We all know that dogs are a man’s (and woman’s) best friend. They are always there by our side, filled with unconditional love. But this was not always the case, so how did we end up with such a loving pet and companion?
One theory is that our human ancestors may have accidentally domesticated wilds dogs by giving them their leftover dinner. Sometime during the ice age, our ancestors decided to share their surplus meat with wolves, beginning the process of transforming the wild dogs into the pets we know and love today.
They (dogs) became our best friends more than 12,000 years ago
However, we are still uncertain about the timing and the causes for domestication. DNA evidence and carbon dating suggests that the bloodlines of dogs and wolves separated between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago. The oldest dog burial is from approximately 14,000 years ago, which suggests that humans regarded them as pets by then.
We are also unsure where the domestication first occurred, although the general consensus is that it occurred in either Asia or Europe. There is also the possibility that domestication occurred in multiple regions at around the same time.
The reason why humans decided to domesticate dogs is also unclear, especially as dogs are the only animals that were domesticated before farming was invented. One theory suggests that dogs were domesticated in order to help with hunting. Another theory suggests that wolves became accustomed to humans after scavenging through the waste dumps and being around humans for a long time. The most prominent theory, however, is that dogs adapted to living alongside humans after they were given the surplus and leftover food from humans.
Back in the ice age when ice covered most of the land, humans and wolves would have both been at the top of the food chain. Thus they would have competed with each other for food. However, wolves are able to survive for months on just lean meat. Humans however, cannot. Human bodies are only able to handle a limited amount of protein. Thus we supplement protein with foods from other food groups such as fat and vegetables as well.
Our ancestors realised that wolves made a great hunting partner
Maria Lahtinen and her team from the Finnish Food Authority calculated how much food was available during that time based on the number of animal species living there. They determined that there was a high possibility that the human hunter gatherers would have excessive amounts of lean meat, more than what they could consume. This suggests that wolves may have consumed the excess meat and thus the two species were actually co-operating with one another instead of competing with each other for food. It is possible that humans were able to share their food with the wolves while still enjoying their fill.
Furthermore, Lahtinen suggests that humans may have ‘adopted’ young wolf pups who were orphaned, and treated them like how we treat our dogs now. Initially, they probably didn’t have any plans for the pups in the long run. However, the domesticated wolves probably proved to be a very capable and useful hunting companion when they grew older. Thus, reinforcing the idea to domesticate them in our ancestors’ minds.
Which is how we ended up with the dogs we all know and love today.
To understand how much we are willing to do for our pets, read this story of how a man pushed his dog on a wheelbarrow up a mountain as a final adventure.
