Dog domestication hinged upon adaptation to a diet of starches (light, best)

[uggabugga]

makes sense if you think about it.

Our results indicate that novel adaptations allowing the early ancestors of modern dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, relative to the carnivorous diet of wolves, constituted a crucial step in the early domestication of dogs.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture11837.html

[k9coach]

It does make sense that the very first step of the wolf to dog transition had to do with diet. The wolves that moved in closer to humans and their garbage were eating differently than their wilder counterparts. The wolves that survived best near human settlements were the tamest ones. The Silver Fox Experiment suggests that selecting for tameness alone could have caused the dramatic change from wolf to dog over just a few generations.

Evolution in Action: The Silver Fox Experiment - YouTube

In light of the article you referenced, it becomes almost funny that there is now a militant movement away from corn, grains, and other starches amongst some of the most informed dog owners. Raw feeding is all the rage.. it's funny to picture that now by removing the starch from our pet dogs' diets they'll start howling at the moon and hunting in packs

[Retroit]

I think that a dogs ability to digest starches is a result of their domestication, not the cause of it.

Another example of people believing the cart is pushing the horses.

[uggabugga]

Originally Posted by Retroit

I think that a dogs ability to digest starches is a result of their domestication, not the cause of it.

Another example of people believing the cart is pushing the horses.

it's quite possible -likely, even - that these two things were happening simultaneously.