Originally posted by RICHARD
Domesticated is just a nice word that says you can trust the animal you live with 99.9% of the time.
Nah, "domesticated" is an animal removed from any wild heritage by many (hundreds of) generations. An animal that is specifically suited for a life with human beings. Dogs and cats and cows are domesticated (although you are completely right that they retain instincts).

Tigers, even born in captivity, are NOT domesticated in any way, shape, or form. They are exotic. They are wild. They have all their instincts in tact. You don't tame tigers. Training a dog is getting him to do what you want. Training a TIGER is learning how to read him, and him getting what HE wants from you. You can't force a wild animal to do anything. You can only try as hard as you can to understand it and what it is thinking, and how it will react...