Contrary to what was previously thought, social skills in modern dogs did not develop with domestication, but was already present in wolves.
The roots of dog-human connection were topic of a study by behavioral scientists from the Messerli Research Institute at the Vetmeduni Vienna and the Wolf Science Center. They revealed that the ancestors of dogs, the wolves, are at least as attentive to fellow species and to humans, as dogs are.
Commonly accepted domestication theories suggest that dogs became tolerant and attentive, as a result of humans actively selecting for these skills during the domestication practice, in order to make dogs cooperative partners.