“This world can’t be without puppies. They have fluffy little faces, big, bright eyes full of wonder, and tiny wet noses. They’re always smiling and wagging their tails at you; they love causing mischief and playing chase games with you. They’re incredibly smart—just a little training, and they can learn all sorts of fun tricks. Most importantly, they will always be loyally by your side, bringing you warmth with unconditional love, whether you’re happy or sad. When you come home and see your furry companion charging toward you, all the stress and tiredness of the day instantly fade away. Today, as we stroke the fluffy head of our most loyal friend, we have to remember—this special bond started thousands of years ago.”
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Cooperation in the Face of Survival Crisis
Around 40,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene, the Earth entered the final Ice Age, known as the Glacial Epoch. In addition to the well-known Mammoths, Saber-Toothed Tigers, and Woolly Rhinoceroses, the ancestors of dogs—wolves that lived at the end of the Pleistocene—also emerged. Genetic studies suggest that dog ancestors diverged from modern gray wolves between 40,000 and 27,000 years ago, forming a subspecies. However, the relationship between the two is very close, much like that of siblings. Since current evidence only comes from DNA studies and no fossils of these wolves have been found, we’ll refer to these ancestors as wolves for convenience, while modern wolves will be referred to as gray wolves.The end of the Pleistocene was a challenging time for all species. With food scarce and the climate harsh, survival was tough, and cooperation often proved more effective than solitary struggle. This was true for humans as well as wolves. How effectively a species could secure the food necessary for survival determined whether it would thrive or face extinction. After the emergence of the dog’s ancestors, within just 10,000 years, they encountered humans. Genetic evidence suggests that around 23,000 years ago, early humans in Siberia began cooperating with wolves, marking the beginning of domestication.Some researchers believe that wolves were initially attracted to human campfires, drawn by the prospect of food scraps. This interaction eventually led to the development of a mutually beneficial relationship, where wolves helped protect human camps in exchange for food and other resources. Wolves that displayed less aggression, had a keener sense of alertness, and were more willing to approach humans were likely the first to adopt this behavior. In other words, some traits we associate with dogs today were already present in their wolf ancestors. It sounds like the classic “chicken or egg” dilemma, doesn’t it?This process, called self-domestication, marked the start of the transformation from wolf to dog. Another theory suggests that humans and wolves first interacted through cooperative hunting. As wolves and humans pursued the same prey species, their cooperation gradually developed, and over thousands of years, the relationship deepened, leading to the evolution of a separate species. Genetic monitoring of two North American wolf populations supports this idea: wolves living in coniferous forests and those migrating with herds of reindeer show genetic differences, which suggests that environmental factors shaped the wolves’ evolution alongside human interaction.Regardless of the exact mechanism, the survival crisis faced by all species during the Ice Age prompted a cooperative relationship between humans and wolves that helped both overcome the challenges of the Ice Age. Over time, the dog’s ancestors evolved in ways that allowed them to live more harmoniously with humans. Through selective breeding over the last century, different breeds of dogs began to emerge.
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Why Wolves?
While other species shared the same environment as early humans, why were wolves the ones domesticated? The answer lies in their social nature, which closely mirrors that of humans. Wolves are social animals, living in packs with highly organized structures and cooperative hunting strategies. During the Ice Age, humans also developed cooperative hunting methods for large game. Pack hunting leads to collective defense—wolves patrol and protect their territory, and humans protect their camps and hunting results. Through living alongside wolves, humans enhanced their sense of territoriality, creating a natural bond based on mutual survival.Humans and wolves underwent co-evolution. While humans domesticated wolves into dogs, this process also shaped human evolution, ultimately leading to the humans we are today. Though other canid species also have hunting traits, none exhibit the same level of social structure as wolves. Foxes are solitary, more prone to act alone; jackals, while social, have simpler structures and weak cooperation instincts. Even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, though highly social, only cooperate on rare occasions, such as during joint hunting or dealing with rivals. This cooperation often serves individual interests, rather than being shared across the species.Thus, when it comes to “teamwork,” wolves were uniquely suited to form a partnership with humans. Over time, wolves evolved into dogs, exhibiting a fascinating phenomenon: psychological convergence. In other words, dogs independently evolved special adaptations to human social and communication behaviors. Dogs can understand human hand gestures, read human facial expressions, and convey different messages through barking. Similarly, humans can interpret whether a dog’s bark indicates joy or sadness, whether it’s a playful puppy or a protective guard dog, or whether an intruder is near.Through interaction with humans, dog ancestors developed social and communication skills similar to humans, fostering a bond that transcends species. This intuitive understanding continues to strengthen the relationship between humans and dogs.
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Staying With You Through the Long Years
While DNA studies suggest that the divergence of dog ancestors from gray wolves occurred around 40,000 to 27,000 years ago, the domestication process itself likely began around 23,000 years ago. However, it wasn’t until nearly 10,000 years later that the first true dog appeared. The oldest known dog fossils were discovered in the Bonn-Oberkassel region of Germany. These fossils, dating back approximately 14,200 years, are considered the earliest dog remains accepted by the scientific community. Isotopic, genetic, and morphological evidence confirm these remains belonged to a dog, not a local gray wolf.By this time, wolves had quietly transformed into close companions, and humans and dogs likely shared a bond of emotional care. This connection began at least 14,000 years ago. This deep relationship is also reflected in the multiple domestications of dogs. Studies combining ancient dog fossils and modern dog genes show significant genetic differences between European and Asian dogs. This suggests that the dogs of Europe and Asia had distinct evolutionary ancestors—different wolf populations in each region. Research further indicates that Asian dogs arrived in Europe around 14,000 years ago, by which time European dogs had already existed. However, for unknown reasons, the descendants of European dogs were far fewer than those of the migrating Asian dogs and were gradually replaced by Asian dogs during the Neolithic period about 10,000 years ago, with only some European dog genes being integrated into the modern dog population through hybridization.Across prehistoric times, humans from different regions co-evolved with wolf populations and independently completed the domestication process, turning wolves into dogs.
The bond between humans and dogs is undeniable. Over the millennia since the first true dog appeared, the relationship between humans and dogs has undergone subtle changes. Initially, dogs were domesticated to serve as hunting companions, but as humans transitioned into agricultural societies, their role in hunting gradually diminished. Today, while a few dogs still assist in hunting, the roles dogs play in human life have expanded far beyond that. They have become herders, guardians, rescue workers, and even police officers in narcotics detection. And, of course, they remain humans’ most loyal pet companions. This world simply can’t be without puppies.
