New Delhi, Aug. 22 -- The dog has aged well. Out for a walk with a beloved human, that classic c-curved Desi Kutta tail raised jauntily, their happiness has radiated off the walls of Bhimbetka's caves for at least 12,000 years. Among the prehistoric and ancient cave paintings of these rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh, there are 41 featuring dogs-one on a leash, most free-roaming, another Canis familiaris caught in mid-stride, graceful, joyous.

It's hard to remember, in the middle of a moral panic, that the bond between humans and dogs is an old one, stretching all the way down the centuries to the 2nd or 3rd century BC. But perhaps it's worth it to go back that far, to the vivid figurines of fighting dogs or collared dogs from Harappa and...