White Wolf

The eyes of a wolf are not like the eyes of a dog. But, they used to be.

We know that dogs descended from wolves. The details around that descension, however, vary widely. Scientists aren’t entirely sure when in time the split began. And there are still a sea of questions regarding where. But, what I find most interesting throughout all of the evolutionary studies around dogs, is the overwhelming evidence for a process called self-domestication. There have been cases recorded among other types of animals (foxes, for example), where scientists believe that the friendliness of an animal, for various reasons, led to a significant advantage in their survival. Brian Hare, head of Duke University Canine Cognition Center suggests that the physical changes in dogs over time, like splotchy coats, curly tails and floppy ears, might all be a result of self-domestication. “Friendliness somehow drives these physical changes.”

It is believed that perhaps humans are, in fact, not responsible for the domestication of wolves at all, but that, instead, wolves domesticated themselves. To be near to us.

It is said that, if friends are the family you choose, then dogs are the family that choose you. And choose us, it seems they did. How beautiful to know that the very things we marvel at most in our pets-- loyalty, love, steadfastness-- are the very things that evolved to allow us to have them in the first place. That it may all come down to a moment, when the wild wolf decided to become… the Good Dog.