NARRATOR: Here was an animal from the wilderness that actively sought out our presence and our friendship, an animal that followed us and understood our intentions. The dog was the very first creature to be domesticated and live amongst us.

NARRATOR: How did ancient people respond to the new creature that mysteriously had a foot in the animal world and a foot in our own?

NARRATOR: On the temple walls of this 15-hundred-year-old pyramid the dog takes its place amongst the sacred animals.

NARRATOR: The dog had become a creature of magic. This is the dog believed to feature in the mural, known as the Xoloitzcuintli (Show-low-eetz-queent-lee), the dog of the God Xolotl (Show-LOW-tl), believed to have been used in ritual practices by the Chichimeca (Chih-chih-MECK-ah) people. The Xoloitzcuintli, though very rare, still exists in Mexico. Its unique hairless skin is believed to have given these dogs special significance for the Chichimecas.

NARRATOR: The genetic mutation that causes these dogs to be born without hair also results in them missing certain teeth, making it unusually easy for archaeologists to identify the dogs at their sacred burial sites.

NARRATOR: The Xolo is not alone in its use as a ritual dog. Humans have been sacrificing dogs for as long as 12 thousand years.

NARRATOR: On virtually every landmass and in every major culture dogs have been buried with people. In Israel, archaeologists have unearthed the 12-thousand-year-old remains of a woman holding a puppy.

NARRATOR: In Kazakhstan, dog skeletons have been discovered buried in the foundations of houses 6 thousand years old, apparently as spiritual guardians of the homes.

NARRATOR: What was it that first drew ancient people to bury their dead with dogs?

SUSAN CROCKFORD: I think if we are right and that that, this process of a wolf turning into a dog happened very quickly, it seems to me that it probably happened within a human lifespan. And if you can imagine being someone living in one of these first early settlements and actually seeing with your own eyes this wolf turn into a dog. It really seems likely to me that you might think that a dog really had some kind of magical power, so that being able to include a dog with a burial, especially of a revered person, an important person in the community, would have given this added protection to guard that spirit as they move along into the after life.

NARRATOR: Dogs are still believed to have magical powers in the far reaches of Mexico.

NARRATOR: Gudelia Mendiata (goo-DAYLEEAH MEN-dee-atta) keeps Xolo dogs because she believes they have the power to heal illness and pain.

NARRATOR: After a lifetime of hard work as a clothes washer, Gudelia has severe rheumatism in many of her joints.

NARRATOR: Her solution is the healing power of her dogs, whose skin is hot to the touch, especially the puppies.

GUDELIA: When they are small I wash them really well and then I place them so that they can get rid of my cramps. You put them here like this and then they burn, burn from how hot they get. If you have rheumatism you put them wherever it hurts.

NARRATOR: We can begin to understand why the ancient Chichimeca might have felt these hairless dogs possessed something unique when we look at a Xolo puppy litter.

NARRATOR: Many of the pups in the litter of a hairless dog will be born with fur because the genetic mutation that causes the bare skin will only be passed on to a few of her litter.

NARRATOR: The hairless pups are very special.

NARRATOR: When dogs joined our community thousands of years ago it seems that we quickly embraced them as magical and spiritual companions. But people were to discover that dogs could also offer us something else unique that could make or break the survival of our communities, their bark.

NARRATOR: In Staffordshire, England, a man approaches an isolated country home. With nobody around for miles, it’s a perfect target for an intruder. But this house has 24-hour protection.

JAMES SERPELL: It’s a very intimidating kind of display seeing these large dogs rushing up to the gate like that, producing these deafening barks, it’s the ultimate deterrent if you like. My stealth has gone, now everyone knows I am here.

NARRATOR: With the permission of their owner, the guards allow Zoologist James Serpell (SIR-pel) to enter their territory.

JAMES: Hi dogs, hello dogs, hello dogs.

NARRATOR: A recent study in the United Kingdom showed that a barking dog is a stronger deterrent against burglars than a burglar alarm.

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