The theory was that ancient people took wolf pups from their dens, adopted them, fed them, trained and tamed them.
For one thing, the wolf was domesticated at a time when modern humans were not very tolerant of carnivorous competitors. In fact, after modern humans arrived in Europe around 43,000 years ago, they pretty much wiped out every large carnivore that existed, including saber-toothed cats and giant hyenas. How dogs came to be domesticated – Scientists suggest in a new study that dogs were first domesticated in Europe many thousands of years ago. This is the head of a Pleistocene wolf from the Trou des Nutons cave in Belgium, estimated to be 26,000 years old. This was a particularly large wolf species. Traditionally, the experts studying the evolution of modern dogs believed that domestication was a conscious effort of humans. The theory was that ancient people took wolf pups from their dens, adopted them, fed them, trained and tamed them. Since the time of Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the origin of domesticated dogs, speculating wildly about how, when and where a toothy, flesh-eating beast was first transformed into man’s best friend. Some experts believe humans were naturally drawn to small, furry wolf pups, and seized them as novelties. Regardless, historians agree that humans domesticated dogs before any other animal -- making dog man's oldest friend, if not his best. Scientists can only guess how dogs and humans first became friendly. A popular theory suggests that humans began taking in wolf pups and eventually were able to tame them. Another theory proposes that the tamest wolves were not afraid to rummage through human trash sites to find food. Evidence of a Certain Domestication Partnership. A burial site in Germany called Bonn-Oberkassel has joint human and dog interments dated to 14,000 years ago. The earliest nobody-argues-about-it domesticated dog was found in China at the early Neolithic (7000-5800 BC) Jiahu site in Henan Province. Dog history is really the history of the partnership between dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and humans. That partnership is based on human needs for help with herding and hunting, an early alarm system, and a source of food in addition to the companionship many of us today know and love. How dogs came to be domesticated – The head of a Palaeolithic dog from the Goyet cave in Belgium, thought to be 36,000 years old. Researchers believe the species that this fossil represents was an ancient sister-group to all modern dogs and wolves.
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why did humans domesticate dogs