No animal reflects social change like a dog. Currently, dogs are expected to give up their hunting instincts and instead act as replacement children or social contacts for disaffected city dwellers, or entertain the old, act as therapists for the autistic, escort the handicapped, teach children social competence, diagnose cancer, warn people of an epileptic attack and prove themselves on the exercise course every Saturday. The dog does what has been expected of it for millennia: it adapts, not always smoothly. In the course of these developments, we forget what it means to be a dog, and what it once meant to be a hunter. It is time for an examination of this part of our culture.