Dogs less fearful than wolves
A study has revealed that dogs can be tamed, unlike wolves – their closest relatives – because of the different ways in which they enter the world.
Kathryn Lord, an evolutionary biologist, and her colleagues at the University of Massachusetts, USA, discovered that wolf pups are still both blind and deaf when they begin to explore, whereas puppies do so once they are able to hear, see and smell.
The researchers performed the study by introducing seven wolf pups and 43 dogs to both family and new smells, sounds and visual stimuli, and assessing their responses.
Their findings revealed that, while wolf pups begin to walk and explore their environment at two weeks old using just their sense of smell, puppies wait until their other senses have developed.
The result is that wolves experience shocks as they develop, whereas puppies enjoy new stimuli by seeking out adventures.
"No one knew this about wolves, that when they begin exploring they're blind and deaf and rely primarily on smell at this stage, so this is very exciting," said Lord.
"When wolf pups first start to hear, they are frightened of the new sounds initially and when they first start to see they are also initially afraid of new visual stimuli. As each sense engages, wolf pups experience a new round of sensory shocks that dog puppies do not."
The results further showed that very similar genes does not stop the two species behaving differently.
Lord explained that, where a dog may only need 90 minutes socialisation from an early age in order to reduce a fear of humans, wolves require 24 hours contact from an even earlier age, and will still never show the same attachment.
"It’s quite startling how different dogs and wolves are from each other at that early age, given how close they are genetically,” commented Lord.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
