The common myth, however, is that humans domesticated wolves, to create the dog that we know and love today. This however isn’t how it happened.
When humans started building settlements, a consequence of those settlements was human waste (discarded food etc). Wolves with a braver and calmer disposition realised this discarded human food was a great source of food for them and their young.
These less nervous and more curious wolves thrived, and thus began the process of less and less nervous wolves breeding in larger numbers, deepening a trust of humans through the generations.
Once they started hanging around, humans realised that these creatures were very useful as alarm systems, guarding the area, and for finding prey – humans could follow them and find animals to hunt more easily. From this began a relationship that has grown over the past 10,000 years (probably more).
Humans then intervened and started to breed desirable traits in dogs. By Ancient Roman times we had 6 breeds of dogs:
• Villatici – house or guardian dogs
• Pastorales Pecuarii – shepherd dogs
• Venatici – sporting dogs
• Pugnaces and Bellicosi – war dogs
• Nares Sagaces – scent hounds
• Pedibus Celeres – sight hounds
Fast forward from there a few 1000 years and we have the wide range of breeds that we have today, from the Rottweiler to the Pug.
So, there you have it – dogs chose us. They chose us and put their trust in us, and they are the only animal on Earth to do so which such devotion and commitment. We owe it to them to not let them down and break that trust.