Australian Working Stock Dog Magazine - June 2018

W

ith a shared non-verbal language, a considerable amount

of shared instinctive behaviour, and very similar DNA it

is easy to accept the common belief that the dog was domes-

ticated from the wild wolf ten to fourteen thousand years ago

at the time modern man was moving toward more intensive

agriculture and the domestication of sheep, cattle, goats and

horses. What I refer to as the “Hollywood” model accepted by

many novelists involves a hunter gatherer bringing a wolf cub

back to the camp where it is subsequently tamed and used in

the hunt. According to this version the wolf subsequently be-

comes domesticated and over many generations evolves into

the dogs of today.

An alternate view, strongly championed by researcher and au-

thor Toby Paxton, is that the dog was never in fact domesticat-

ed but in fact became habituated to humans many thousands

of years earlier and in efect co-evolved with modern humans.

To attempt to resolve this issue I have looked at the domestica-

tion process and the indings of archaeologists and scientists

over recent years.

I have come across one rather disastrous attempt to domesti-

cate the wolf in China and extensive literature on wolves and

wolf dog crossbreds in North America. Apparently the keep-

ing of a wolf or a wolf dog crossbred is considered a status

symbol in some sections of US culture. DNA testing of many

of the supposed wolf dog crossbreds has shown many are in

fact crossbred of Husky, Malamute, and/or German Shepherd.

here are quite a few genuine wolves and wolf dog crossbred

kept as pets or guard dogs with increasing concern regarding

the danger this represents to humans and livestock.

Wolf cubs raised with people from a young age can oen be

tamed and in some instances trained. he term trained has no

clear deinition and means diferent things to diferent people.

he response to training is reported as inconsistent with the

wolf at times responding well and at other times ignoring the

handler. One recent study in the USA reported that around

98% of wolves and wolf dog crossbreds kept as pets are eutha-

nised, usually due to temperament problems. Even aer sever-

al generations of mating together of tamed wolves the progeny

still reacts similarly to irst generation wolves and could not

be considered as domesticated. US researchers consider that

the likelihood of current varieties of wolf being domesticated

is slight.

he domestication of the fox in Russia is a very interesting

study into the domestication process. he project is variably

described as an attempt to improve the breeding of foxes for

furs or alternatively show the process that would have been

used to domesticate the wolf. In my opinion this research pro-

ject clearly shows that the idea of a hunter gatherer bringing

wolf cubs back to the camp and breeding them to eventually

produce the modern dog is extremely unlikely.

he Russian experiment was conducted by highly qualiied

geneticists under very controlled conditions. In the late 1950s

the most docile foxes were selected from fur farms through-

out Russia. hese foxes were then bred together, and the cubs

evaluated for signs of fear or aggression. he most docile were

then bred together. Aer 6 generations physical diferences

were starting to emerge, such as changes in coat colour, and

changes in head and ear conformation. he cull rate was still

extremely high with only 18% being classed as domesticat-

ed aer 10 generations. Aer 20 generations the success rate

moved to 35%. Currently 70% to 80% show similar behaviour

to domestic dogs. Up to 30% still do not make the grade.

If the wolf cannot be domesticated, how and when did the

modern dog develop? he oldest known dog skull was dis-

covered in Belgium in the 1860s and has been dated at 31,700

years ago. his is clearly a dog, not a wolf skull, showing the

dog was clearly developed at this time. Analysis of mitochon-

drial DNA shows that wolves, jackals, and coyotes began to di-

verge around 1 million years ago. he divergence of dogs from

wolves occurred much later at around 135,000 years ago. he

relationship of current era dogs and wolves could better be de-

scribed as cousins rather than siblings. hey share a common

ancestor but have followed diferent evolutionary journeys.

Genetic divergence commonly occurs as the result of climate

change or the opening of some ecological niche that can be ex-

ploited. he period of divergence from wolves coincides with

modern humans becoming established in Eurasia. It is hypoth-

esised that the surrounds of human camps and caves provided

waste that could be exploited by the dog’s ancestors similarly

to the pariah dogs found in many third world villages today.

DNA analysis indicates that this may have occurred inde-

pendently in both east and west Eurasia. People and dogs may

have become gradually habituated to each other over an ex-

tended period, perhaps even hundreds or thousands of years,

before clear cooperation was established between the two spe-

cies. Over the extended period of close association, while the

dog has retained its nonverbal language and some instinctive

wolf behaviour patterns, many aspects of the wolfs’ inherited

behaviours have been eliminated while other behaviour pat-

terns have been strongly established. Most notably the dogs’

ability to bond with another species, its ability to read human

body language, and the dogs ability to respond to training.

THE DOG

Not a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

By Ken Sykes

http://www.stockdogs.com.au AWSDM 83