I’m convinced that dholes were involved in the development of some types of domestic dogs. I think that an ancient dhole cross may have been responsible for some of the attributes of Molosser (mastiff-type) dogs, such as chows and Tibetan mastiffs. Not as direct ancestors, of course, and probably not a deliberate crossbreeding via human intervention. But in much the same way that a dog cross may have contributed to the North American wolves’ gene pool, (see here), random crosses with dholes influenced the evolution of some of the ancient types of Asian dogs. I don’t have any references to back that up; it’s a conclusion I’ve reached based on research, years of studying living dogs, educated guesses and plain old contemplation.