How Dogs Went from Pests to Pets

For tens of thousands of years, dogs have been part of the human community. Recent research suggests they were first domesticated by European hunter-gatherers between 18,800 and 32,100 years ago, but it’s also possible dogs were domesticated earlier elsewhere around the globe. Domestication might even have arisen simultaneously in different human populations. After all, people always have garbage. And according to Brian Hare of Duke University’s Canine Cognition Casinoscapital Center, it was trash that brought us together with man’s best friend.