Page 4 - Summer 2012

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The idea of us having domesticated the wolf
would suggest that we could therefore tame a
very young wolf and it would behave just like a
domestic dog but this has not been the case.
Over the years, many people have tried to tame
wolves and they have had little success. Even
those dogs that are the result of mating wolves
and dogs have turned out to be far more wild
than expected. The offspring were all escape
artists, would eat the ducks and cats etc., and
whilst they became used to human presence,
they remained wild. They could not be stroked
in the way a domestic pet can be. Compare
this situation with puppies which are born
tame having genetically adapted over many
thousands of years. Whilst some may succumb
to the urge to chase livestock, most do not. We
also find that they may be trained to do specific
tasks, something that wolves will not do.
It is thought that the evolution of dogs has
progressed through many generations.
When man began to build villages, some
wolves would become less fearful and begin
scavenging around these sites. With each
generation they would become less and less
fearful and then gradually become tame.
This would occur through very many
generations and with increasing familiarity
with man, they became trainable. In effect,
wolves domesticated themselves. Recognising
their value, man would then begin breeding
them to assist in herding and retrieving.
There are dogs all over the world living on the
outskirts of human settlements, scavenging on
dumps, and feeding on discarded human food
rather than hunting in packs like wolves. These
are the closest relatives to the domestic dog we
know today. They tend to breed twice yearly as
do domestic dogs whilst wolves breed only
once a year. The differences in feeding, hunting
and breeding patterns, directly affect their
behaviour and social structures and are
another major difference between dogs and
wolves. So we can see that it has not been
simply a case of taming the wolf.
Many other changes have developed during
evolution too. For instance, not only does a
wolf have a larger head than a similar sized
dog (20% bigger), but a dog’s brain is
20-25% smaller than a wolf’s, which has
led to suggestions that wolves are more
intelligent and have evolved to survive in
a more challenging environment. Their
jaws remain stronger and their teeth
more suited to hunting than their
domesticated cousins.
It seems that the theory that the dog
in our living room is simply a tame
wolf isn’t quite as simple as we
once thought it to be.
For further reading on this
subject please take a look
at ‘Dogs; A Startling New
Understanding of Canine
Origin, Behaviour and
Evolution’ by Raymond
and Lorna Coppinger.
It has long been a commonly held belief that the dogs we live with today are the
descendants of wolves that were tamed and domesticated by early man. Ideas
and theories about them have been based on this assumption. We assume that
their dietary needs and some of their basic behaviours are the same. However, it
may be that just as we have evolved from apes, and we are similar but different,
so too dogs have evolved from wolves rather than remaining as close relatives.
by
Vicki Harrington R.V.N. DipCABT (COAPE) NOCN
Hook Norton Veterinary Group
Small Talk
Special Feature
Man’s
best friend