Like peanut butter and jelly, dogs and humans have been a greet match for a very long time.
We may have been fast friends for 10,00 years.
We may have been friends for 135,000 years!
Either way, it's been a wonderful relationship.
Dogs are domesticated animals.
The word domesticated describes an animal that depends on people to survive.
A tame animal is one that is comfortable with humans commands.
Cows, sheep, and dogs are domesticated.
Lions, tigers, and bears are not.
Dogs are the only species of canid family who are domesticated.
Sometimes people have dingoes and wolves has pets.
They may be tame, but they are not domesticated.
Some scientists believe that humans took wolf pups and raised them within their homes.
Over time, the descendants of these pups became tame.
That's why dogs became domesticated.
Other scientists believe that dogs came to humans on their own.
Dogs' ancestors were wolves or wild dogs who scavenged from human dumps.
People allowed them to do this because they barked at strangers and kept vermin, such as rats, away.
Over time, people got to know the wild dogs are made them pets.
At some point, dogs started to help humans hunt.
They could track animals and even catch and kill them.
Later, dogs were used by humans for all sorts of jobs, including herding, hauling, and protecting.