Dogs descend from the wolf. Every dog, from the smallest Chihuahua to the largest Great Dane, descends from the grey wolf (Canis lupus) and shares the vast majority of its genetic make-up with it. Domestication began somewhere between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago, long before humans began to cultivate the land and keep livestock. That makes the dog the first animal humans ever bonded with, and it is precisely this heritage that still shapes how your dog eats, sleeps, plays and hunts today.
The question of where dogs come from has two answers: one biological and one geographical. Biologically, the answer is clear, namely the wolf. Geographically, researchers still disagree about the exact location, and that very disagreement is worth understanding if you want to know why there is no single answer on the map.
The dog descends from the grey wolf
The crucial point first: the dog is not a descendant of today's wolves, but shares a common ancestor with them. In other words, the wolves living today and our dogs are more like cousins than direct relatives in a straight line. The original wolf population that the dog springs from is probably extinct, and that is an important nuance, because you cannot point to a living wolf and say that it is the dog's ancestor.
Genetic studies confirm the kinship again and again. Dog and wolf can mate and produce fertile offspring, and their genetic make-up is so close to one another that many zoologists consider the dog a subspecies of the wolf. When a puppy digs, rolls in something foul-smelling or guards its food, it is the same behaviour that made the wolf an effective hunter and pack animal. The heritage is not only visible in the genes, but in the dog's everyday life.
When and where dogs were domesticated
The timing is still the subject of research, but most studies place domestication somewhere between 15,000 and 40,000 years back, that is, in the late Ice Age. That is long before agriculture arose around 10,000 years ago, and it means that the dog was domesticated by hunter-gatherers, not by farmers. Humans and the early dogs travelled together as hunters, long before anyone sowed the first grain.
Where it happened is more disputed. Different studies have pointed to Europe, Central Asia, Siberia and East Asia, and some researchers believe that domestication may have taken place in several places independently of one another. There is still no consensus on one precise location, and it is honest to say that we do not know it for certain. What researchers do agree on is that it happened in Eurasia, and that it took many generations.
How the wolf became a dog
The most widespread explanation is that domestication began with the wolves themselves and not with humans. The least shy wolves, which dared to approach human camps to eat scraps and leftovers, had an advantage: they gained easy access to food. Over many generations it was precisely the more trusting animals that were selected by nature, because they fared best close to humans. The most fearful and aggressive kept their distance and did not become part of the story.
Gradually a mutual advantage arose. The wolves got food and warmth, humans got an animal that warned against danger, helped with the hunt and kept them warm at night. Over time the animals also changed physically, namely smaller jaws, shorter snouts, floppier ears and a more varied coat. Many of these traits come along when an animal is selected for tameness, and that is why an adult dog in many ways resembles a wolf cub in both appearance and behaviour.
From one ancestor to hundreds of breeds
All the dog breeds we know today are the result of human breeding, and they are astonishingly new in the grand scheme of things. While domestication lies thousands of years back, by far most modern breeds have been created within the last couple of hundred years. Humans bred deliberately for particular characteristics, namely dogs to guard, to hunt, to pull, to herd and for companionship.
That explains the enormous variation. A dachshund was bred to follow prey down into the ground, a Great Dane to hunt big game, a Border Collie to gather sheep. Despite the dramatic differences in size and shape, they all share the same wolf heritage. The difference between the breeds is mostly about which characteristics humans have emphasised, not about some dogs descending from something other than the wolf.
What the wolf heritage means for your dog's meals
Over thousands of years at humans' side, the dog has gradually become better at digesting a more varied diet than the wolf. Even so, it is still an animal with a digestion designed for a diet with a high content of animal ingredients. It is precisely this biology that makes the choice of good meals so important, and this is where the heritage from the wolf still has something to say in the bowl.
At ESSENTIAL FOODS we take our cue from the dog's nature when we compose our meals. Our all meals for dogs are prepared from fresh produce and human-grade ingredients, so they meet the dog's needs without unnecessary fillers. For dogs with a need for a diet entirely without grain you will find our grain-free range, where the animal ingredients play the leading role. And if a new dog is joining the household, puppy & junior is composed for the finest start in life.
If you are in doubt about what best suits your dog's particular life stage, size and needs, our nutrition advisors are ready to help by phone, chat and email. They know our meals in depth and are happy to help you find the right nutritional profile, so that the heritage from the wolf is met with a diet suited to the dog you share your everyday life with.