We domesticated dogs a long, long time ago—thousands of years ago—by becoming friends with wolves.

Here’s a simple version of how it happened:

A long time ago, people were hunters and gatherers. Some wild wolves started coming near human camps to eat leftover food. The calmer, friendlier wolves didn’t scare people and were allowed to stay close.

Over time, people began liking these friendly wolves because they helped warn about danger or even helped hunt. People gave them food, and the wolves stayed around.

The friendliest wolves had puppies, and people raised those puppies. Each new generation of puppies got more used to humans. After many, many years, those wolves changed—becoming tamer, smaller, and more helpful. Eventually, they weren’t wolves anymore. They were dogs.

So we didn’t exactly catch and train wolves all at once. It was more like a slow friendship that turned into a partnership.