The History Of Dogs

In the very earliest period of man's habitation of this world, he made a friend and companion of some sort of aboriginal representative of our modern dog. In return for its aid in protecting him from wilder animals, and in guarding his sheep and goats, he gave it a share of his food, a corner in his dwelling, and grew to trust it and care for it. Probably the animal was originally little else than an unusually gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf driven by its companions from the wild marauding pack to seek shelter in alien surroundings.

Traces of an indigenous dog family can be found in almost all parts of the world. There are several exceptions --in New Zealand, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malaysian Archipelago and the West Indian Islands have no evidence of any dog, fox or wolf existing as a native animal.

Not until we take a look at the records of the higher civilizations of Egypt and Assyria do we find mention of distinct varieties of the canine form. In ancient Oriental regions, such as Mongolia, dogs remained wild and untamed, prowling in packs like wolves, as they still do in many places.

The myriad of different dog breeds, and the significant differences of their general appearance, size and temperament, makes it hard for us to believe that they could share a common ancestor. If we think of the differences between, say the St. Bernard and the Miniature Black; the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel; the Deerhound and Pomeranian, we become puzzled in considering that they all descended from one progenitor. Yet, the same is true of other species, such as breeds of horse. Dog breeders know that it is not at all difficult to produce a variation in type by selection.

In order properly to understand this question it is necessary first to consider the identity of structure in the wolf and the dog. This identity of structure may best be studied in a comparison of the osseous system, or skeletons, of the two animals, which so closely resemble each other that their transposition would not easily be detected.

The spine of a dog has seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen in the back, seven in the loins, three sacral and twenty to twenty-two in the tail. As for ribs, both the dog and wolf have thirteen pair --nine true and four false. They both have the same number of teeth --forty-two, and the same number of toes --five front and four hind. In many cases, a general outward description of either one could serve the other.

The habits of dogs and wolves are more similar than you might realize. Wolves are famous for their howl, but when kept with dogs, they will adapt barking. The wolf is, of course, a carnivore, but he can also eat vegetables and will nibble grass when ill. During hunting, a pack of wolves will divide in sections, one directly following the trail of the quarry, the other cutting off its retreat. This strategy is also exhibited by teams of sporting dogs when hunting.

Another common trait that canis familiaris and canis lupus share is the period of gestation, which is sixty-three days for both species. A wolf's litter usually contains three to nine cubs, which are blind for twenty-one days. After being suckled for two months, they are able to consume half-digested meat that has been disgorged for them by their dam or even sire.

The dogs and wolves native to almost all regions closely resemble each other in size, coloration, form and habit, a fact too widespread to be simply coincidental. An observer in 1829, Sir John Richardson, commented that the only difference he could see between the wolves of North America and the domestic dog of the Indians was the greater size and strength of the wolf.

One of the arguments against the lupine nature of the dog is that all domestic dogs bark, while wolves howl. This difficulty, however, is not evidence of anything; we know that wolf pups, wild dogs and jackals raised by bitches readily learn to bark. For their part, domestic dogs who run wild can forget the habit. We cannot, therefore, use this as a deciding argument regarding the origin of the dog.

We might consider Darwin's belief that domestic dogs descended from several species of wolf from places as diverse as Europe, India and North Africa, as well as several species of jackal, and possibly from one or more species now extinct. This suggestion that our modern dogs had such a diverse ancestry could be the truest explanation we will find.