But although they lived on the fringes of human society, the early wild dogs were certainly not pets. Exactly when they arrived in North America is still uncertain. But it's likely that they slipped in after the extinction of the ice age beasts during a time of massive change.
Eventually the continent became more settled. Over the next few thousand years, people adapted to the many regions of the continent and their varying lifestyles were shaped by the landscape they lived in.
Then more than 14,000 years after the first people set foot in North America, another wave of immigrants brought changes that would have a dramatic impact on the landscape and wildlife of the new world.