How Dogs Became Domesticated

Take a good, long look at your dog. Go ahead! Now look back here.

That sweet, furry friend of yours is directly related to one of the most fearsome predators of the ice age, and the fact that your pup is here today dates back to one of the turning points in human history! 

How dogs became domesticated

The world back then

The long, long process of domesticating dogs has a lot to do with how both humans and wolves lived back then. Both human life and the world’s climate were very different to what it’s like now, so let’s take a look at what planet Earth looked like so long ago.

Although it’s so incredibly hard to find a crystal clear picture of how dogs were actually first introduced to humans, we do know that the murky history starts in the late Pleistocene age. This age covers the period of time between about 129,000 years ago and 11,700 years ago, also known as the Last Ice Age. 

So what was happening in the world at the time? Like the name suggests, the world was undergoing great climate changes that included periods of glaciation, which means that the planet experienced colder-than-usual temperatures and glacier advances. For reference, we’re currently in an interglacial age, which is a period of warmer climate.  

The cooler climate did a few things to the landscapes in many parts of the world. Sea levels fell and land bridges popped up, allowing early humans to migrate across continents that are no longer connected. Forests and lush areas were replaced by vast grasslands as the climate cooled and water became more scarce, especially in Asia, Europe and North America. 

The ice age of the Late Pleistocene featured large mammals like the wooly rhinoceros, the giant sloth, the saber-toothed tiger and the mammoth, all of which are extinct today but were formidable creatures at the time. 

Humans back then

Prehistoric humans in the ice age were all hunter-gatherers. We refer to this period of human history as the Middle Paleolithic period, measured from the first appearance of Homo sapiens around 200,000 years ago to the introduction of agriculture at the end of the Ice Age. 

These hunter-gatherer humans travelled across the harsh ice sheets that covered the planet and settled in most of the existing ice-free areas of the world. They relied on the food they foraged or hunted and used simple tools like fishing nets, harpoons and pointed sticks to catch their prey. They lived in camps with a few other families, sometimes having a few dozen people as part of the group.

Dogs back then 

Dogs back then weren’t really dogs at all; they were wolves. 

Scientists have a hard time pinning down the exact species of wolf that served as all dogs’ common ancestor because there’s just not a lot of existing evidence on these Pleistocene-era wolves. Most agree that the ancestor of today's gray wolf is also the ancestor of today’s dog, but that this ancestral population diverged into a domestic and a wild population. Both these populations continued to evolve and breed, eventually giving us the still-wild gray wolf and the much-less-wild domestic dog of today. 

Theories

So, here we are. We’re in this icy, dry area in Eurasia and there are both humans and wolves hunting the same prey on the vast, empty grasslands. The stage is set and all the players have arrived, but how exactly these two mesopredators joined forces will likely be unclear until time machines are invented. 

There are a couple different theories on how humans and wolves started interacting with each other. One could be right, both of them could be right or both of them could be wrong, but it’s likely that a little bit of both happened somewhere between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago. 

Campfire

One popular theory is the campfire theory of dog domestication. Theoretically, wolves started smelling meat being cooked from the human camps and began to venture closer in hopes of stealing a sniff or a bite. As the wolves got closer, they became more comfortable with the presence of humans, and vice-versa. Of course, both humans and wolves were predators in this situation, so it’s likely that it was the more docile and gentle wolves that approached the humans first. 

This cohabitation was a win-win for both the wolves and the humans. The wolves ate the leftover scraps that the humans could not finish, and the humans benefited from having the wolves nearby to warn them of incoming threats. 

Migratory 

Another theory is that humans followed wolves across the vast steppes and grasslands as they hunted for the same prey. Wolves often followed migratory herds of reindeer, caribou and other similar animals and picked off the weak, old and young creatures as they made their slow way across the plains. Some early humans adopted this strategy, leading to the co-migratory relationship between the wolves and the humans as they stalked the same prey and defended against the same predators. 

How wolves became dogs

Again, it’s hard to pinpoint anything in the timeline of dog domestication, but there are some theories as to how wolves slowly went from fellow predators to man’s best friend.

Changes in behavior

One of the more pronounced differences between dogs today and ancient wolves is their psychological evolution. Millenia of living alongside humans have given dogs an ability to read human emotion and behavior better than even the primates to which we are related. Dogs look to humans for help solving problems, and they can learn voice commands and meanings of words. Early humans even learned how to better hunt in packs by watching the way their dogs did!

Changes in genetics

As humans migrated around the world to different climates and regions, the domesticated wolves that migrated with them also changed. The large paws and thick fur that were perfect for northern Siberian winters changed after years in warmer climates and human settlements, and as humans began to use dogs for work they changed in size, shape and agility. 

It’s hard to imagine that the apex predator wolf today is related to the small bundle of fur curled up on your sofa, but it’s the result of thousands of years’ worth of cohabitation, coevolution and communication that make it truly remarkable! If you're interested in more pet histories, check out our article on how cats were domesticated!

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Featured photo courtesy  Pixabay/Free-Photos