This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Batchel. I'm speaking with Jessica Pierce and Mark Becoff.

Their new book is A Dog's World, Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World Without Humans.

Without Humans. That's important here. There's going to be a transition, and then soon there will be dogs around the planet without humans feeding them or bothering them or abusing them or expecting them to look a certain way.

They'll have longer snouts likely. They'll run likely. They'll be of medium weight unless there's a necessity for heavyweights, they'll move in packs.

But reproduction.

Jessica, I come to you because one of the striking details about dogs today is the

paternal member, the parent father, is not encouraged to stick around or doesn't

stick around. And you and mark are speculating

imagining that there would likely be a change when dogs are alone so it wouldn't just be the maternal

it would be the paternal as well did i read that correctly jess? You did. In the way dogs, particularly pet dogs, or dogs who are, you know, highly controlled by humans, you know, we hijack their, the reproductive process in various ways. And one of the ways in which we do that is taking

puppies away at what we consider the perfect age for puppy acquisition, you know, eight

weeks or so. So, you know, you'll see people say, well, dogs don't have father, you know,

parental behaviors, you know, that because we don't

see male dogs engaging in parenting of puppies. But that's, it's not because they can't

or won't. It's because we don't give them the opportunity to do that. And it's, you know,

in studies, there aren't very many, but a few

studies of free-ranging dog parenting behaviors, males do sometimes play a role. So do what are

called the Allo Parents, so aunts and uncles, and older siblings will all probably have a role in the raising of puppies

because, you know, it takes a village.

Mark, it does take a village.

How are the puppies to be protected without humans?

And they do this very well in the wild, but of course they would have probably a high mortality rate.

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