peoples who utilized canines in war.

Dogs with Heroic Jobs

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