With the domestication of wolves came the floppy ears, playfulness, colored coats, and barking of the dog we know and love today. Interestingly enough, when an experiment was performed on silver foxes these same traits appeared after domestication. Belyaev, a Russian geneticist, conducted this experiment by breeding the tamer foxes. Belyaev bred twenty generations of the tamest foxes until the foxes resembled dogs more than they resembled foxes. In the wild there is no artificial selection so dog domestication definitely took a lot longer. Both the diet and behavior of the foxes changed over time just like those of dogs had changed (Morey, 138). This shows just how much domestication can change any animal, not just wolves. This now begs the question: Why wolves? If other animals, like silver foxes, domesticate similarly to the way a dog evolves then why were dogs domesticated rather than a different species? The topic of dog domestication poses many unanswered questions. When and where did wolves first interact with humans? How did these two different species interact and why?
Even with the species barrier, humans and wolves have a lot in common. Both species alike work together and hunt in packs. Wolves are similar to humans in that they look out for one another and care for their young. “Wolves guard their territory closely and make their presence known…each member of the pack knows his or her position in the scale of dominance.” (Clutton-Brock, 22). The line of command resembles human history of authority and social hierarchy. People claim land and wars break out over it; wolves do the same thing.
Through all these similarities, wolves may have been self-domesticated. The wolves that were not alpha males, ...
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..."From Wolf to Woof." DIG. 8-11. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 11 Nov 2013.
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First Friend: A History of Dogs and Humans, by Katherine Rogers, articulates the history of the relationship between dogs and humans. Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce, investigates if and how dogs exhibit morality. In both texts, anecdotes and observations are used to portray instances of dogs displaying cooperation, empathy, altruism, and, by extension, morality. Consequently, it stands to reason that dogs have a capacity for sociality, but how can the sociality of dogs be described? A dog’s capacity for sociality is the ability to form long term relationships with members of the same or other species. Dogs, in particular, dogs who hunt as well as dogs who play, are able to form long term relationships with humans and other dogs through trust, love,
Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area.
Dogs are seen as an ‘evolutionary miracle’. This is because, over 100 years, they have the most breeds and changes than any other species. They have changed spectacularly from their ancestors the wolves; they domesticated themselves into dogs and they now carry many different traits. Wolves now have little use for us unlike dogs, for example, retrievers are bred to chase and then bring back
1 Mar. 2012. The. Wyden, Adrian. A. “The History of Wolves in Wisconsin.” State of Wisconsin/Department of Natural Resources. n.d. - a.k.a.
...tion, including their initial evolution, their domestication, and the roles they played in human society throughout the ages. It is a relatively new book being published in 2010. Darcy Morey, the author of this book is a zooarchaeologist and focuses his research on the relationship between dogs and humans throughout time. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. This book is based on the authors own research and also refers to the information gathered by many other scientists, all of which are listed in the reference section of the book. As mentioned this book contains the results of research from many scientists and is beneficial for learning both general and more scientific knowledge on the subject. I would recommend it to anybody who is conduction a research on the topic. This book was found using I-Share using the search term the domestication of dogs.
The grey wolf has been transformed into what we, today, call a dog. After years of traveling with humans, the wolf began to change and became adapted and tame enough to socialize with humans. The environment it was placed into was one of the causes for change, and another was the role it played for humans.
During the ice age wolves began to grow closer to humans and converted. They transformed into a very unusual way. The wolves and humans used to be a
The setting takes place in the Barren Land of northeast Canada (Simms). When Mowat arrives he is faced with the many challenges of this brutal climate. The wolves are already adapted to these circumstances and have evolved to endure the climate. Human’s on the other hand have not making them inferior to animals. This would be assumed as common knowledge but Mowat still makes the point to show this throughout his work. In the spring time when the weather changed the cabin was ruined by the flooding that washed in the ruins the fourteen huskies had built up all winter long. “… [T]he cabin had lost its charm, for the debris on the floor was a foot thick and somewhat repellent” (52). Mowat is then hindered by this for a while after it occurred. The wolves on the other hand never had this problem and lived much simpler. In the fight to survive easily in nature the wolves come out to be much more superior to humans. Humans assume with their complex brains and evolved technology they are better than animals. What Mowat was trying to make explicit was that wolves live an even easier life in nature without the help of
The wolves’ were hunted in late 1800 s’ and early 1900‘s in the United States because farmers wanted more land for their cattle’s to graze upon. As farmers were moving out west they felt threaten that the wolves would hunt their cattles so the farmers thought that the best solution would be to take them out of the picture. This was possible because at the time there were no government regulations on hunting....
I have never considered that a book about a dog could be so appealing and full of deep thoughts. But I changed my viewpoint after reading the autobiographical novel “Marley & Me” written by John Grogan which depicts an astonishing story about the neurotic and loyal, clumsy and loving dog named Marley. In fact, as the author mentioned in some interviews, he intended to write the “dog story”, but soon after he realized that it was impossible to do so without including the family life [2]. That is why the title “Marley & Me” encapsulates the main topic of the book such as the relationship between a human and a pet. To start with let me introduce main characters: John, Jenny, and Marley.
Wolves were once the most widely distributed mammal on the planet. With their exceptional ability to adapt, wolves occupied almost every habitat except tropical jungles. But with the arrival of humans, wolves numbers diminished. Systematic eradication programs were aimed at top predators; this, along with over-hunting of prey populations and habitat loss due to population encroachment, wolves were eliminated from most of the contiguous United States by the 1940s. In 1973 wolves were finally put under the protection by the Endangered Species Act, and just recently wolf populations are increasing due to wolf recovery and reintroduction projects.
Let me tell you something. In 1970, Gray Wolves used to have a population of 250,000. But now due to mass wolf hunting, the numbers are down to 500. Hello everyone. Today, I’d like to speak on behalf of the Wolf Conservation Center about the importance of wolves, and why they should be protected. Wolves are too often a misunderstood creature, instead of showing fascination, we always fear them, which is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. The society of wolves is just like ours, sorted by ranks, defined by confidence, and full of emotions. We are more like them than we think. Except they are being hunted, and we are not. In many parts of where they range, all types of wolves are being persecuted for killing livestock. As a result, humans have been killing wolves for years, because of us, their numbers are decreasing by thousands.
Armbruster, K. (2002). “Good Dog”: The stories we tell about our canine companions and what they mean for humans and other animals, 38 (4), 351, 26. Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/PLL/
“A dog is a man’s best friend” goes much deeper than the phrase might initially imply. Recently many medical journals have begun to identify with the many and varied benefits of pet ownership. Men have always relied upon animals for work, transportation, and survival. As times have changed, man has begun to appreciate a different bond with animals. Gone are the days of animals running free outside around the homestead, for now animals are allowed inside and are considered by many to be an integral part of our daily lives! Medical studies have found that animals have a much greater intelligence level than originally thought. Through proper training and experience, animals are not only household pets, but also are becoming an accepted form of medical treatment.
“That dog is so futile! All he does is sniff, bark, and whine! I can’t tolerate with such a dog!” I sighed to myself as my beagle, Puddles, circumnavigated around me, twitching his tail. I pushed him away and perambulated off to my room. I am not friends with animals, and even though I live on an old farm with my grandfather and grandmother, animals are not one of my interests. Puddles, was an old dog but with much energy. He was constantly jumping up and down on people with his muddy, and feculent paws.