Cats self domesticated. Which suggests their natural behavior isn’t far removed from what we’d expect from domestic animals.
Dogs were selectively domesticated from some pleistocene species of wolf, from which the modem Gray Wolf also descended. Probably due to initially also exhibiting some of those traits naturally.
I don’t know what the current standing is, but it was suggested that the domesticated wolves had genetic tendencies to form relationships with humans, i.e. trust them more than the rest of the species. That trait of obedience was the first step, rewarded by food and shelter, and spread by breeding the ones who would continue that characteristic of being trainable.
More likely than not, these animals were already selecting for those traits before humans got directly involved. Following nomadic humans around is a great way to find an easy meal, especially considering humans and wolves were competing for the same resources, animals that caused problems for those humans would likely have been killed or driven away at the very least.
Cats self domesticated. Which suggests their natural behavior isn’t far removed from what we’d expect from domestic animals.
Dogs were selectively domesticated from some pleistocene species of wolf, from which the modem Gray Wolf also descended. Probably due to initially also exhibiting some of those traits naturally.
I don’t know what the current standing is, but it was suggested that the domesticated wolves had genetic tendencies to form relationships with humans, i.e. trust them more than the rest of the species. That trait of obedience was the first step, rewarded by food and shelter, and spread by breeding the ones who would continue that characteristic of being trainable.
Our dogs come from broken wolves.
More likely than not, these animals were already selecting for those traits before humans got directly involved. Following nomadic humans around is a great way to find an easy meal, especially considering humans and wolves were competing for the same resources, animals that caused problems for those humans would likely have been killed or driven away at the very least.