I had a shower thought about human/dog relationship throughout our history: Our relationship with dogs predate even our use of written language (as far as i know). Its almost as if owning a dog is a fundamental part of being human in a soco-symbiotic sense, they have been with us longer than almost anything. We've shaped them and they've helped us survive.
It got me thinking, what were the earliest documented cases of dog domestication? What civilizations favored dog domestication over others and why? What were they used for? and have any of these breeds stood the test of time and still exist today?
This is a very difficult question to answer and the research is ongoing. Dogs appear somewhere around 19,000-32,000 years ago according to current genetic research although there is still a great deal of debate with other researchers arguing for earlier dates. There is a lot of controversy and debate surrounding the actual circumstances domestication. The classical theories of wolves being tamed by humans is falling out of favor by most researchers and many now favor a more self-domestication theory, but it's still being debated and unlikely we will ever have a clear understanding of what really happened all those thousands of years ago. The earliest dog burials date back to around 14,000 years ago and dogs seem to have been integrated into almost every group as their remains are found in conjunction with human burials and archaeological site on every major landmass as humans spread. We can only guess at their original use but it is likely they were used to raise the alarm against predators or strangers. We do know they were used as pack animals by a number of societies and at least later as hunting partners. As we define dog breeds currently there are no real ancient breeds (although many breed histories claim ancient origins). Until recently dogs were bred for function, not form.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0063740
http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/58553/1/Jaa.pdf
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/advpub/0/advpub_150508/_pdf http://phys.org/news/2011-10-evidence-domestication-dogs-paleolithic-period.html http://www.seeker.com/worlds-oldest-dog-debated-1765083382.html#news.discovery.com
I'm in a rush so not going to be able to provide references, but I read a number of biohistory and genetic papers about animal domestication (specifically dogs and cats) while at university. It is fairly clear that this is a very grey area but it seems likely that dogs began to partially self domesticate in the near east and Mesopotamia around 11 or 12,000BC, approximately around the time it is thought humans in this area began the transition to more sedentary societies. It is possible that a group of wolves exploited the new early agricultural systems to their advantage which very gradually led to wolves and humans in these areas becoming accustomed to each other and eventually to quasi-domestication. Of course this is very speculative stuff, but it's interesting to think of the possibilities.