Er… woof?
I like to think that dogs are just really really retarded wolves (while some may find my description offensive, just change it to whatever you want that still has the same connotation. I’m tired of thinking about how to be politically correct). And they are not just retarded wolves, but actually bred for their retardedness (retardability?).
Scientists tend to agree with me. While focussing on breeding animals that showed a natural inclination towards being tamed, all of a sudden random variations showed up in physical appearance. A lot of the animals retained their childish looks (pedomorphism). Interestingly enough, this happened within a 40 year span.
Humans have been domesticating dogs for much longer than that.
http://8e.devbio.com/article.php?id=223
