When we think of pets, the dog is, without a doubt, one of the first that comes to mind. But do you know when the domestication of man's best friend began? Nothing more and nothing less than 16,000 years ago. In fact, the dog was the first animal to be domesticated by humans.
Origin of domestication of the dog
With complete certainty, the dog was the first animal domesticated by humansThe process was slow and gradual, so it is not possible to establish exactly when the domestication of the dog began, although the most recent discoveries suggest that its origin took place in the Upper Palaeolithic, around 16,000 years
Most studies support that all dogs, regardless of breed, descend from the gray wolf (Canis lupus). However, it is still unknown where the domestication of dogs began, that is, where the wolf and the human being came into contact for the first time.
What is known for sure is what was the decisive factor that caused the first encounters between wild wolves and people. This was none other than the end of the Ice Age. The harsh living conditions that devastated the planet during this era condemned human beings to practice nomadism, that is, to live in constant movement to find new shelters to protect themselves and survive. Specifically, it was during the last glaciation that humanity suffered (the Würm glaciation) when the domestication of the dog began.
Dog domestication theories
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been multiple theories that have tried to explain the true origin of the domestic dog, although the exact way in which it was produced is unknown to date the connection between dogs and people.
Next, we collect some of the theories that try to explain the domestication of the dog:
- Mutual benefit: one of the theories about the origin of domestication maintains that the beginning of the relationship between the dog and the human was produced for mutual benefit. That is to say, that in some way an alliance was produced between both species, since both derived a benefit from the relationship. On the one hand, the wolves took advantage of food waste left by people in hunting places or near settlements. On the other hand, humans benefited from the protection from other predators that wolves offered them by prowling around their settlements.
- Domestication by accident: This theory suggests that meat may have played a fundamental role in the domestication of dogs. Specifically, he maintains that when human beings still practiced nomadism, wolves began to approach to consume the meat waste that the nomads left behind. In these approaches, some hunters could have adopted some orphaned cubs to feed them, finding signs of affection and submission in them and integrating them into the family group, but without the clear objective of domesticating the species. This could be the beginning of an accidental (unintended) domestication.
- Self-domestication: This theory holds that it was the wolves who began their own domestication process, approaching human settlements in search of heat and food. These wolves put aside hunting and thus became scavengers and scavengers. With the passage of consecutive generations, they modified their genetic characteristics, giving rise to a different population capable of living in close contact with human beings.
However, as we have already mentioned, the true origin of the relationship between dogs and humans remains an open question.
Dog domestication process
The history of dog domestication can be understood as a process divided into two stages:
- A first stage, in which the wild wolves were domesticated until they gave rise to primitive dogs.
- A second stage, in which certain characters of interest were selected, to give rise to the more than 300 existing dog breeds nowadays.
Regardless of whether it was the wolves who approached the humans or whether it was the humans who caused the approach to the wolves, the result of that first contact was the beginning of a process of domestication with which, after thousands of years of evolution, genetic differences began to emerge between wild wolves and those that lived near human settlements.
From these primitive dogs, humans were selecting certain characters of behavior, appearance or ability, which were particularly useful to them.
By means of selection by directed crossbreeding, groups of dogs began to differentiate in which certain characteristics were consolidated, which led to the establishment of the first canine breeds (like the basenji). In addition to the selection of the first breeds, training and human care also greatly influenced the domestication process.
Why were dogs domesticated?
All the animal domestication processes were beneficial for both parties involved:
- On the one hand, human beings obtained important advantages, such as obtaining food, shelter and support in different tasks.
- In return, the animals received protection and food.
Specifically, the dog was domesticated out of the need to have an ally for hunting, herding, resource protection and companionshipAs the relationship between primitive dogs and humans became closer, these animals began to be incorporated into the daily life of the settlements.
Over time, humans selected those characteristics that were most useful to them, such as speed, ease of moving through water, hunting skills or the ability to withstand extreme temperatures.
