Early in human history, man domesticated an early ancestor of the modern day dog. For its part, this creature helped protect people from wild animals and guarded his domestic animals such as goats and sheep. In return, it received food and shelter. Over time, man and dog came to trust each other. These first "dogs" were mostly likely especially gentle jackals, or perhaps ailing wolves exiled from their packs.



There are a few places on earth where no traces of an indigenous dog family can be found --New the Polynesian Islands, New Zealand, the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Madagascar and the West Indian Islands. Almost everywhere else, an indigenous dog family can be identified.

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.

A dog's spine has seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen in the back, seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae and twenty to twenty-two in the tail. Both the wolf and dog have thirteen pairs of ribs, nine true and four false. Both species have forty-two teeth. Each has five front and four hind toes. As far as their outward appearance goes, a general description of one would serve for the other in many cases.

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.

A further important point of resemblance between the canis lupus and the canis familiaris lies in the fact that the period of gestation in both species is sixty-three days. There are from three to nine cubs in a wolf's litter, and these are blind for twenty-one days. They are suckled for two months, but at the end of that time they are able to eat half-digested flesh disgorged for them by their dam or even their sire.

The native dogs of all regions approximate closely in size, coloration, form, and habit to the native wolf of those regions. Of this most important circumstance there are far too many instances to allow of its being looked upon as a mere coincidence. Sir John Richardson, writing in 1829, observed that the resemblance between the North American wolves and the domestic dog of the Indians is so great that the size and strength of the wolf seems to be the only difference.

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.

Darwin's final hypothesis on this subject 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 the blood of these, in some cases mingled together, flows in the veins of our domestic breeds.