Yep, the dog!  I posted a warm story last week of a dog finding an abandoned baby and protecting it until someone could rescue it…..a heart tugging tale…..but since we all agree that a dog is man’s best friend…….when did that association begin and how?

I have one answer….there are many……

(Newser) – Dogs have been hanging out with humans way longer than thought, a new study suggests. UCLA researchers say the first ones were ancient wolves that started following hunter and gatherers around Europe between 18,000 and 32,000 years ago, reports the BBC. The finding, which contradicts previous theories that domesticated dogs first appeared in the Middle East or Asia about 13,000 years ago, is based on DNA analysis of fossils and comparison with modern dogs. Two of those fossils were more than 30,000 years old, notes phys.org.

“The initial interactions were probably at arm’s length, as these were large, aggressive carnivores,” one of the researchers tells the LA Times. “Eventually though, wolves entered the human niche.” The two species probably helped each other—the wolves got carcasses of woolly mammoths and the like, and the humans got an alarm system around their nomadic camps. One thing common in all the coverage of the study in Science: Nobody expects this to be the final word in the debate.

All my life I have been with dogs…Hell when I was younger dogs would sleep with me to keep me warm……very little heat not night back in those days……and they have always been my security alarm for the house and yard……..you could NOT find a better friend……..there is always a place for dogs in my life…..how about you?