Humans and the Dog

Ancient humans, wearing virtually nothing, must have shivered in the cold while hunting animals such as mammoths, deer, and boar with hand-held weapons.

They also caught fish and collected shellfish from rivers and along seashores, foraged for roots, and picked fruits and edible leaves from plants.

Probably, at this time, humans competed with wild dogs for food and even ate ttem. Later on when people banded together to form tribes and moved into caves, they began establishing and guarding territories.

While human hunters likely most often prevailed over dog packs, both creatures probably began learning of the mutual benefits of establishing a relationship: Carrion leftovers were easily available wherever humans settled, and dog packs would begin barking when unknown humans or other animals approached.

As dogs moved in to live closer and closer to humans, people probably began to attempt taming them. We know that in northwest Europe during the Mesolithic period some twelve thousand years ago, humans began keeping dogs and other animals.