Let's start with the wolf. If for no other reason than the first animal domesticated by mankind was a wolf - or was it a wolf-dog? It is now believed that domestication occurred sometime between 15,000 and 100,000 years ago, and, finally, DNA studies suggest that it was from wolves. We can come back to the DNA details at a later issue. For now lets admit that wolves and other canine relatives have fascinated man for years and continue to do so. I would be remiss if I didn't confess that I was first thoroughly enthralled with Hope Ryden's story of 2 years observing a coyote family God's Dog: A Celebration of the North American Coyote (original 1975, now reprinted 2005). Or that I fell in love with White Fang. Or that my dog is truely fascinated by PBS Nature's In the Valley of the Wolves http://video.pbs.org/video/1206056119/
For years many dog experts have attributed so-called "alpha" behavior to inherited patterns that come from a wolf. And more recently, many dog trainers have debated the alpha-dog theory. But what do most of us really know about wolves? Personally, I've never spent a day with a wolf. A college roommate of mine had a German Shepherd mix that was purportedly a 1/4 wolf; and she was a bit aloof - the dog that is - and she rarely barked. And of course another expert friend of mine said "no-way". The closest I've ever been to real wolf was last year at the San Diego Zoo. I had hoped to spend the day watching a pen of wolves, but there was no such exhibit. The wolf, its calming buddy, a rescued Golden retriever, and of course their handlers were found, by happenstance, out for a walk along the sidewalks near but not quite among the visitors. Really, I think the Golden was running interference to keep bold visitors like me back a bit from the more shy/nervous wolf.
Fortunately at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (in Escondido) gift shop I did find a wonderful text Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation edited by L. David Mech and Luigi Boitani. University of Chicago Press 448 pp. 2003. This book "combines the 350 person-years of research with, and knowledge of, wolves that our authors bring to the project". This book is excellent for the conditions of the studies and self-evaluation of the meaning of the observations. The techniques also represent increasing scientific methods of tracking, sampling and analysis. Yet this book has genuine thought provoking interpretations that perhaps dog folks should also consider. For just one example, "it is not dominance, but rather the presdipostion of each individual to escalate or reduce conflict in specific social contexts, that is heritable" (on page 55).
What behavioral traits do the wolf and dog share or inherit? And have some of them been bred out of the dog? The recent studies of domestication of Siberian foxes to become pets in roughly 16 generations show the remarkably fast change that can be accomplished just through behavioral selection. https://johnwade.ca/attachments/article/359/russianfoxfarmstudy.pdf
Is not behavior modification also what we have done with many of our dog breeds? Is all this diversity and flexibility in the SINES? http://www.ohmidog.com/2011/11/03/how-did-dogs-get-so-diverse/ Can SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) really make the difference between retrieving, pointing and herding? http://www.broadinstitute.org/education/high-school-educational-outreach/summer-internship/alison
So much more to learn and to be discovered...
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