Cavemen had Good Taste in Dogs

The oldest skeletal remains of probable domestic wolf-dogs were excavated from the Upper Paleolithic site of Eliseyevichi in western Russia, close to the Ukrainian border, and date as far back as 19,000 years. Two skulls resembled those of Siberian huskies in their general shape, according to Serpell.

(Click quote to go to link).  Maybe they were smarter than average modern people after all.  The article rehashes various studies of how dogs came to be dogs:

There are many theories on how dogs evolved as a species, including the view that they are mixed descendants of two or more wild species, such as wolves, dingoes and jackals. But newer evidence hasn't supported that theory.

"Nowadays, based on a growing body of anatomical, genetic, and behavioral evidence, most experts believe that the dog originated exclusively from a single species: the gray wolf, Canis lupus," Serpell told Life's Little Mysteries.

As my friend Joel (a dog professional dog trainer, and author of several books on dog training), often says, wolves first befriended man (can you do that without Facebook?), because man had good garbage.  Inevitably, a few such camp scavengers were taken as pets, and having found to have some useful traits (like defending the home or hunting), the process of evolution took hold, and as they say, " the rest is history", or rather in this case, mostly pre-history.

So, all you owners of other breeds, you know I'm just joshing don't you?  While I love my Siberian, they aren't for everyone.

"You guys having breakfast, yet?