this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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An adult or a pup? That's going to make a big difference. You'll never be able to domesticate it in one or two generations, but depending on temperament and dedication you could probably have a coyote that allows you to live in proximity to it after a year if you spent all your time working with it. But never turn your back on it.
A pup would obviously be easier. But I still wouldn't turn my back on it.
They worked on domesticating foxes in Russia for decades. Selective breeding for less aggression and fear. It's funny, the domesticated ones start looking slightly more like dogs, with some even getting floppy ears and little curly tails. I assume it would be similar for coyotes.
Curly tails and floppy ears are a generql sign of domestication. It's a shame, really. The wild animals look so majestic, while their pet counterparts look very unserious.
It might even be inevitable. Even humans display "domestication syndrome" in comparison with our closest primate relatives, and bonobos also seem to have changed in analogous ways when they became more sociable.
Williams syndrome is a rare condition in humans that causes them to have particular facial features, a very friendly and extroverted personality, and some intellectual disability. It occurs when a certain chunk of genes are deleted in development.
Dogs have an equivalent region in their DNA, and friendliness in dogs and wolves seems to correspond to which variant they have for one of the relevant genes. So our domestication efforts are kind of like breeding the closest thing we can manage to a disability into them.
https://www.aip.org/inside-science/rare-human-syndrome-may-explain-why-dogs-are-so-friendly