Before I get comments denouncing me for putting a post on Coppinger’s theory, I need to make some things clear. Coppinger argues for a self-domesticating dog that evolved from the wolf because wolves that lacked fear of humans were better able to scavenge off of people. This happened when hunter-gatherer humans began to form the earliest agricultural settlements and were able to stay in one place. He bases this theory on the fact that wolves are almost impossible to domesticate. Wolf puppies must be captured early, as in within a few days of their eyes opening, in order to become imprinted on people. Modern domestic dogs can become imprinted on humans up to three months of age. I think Coppinger is a great behavioral ecologist, and he does apply the methodology of behavioral ecology to domestic animals.
However, there are some holes in his thesis. One is I have read several historical records of wolves living in North America during the early years of settlement. The Diaries of Lewis and Clark is a great account of wolves living on the Great Plains. Their behavior is very different from modern wolves, which absolutely fear humans and avoid us at all costs. These wolves were curious of people, and I believe one wolf was killed with a knife during this adventure, Modern wolves will kill domestic dogs that roam into their territory, although it’s not a hard and fast rule (very few things with wolves is). Lewis’s dog, “Seaman,” a Newfoundland (a bit different from the modern breed), never suffered attacks from wolves. I think the difference is this. Wolves in Europe, North America, and Asia have suffered a great persecution. It’s like the selection of Belyaev in reverse. The only wolves that remain are descended from ancestors who were nervous enough to avoid man. How this affects the way wolves develop as pups can only be up for conjecture.
It is possible that wolves living at the time when humans were hunters and gatherers were curious about people. Their pups possibly had a longer period for imprinting. This could easily lead to hunter-gatherers keeping wolves as pets. BTW, pet keeping is something known to all people, except the Bushmen (San) in their original state. The natives of Australia kept dingo pups as pets. Women would nurse them as their own babies. However, once the dingo pups reached maturity, they were no longer fed. They would be released into the bush to fend for themselves. These were people without agriculture. However, they had a relationship with the dingo. The dingoes hunted on their own and were never used for hunting. The only purpose the dingoes provided was as a living blanket during the cold nights. The colder it got, the more dingoes were needed. A really cold night, might need three dingoes. Hince the name of the band “Three Dog Night.” This could explain some of the early interactions with humans and early dogs and ancient wolves.
However, again, this is largely speculation. We do know that dogs have been found that are older than the time period in which Coppinger postulates that dogs evolved from wolves, making the hunter-gatherer or “captured cub” thesis a little bit stronger.
James Serpell of the University of Pennsylvania promotes this theory of the dog’s origins. His book on dogs is easily the equal of the Coppingers’.
