[SunkenCiv]

The Goyet Fossil from the Paleolithic era that Drake and Coquerelle determined is actually a wolf.

[ansel12]

Dogs were smart enough to recognize a superior species that could utilize them and incorporate them into their superior society and more predictable and organized living conditions.

Cats are like the charming hitchhiker guy who was going to spend a few nights on your couch, and 3 months later you watch him going to your refrigerator and realize, what the heck? Does he live here now?

[bunkerhill7]

Two big wolves come into my front yard once in a while to eat the raccoon food. They just stand there and growl until I throw them some meat. I did come about 6 feet away from them once. They just stood there and growled til I brought them some meat. They didn`t bother the raccoons neither coz they knew I had the best meat.

If they are around, the coydogs nor mountain lions are nowhere to be heard nor seen.

I think when early man/woman hunted game, the wolf pack followed for scraps coz it was easier than hunting. The pack in return guarded them at night from the lions cos a wolf pack ain`t one bit afraid of a fire nor lions at night.

[Jonty30]

They should be able to measure the differences in RNA between wolves and dogs to get some idea.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Doggie ping!

I’ve known some dogs that weren’t domesticated yet!

[WorkingClassFilth]

I’ve got a new pup and he still isn’t domesticated.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I suspect the movement towards domestication was a gradual process. In the wild, a large animal carcass is often consumed by several species, in turn. Typically, the predators get first pick, followed by several kinds of scavenger.

Once humans were done with a carcass, wild canines who had been waiting on the sidelines would take over. Unlike big cats that would attack the humans, the canines were patient, and realized if they just waited, they could get theirs without having to fight for it.

However, humans learned a trick, perhaps from watching the wild canines, that they could drive a herd of animals to fall off a cliff, and have enough meat to dry it over a fire and haul it a good distance to their permanent camp.

And this abundance was such that the canines could join right in and not have to wait.

In modern times, a Russian experiment with domesticating silver foxes worked very rapidly, in just a few generations, turning these foxes in effect, into dogs.

So when they finally got the chance to domesticate, wild canines did so rapidly.

[Varda]

This finding is based on a false premise, that early dogs have to be phenotypically different than wolves. Dogs are wolves in the first place. There is no reason to assume there should be physical changes unless the dogs method of living changed. Once they associated with humans that wouldn't happen until humans became primarily settlement dwellers and not hunter gatherers.

This is a classic case of a theory not being dead until all it's proponents kick the bucket.

[Salamander]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXx-OHg3mvk&src_vid=921YhPq1vqI&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_18007

[wildbill]

I’ve heard that Muslims consider dogs unclean and won’t keep them. Does anyone know if this is true and why they hold to this belief?

[Fred Nerks]

Rudyard Kipling

The Law of the Jungle
(From The Jungle Book)

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

~~~~

Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;
And remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep.
The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown,
Remember the Wolf is a Hunter — go forth and get food of thine own.
Keep peace withe Lords of the Jungle — the Tiger, the Panther, and Bear.
And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the Boar in his lair.
When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail,
Lie down till the leaders have spoken — it may be fair words shall prevail.
When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar,
Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home,
Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council may come.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain,
The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again.
If ye kill before midnight, be silent, and wake not the woods with your bay,
Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop, and your brothers go empty away.
Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need, and ye can;
But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill Man!
If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride;
Pack-Right is the right of the meanest; so leave him the head and the hide.
The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Ye must eat where it lies;
And no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies.
The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. He may do what he will;
But, till he has given permission, the Pack may not eat of that Kill.
Cub-Right is the right of the Yearling. From all of his Pack he may claim
Full-gorge when the killer has eaten; and none may refuse him the same.
Lair-Right is the right of the Mother. From all of her year she may claim
One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.
Cave-Right is the right of the Father — to hunt by himself for his own:
He is freed of all calls to the Pack; he is judged by the Council alone.
Because of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw,
In all that the Law leaveth open, the word of your Head Wolf is Law.
Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they;
But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is — Obey!