# where have domesticated dogs and cats come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 20, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027 "2000-03-20T23:19:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2000, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027/21 "2000-03-22T22:31:00Z")

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Just thought I’d go back to the snake issue. I watched a TV program on cobras a while back. They are, of course, wild in Indonesia. The government there is trying to foster a greater usage of cobras in protecting grain storage from rats and mice.

I’d rather use cats, but I guess you use what’s handy.

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**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027/22 "2000-03-23T01:19:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by astorian:  
> **Humans figured that dogs were neither dangerous nor good to eat**

## Uhm…well I know in some South East Asian Countries, dogs are actually often considered food.

Dominus ex equo descendit, villamque intravit.

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027/23 "2000-07-02T06:44:06Z")

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Native Americans in the US and Canada, having no other domestic animals, raised dogs as food animals. In fact, Lewis and Clark sometimes traded for them on their expedition.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027/24 "2000-07-02T08:31:22Z")

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Wow, what timing. I’m right in the middle of the bood _Guns, Germs, and Steel_. In Chapter 9, he talks a lot about why some animals were domesticated while others weren’t. According to this book, dog domestication occured at least twice - once in the Americas, and once is SW Eurasia (Fertile Crescent area, roughly - could be Egypt).  
Some of the factors it mentions are diet (dogs and cats can eat stuff found near humans - dogs are actually fairly omnivorous, just look at the ingredients on your next bag of dog food), growth rate - they grow to adulthood quickly enough to make raising them worthwhile, and social structure. Dogs’ (well, wolves’) pack structure is pretty easy to take over. We can make puppies imprint on us as their leader, etc. Cats are really the only domesticated animals that didn’t have this type of ranked social structure, and as any cat owner will tell you, they’re barely domesticated now.

Anyway, it’s an interesting read if you’re interested in this type of thing.

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**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2000, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-domesticated-dogs-and-cats-come-from/9027/25 "2000-07-03T19:23:37Z")

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Wow, my thread revived after over 3 months?

WHOOPPEEEE!!!

Anyone want to tackle domesticated parakeets?

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