Recent molecular evidence shows that dogs are descended from the gray wolf, domesticated about 130,000 years ago.

How long have canines existed?

Dogs most probably evolved from wolves at a single location about 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, a study suggests. Previously, it had been thought that dogs were tamed from two populations of wolves living thousands of miles apart.

What was the first canine on earth?

Leptocyon was the first true canine (that is, it belonged to the caninae subfamily of the Canidae family), but a small and unobtrusive one, not much bigger than Hesperocyon itself.