The Domestication of Dogs

Love is the expansion of the self to include the other. In addition, a wolf’s wisdom can help people dissolve the barrier humans have built over time that obscures the truth about humans’ interconnection with nature. In fact, when this barrier is removed, humans can begin to perceive all of nature as part of their soul family and not as something else which they can destroy at will. In the end, wolves and humans have been close to each other for tens of thousands of years in many ways. Wolves have taught early people how to survive and wolves have also taught early people what spirituality is all about.

Why did we make wolves into our buddies? Why not chimps or some other kind of primate? The answer lies in a few different reasons. Our old pals, even going back to Canis lupus, the gray wolf (the original ancestor of most modern dogs), have human-like qualities. Wolves are clever hunters and gatherers, especially the gray wolf.

Title: Origin of Dog Domestication: How Dogs Evolved to Become Man’s Best Friend Background and rationale: Dogs as a man’s best friend has been a prevalent view point among modern day humans, and some even accept it as fact. However, the genetics behind what makes dogs so compatible with mankind, and the history of domestication are not well known to most. The time of divergence, and geographic origin of dog domestication has been greatly debated, though many firmly believe they are of Asian origin (research article). Many researchers have studied the effects of breeding programs on genetics (pure breed), however the genetics behind initial domestication of dogs from wild wolves has not been well studied. The three following publications focus on these areas, and most show similar findings.

BAM! Dogs, now a man's best friend. The most common pet, thanks to wolves. Now let's go way back in time before dogs existed. Now, wolves gradually evolved into dogs.

If other animals, like silver foxes, domesticate similarly to the way a dog evolves then why were dogs domesticated rather than a different species? The topic of dog domestication poses many unanswered questions. When and where did wolves first interact with humans? How did these two different species interact and why? Even with the species barrier, humans and wolves have a lot in common.

Although dogs are currently viewed primarily as pets, they have not always been viewed this way and have had an evolution of their own. To fully understand dogs, one must take a look at where dogs came from and how they have evolved. Dogs are a subspecies of the gray wolf. Dogs have inherited many behaviors from the wolf ancestors they have evolved from, which make up a great part of who they as dogs are. Wolves, however remain more wild than dogs with tendencies such as dieting on "ungulates, or large hoofed mammals, like elk, deer, moose and caribou.

Wolves are scavengers as well as hunters and may have been some of the first animals to discover this squander treasure (Horowitz, 2009). The least fearful of these wolves became increasingly undaunted by the presence of the unfamiliar humans. Together the two species began to tolerate one another through prolonged encounters until finally, humans began taking in a few pups as “pets” or, in times of hardship, “food.” Eventually, our ancestors began intentionally breeding these “domesticated” wolves to serve as assistant hunters and protectors (Horowitz, 2009). We can only surmise that the functionality of these domestic wolves served a great purpose; for what other reason would justify letting a meat-eater into one’s home? It would be difficult to provide provisions for such an animal and if one were unsuccessful, they befall a risk of becoming their pet wolf’s next meal.

The narrator of the video proposed two hypotheses to explain this evolutionary diversification. The “adoption hypothesis” suggests that our human ancestors thousands of years ago came across an irresistible wolf pup, fell in love with it, and brought it home to raise as a pet. Through constant battles with the predatory instincts of wolves, our ancestors were able to artificially select for the tamest animal and eventually domesticate the wolves, which became the dogs. On the other hand, the “leftover hypothesis” proposes that the domestication of wolves came about as a by-product of city development. When human settled down in villages, waste dumps would have inevitably appeared.

Domestic Dog, mammal generally considered to be the first domesticated animal. This trusted work partner and beloved pet learned to live with humans more than 14,000 years ago. A direct descendant of the wolves that once roamed Europe, Asia, and North America, the domestic dog belongs to the dog family, which includes wolves, coyotes, foxes, and jackals. Dog ancestry has been traced to small, civet-like mammals, called miacis, which had short legs and a long body and lived approximately 40 million years ago. The evolving relationship between the domestic dog and humans has been documented in fossil evidence, artifacts, and records left by earlier civilizations.

The original species domesticated at the time, was the gray wolf, or Canis lupus. Dog domestication began for a myriad of reasons, protection, food, fur, and to act as a beast of burden. Even today, domestication of dogs continues in numerous ways in order to create a 'better' companion. Originally, some authors wrote that dogs were descended from a species of wild dog, now extinct, that was distinct from wolves; this has since been disproved. The earliest carnivorous fossils, that can be linked to some variation of wolf or fox, are the Miacids that lived during the Eocene period, approximately 38 to 56 million years ago.