My first guess would be that it is byproduct of the perceptual bias of the domesticator - the Russian guys who domesticated the foxes were choosing the "friendliest" by appearance, apparently, and that might easily bias their selection toward floppy ears.
Foxes were not used in the creation of the dog, as the combination produces a sterile offspring. The wolf is the direct ancestor of all except for one particular Italian breed. That said the direct ancestor of your dog, is a wolf. So your real question, is where does the wolf come from, and this like all questions of ancestry is in question, as there is no known way that genetics is known to change one creature into another. Thus the answer, is guess.
Did you even read the 22 posts between the original question and your response?
I responded to the first poster, if there are 3000 post, must someone read them all before responding?................. Is any of my information in error? Please correct me if this is the case. Thanks.
Yes, it's 22 posts, rather short of 3,000, and together we have pretty much answered the question. Your information is irrelevant, sorry to say, because you have misunderstood the initial question. I asked what came before the wolf, the cat, the bear, etc... when and how did animals become predatory carnivores. Short answer: most herbivores have always been omnivores. So Italian dog breeds, wolves, 'just a guess' are completely off topic. Thanks for responding though.
Hmmm. I think if you were facing a dog and it were facing you and you saw its ears go up, or worse yet pull back flat, you would suddenly become more alert to other signs of what it intended. With its ears floppy and relaxed, other signs of intention become a bit less critical - you might not care as much how vigorously or in which direction its tail is wagging. It makes the "seems friendly enough for this round" cut more easily.
