The close, familial relationship with dogs predates civilization by a few tens of thousands of years.

In Chauvet Cave in France, there are a set of footprints that come from a pre-pubescent boy that go for about fifty meters or so alongside the paw prints of a dog. While this may not sound like a big deal, archaeological study has shown that these footprints are about 28,000 years old.

The Natufian culture, located in Mesopotamia/Levant, going back about 12,000 years has clear evidence of ceremonial burial of dogs in a time before the agrarian revolution.

With evidence like this, it appears that mankinds relationship with dogs predates civilization by tens of thousands of years. Additionally, it's a bit of a misnomer to think that only the West has a close relationship with dogs. Jiahu, a Neolithic site in China also has evidence of domesticated dogs that were ceremonially buried.