Articles

The Fascinating History of Dogs

Owner
Jennifer
There is not much controversy with the belief that with the very beginning of human civilization humankind made a friend or a companion of some sort of ancestral representative of our modern dog, and that in return for its service in protecting him from more ferocious animals, and in guarding his cattle, he gave these creatures a share of his food, a corner in his dwelling, and began to trust them and care for them. Probably the animal was originally a gentler jackal, or an ailing wolf driven away by its herd from the wild to seek shelter in alien surroundings. One may conceive the possibility of this partnership originating in the circumstance of some helpless animals being brought home by the early men to be treated and reared by the women and children of the house. Dogs being introduced into the  home as pets for children who would grow up to regard themselves and be regarded as a part of the family became inevitable since then.

In nearly all parts of the world evidence of an indigenous dog family can be traced, the only exceptions being the West Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, New Zealand and the Polynesian Islands, where there is no evidence that any dog, wolf or fox has existed as an aboriginal animal. In the ancient Oriental lands and usually among the early Mongolians, the dog remained barbaric and not tended to for centuries, moving around in packs, dangerous and wolf-like, as it moves around today across the streets and under the walls of all eastern cities. No attempt was made to allure these creatures into human companionship or to train them into docility. It is not until we research the records of the higher civilizations of Assyria and Egypt that we find out about any distinct varieties of this canine form.

Dogs were not really liked in Palestine and in both the Old and New Testaments. In both documents they are spoken of with scorn and contempt as "unclean beasts." Even the known reference to the Sheepdog in the Book of Job, "But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock" is not clean of of contempt and it is interesting that the only biblical reference to the dog as a recognized companion of man is cited in the apocryphal Book of Tobit (v. 16), "So they went forth both, and the young man's dog with them."

The fascinatingly expansive variety of breeds of the dog and the contrasting differences in their size, points and general look are facts which make it difficult to assert that they could have had a uniform ancestry. When one considers the difference between the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the fashionable Pomeranian, the St. Bernard and the Miniature Black and Tan Terrier , one is discouraged in contemplating the possibility of them having originated from a common progenitor. The disparity, however, is no greater than that between the Shire horse and the Shetland pony, the Shorthorn and the Kerry cattle or the Patagonian and the Pygmy; and it is common knowledge to dog breeders that how easy it is to produce a variety in type and size by carefully contemplated selection.

In order to furnish oneself with the proper understanding of this question, it is important to first consider the structure of the wolf and the dog. This identity of structure may best be examined by distinguishing on the basis of the osseous system, or skeletons, of the two animals, which are so similar  to each other that their transformation would not easily be figured out.

The spine of the dog is comprised of of seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen at the back, seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae, and twenty-two in the tail. Both the dogs and the wolves possess thirteen pairs of ribs, out of which nine are true and four are false. Both have forty-two teeth each. They have five front and four hind toes each, while outwardly the common wolf resembles a large, bare-boned dog, so much so that a popular description of one would serve for the other too.

There is not much difference between their habits either. The wolf's natural voice is an impactful howl, but when confined with dogs, he interestingly learns to bark. Although wolves are carnivorous, they will also consume vegetables and when sickly they will nibble on grass. During a chase, a pack of wolves generally gets divided into parties, one following the trail of the quarry, the other trying to intercept its retreat, employing a considerable amount of strategy, a trait which is displayed by many of our dogs and terriers while hunting around in teams.

Another important trait of resemblance between the Canis lupus and the Canis lies in the fact that the gestation period in both species is exactly sixty-three days. A wolf generally gives birth between three to nine cubs and these are unable to see for approximately twenty-one days. They are suckled for two months, but with that duration coming to an end, they are able to eat half-digested flesh.

The native dogs of all regions fairly resemble in size, coloration, form, and habit with the native wolf of those regions. This is an important factor preventing people from looking at it as a mere coincidence. Sir John Richardson, writing in the year 1829, found out, "the resemblance between the North American wolves and the domestic dog of the Indians is so much that the size and strength of the wolf seems to be the only difference.”

It seems that the one indispensible argument against the lupine relationship of the dog is the fact that all domestic dogs bark, whereas, all wild Canidae emote their feelings by howling. But the difficulty here is not as big as it seems as we know that jackals, wild dogs, and wolf pups tended by bitches readily inculcate the habit. On the other hand, domestic dogs who are free to run wild don't remember how to bark, while there are few who have not yet learned so to express themselves.

The inclusion or exclusion of the habit of barking, thus, cannot be regarded as a deciding factor regarding the question pertaining to the origin of the dog. This stumbling block resultantly disappears, placing us in the position of agreeing with Darwin, whose ultimate hypothesis was that "it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world have descended from two good species of wolf (C. lupus and C. latrans), and from two or three other doubtful species of wolves namely, the European, Indian, and North African forms; from at least one or two South American canine species; from several races or species of jackal; and perhaps from one or more extinct species"; and that in cases when the blood is mingled, it flows in the veins of the domestic breed.

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