Interesting (to me) article dated about a month and a half ago. I could only see two comments with three replies to one of them.
One comment was 'of course God came first' and got immediately slapped down.
The second comment was (as near as I could tell with a glance) 'Why are we discussing this? Let's go educate people instead.'

I tend to agree with the premise -- I think Dog was invented by people largely to capitalize on existing superstitions -- to improve their lot in society. Dog was not first.

But even in the study they noted that the data is subject to interpretation. I personally doubt there is a definitive conclusion to be had. It'll be opionistic -- everybody will have one.

FTA:
““[E]ven if moralizing gods do not cause the evolution of complex societies, they may represent a cultural adaptation that is necessary to maintain cooperation in such societies once they have exceeded a certain size, perhaps owing to the need to subject diverse populations in multi-ethnic empires to a common higher-level power,” the authors write in the paper.”

Every Atheist knows it's a means to control the simple minded masses! Lol