Cross Breeds

Why were cats and dogs domesticated but not other animals?

How long do they think it took to turn wild dogs and cats into domestic animals. And could people start domesticating wild animals like raccoons and end up with a different species of raccoons? Keep in mind I don't actually want to do this, I'm just curious.

Public Comments

1. I had a Raccoon as a pet once. It lasted about a year. At that point it was strong enough to open my fridge and eat everything in it. Not a big deal, but once they taste raw meat, they see no difference between your finger and a hamburger patty. It had to go.
2. Dogs are domesticated because they are good hunting assistants especially with their sense of smell.They will also defend their tamer as they regard them as their pack which in turn means that they will fight or defend for their owners.As for cats they are more likely domesticating man because they are also good hunters but they specialize in hunting rodents like rat ad mice which are considered as pest .In the past these pest eats up grains and food that were stored for future use and the cats hunt them. As for raccoons, I think that people are replacing them as pets because of pets shop offering exotic pets to boost business so there is really not much time to know why they are being breed as the time they spend evolving with us are quite short. :) Evolution partly depends on the lifecycle and cooperation between species. Check out birds that feed off parasite on larger animals like hippos and alligators.Or even parasites are a form of evolution.
3. Ive heard in the past through studies that opposums are pretty intelligent animals while raccoons are at the bottom of the list. I don't understand these findings. I live in a wooded area 2 miles from a State Park. My family and I love going to watch the raccoons tear into unprepared guests belongings. You can even tell when noone is in the bathrooms at the park. We can watch a person walk out and 30 seconds later - enter the racoon. That coon was waiting for it's turn to see what might have been left behind! Did you ever read "Where the Red Fern Grows" in school? Racoons are the smartest! Probably smarter than cats - I can't explain how that happened!
4. Hello, The Egypt had cats as companions longer then anyone had dogs domesticated. Dogs were used to work, food, not pets until later. I do not think there is different species of the raccoon as there is the canine? Good question....
5. a little fyi... ferrets are domestic too... there is no known wild ferret colony anywhere...theyve been domesticated for the past 2000 years
6. You seem to be under the impression that we chose to domesticate dogs and cats. Dogs by their nature are scavengers. They evolved from the wolf over 14,000 years ago. Unlike those cute stories where a kid brings a wolf pup into a cave to keep and raise and then *poof* it was the first dog, things didn't happen like that. Humans are dirty animals, we leave waste and garbage in our wake and the canine followed. They lived off our garbage. The ones that were able to do that effectively and not harm the humans lived. After a very long time and a lot of selective breeding (by the animals not the humans) certain traits began to emerge and prevail, traits we now see in dogs. Humans did not have time, nor the desire to care for a wild animal. They did not have the spare food around to feed one. Dogs are domesticated not through the desires of humans, but through evolution and survival of the fittest. There are still wild dogs around today, that have never been part of a household, nor have their ancestors.