Strays in Moscow around the campfire again?

In the past several decades the study of the nearest and dearest animal to us humans has truly come into its own. Before this period scientists interested in canid species studied wild dogs such as wolves or coyotes, over looking our dog friends sharing our homes. The term Cynology is sometimes used for the study of dogs in general. Where and how dogs were domesticated is one of the top questions being addressed. National Geograph's cover article "Wolf to Woof" investigates the debate. Did humans domesticate the wolf or did wolves domesticate themselves?

Our recent knowledge of where dogs came from and what affects their behavior has come along way from "Man Meets Dog", to Scott and Fuller's 1965 "Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog" onto Serpell's "The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People" and Coppinger's ground breaking "Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution". A list on dog behavior and evolution can be found at Dogwise.

In 1959 Novosibirsk, Russia a study was begun with 130 silver foxes primarily to study if "tame" responses to humans was genetic in nature. By breeding the tamest to the tamest within a surprisingly short time both behavior and physical type had changed, "The selectively bred tame foxes show behavioral patterns extremely similar to those of domestic dogs: by one month postnatal they become eager to establish human contact, whimpering to attract attention and sniffing and licking at humans, just like puppy dogs". These new foxes showed new color patterns (before unknown in their ancestors) some looking rather Border collie like and/or having floppy ears and wagging tails.

Are stray dogs re-domesticating themselves again now in Moscow? "The vast majority of homeless dogs go out of their way to avoid antagonizing people, says Mr. Vereshchagin" These strays have learned to ride the subways and act in solicitous and surprising ways to get their daily bread. "Adaptations by individual dogs have added up to a dramatic shift in canine culture. Begging is a submissive activity, so today there are fewer all-out interpack wars, which sometimes used to last for months, according to Mr. Poyarkov. Within packs there are more stable social hierarchies that allow the whole group to prosper". Here is a link to a website about these dogs.

Is this a safe and healthy environment? No.
Are there things to be learned for the study of this situation, both for animal welfare and Cynology? Yes.

(images used are from National Geographic and an International Collaborative Study of Fox Domestication at Cornell.