There is no oddity in the possibility that in the early time of human history and in the general history of dogs, humans made a loyal and trusted partner of a type of aboriginal representative of our modern dog.
As a trade-off for its companionship and in shielding their humans from other wild animals, in guarding sheep and goats, the humans gave it a portion of their food, a corner in their abode, and developed to confide in it and care for it.
The general history of dogs tells us that, presumably, the creature was initially little else than a surprisingly sensitive jackal or a debilitated wolf driven by its buddies from the wild ravaging pack to look for cover in a very unfriendly environment.
Becoming Man´s Best Friend
One can well conceive the possibility of the partnership beginning in the circumstance of some helpless whelps being brought home by the early hunters to be tended to and reared by the women and children. Dogs were introduced into the home as playthings for the children would grow to regard themselves and be regarded as family members.
In nearly all parts of the world, traces of an indigenous dog family are found, 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 sign that any dog, wolf, or fox has existed as a true aboriginal animal.
In the ancient Oriental lands, and generally among the early Mongolians, the dog remained savage and neglected for centuries, prowling in packs, gaunt and wolf-like, as it prowls today through the streets and under the walls of every Eastern city.
No attempt was made to allure it into human companionship or to improve it into docility. It is not until we come to examine the records of the higher civilizations of Assyria and Egypt that we discover any distinct varieties of the canine form.
The dog was not greatly appreciated in Palestine, and in both the Old and New Testaments, it is commonly spoken of with scorn and contempt as an “unclean beast.”
Even the familiar 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 without a suggestion of contempt, and, significantly, the only biblical allusion to the dog as a recognized companion of man occurs in the apocryphal Book of Tobit (v. 16), “So they went forth both and the young man’s dog with them.”
Commonalities Between Wolves and Dogs
The great multitude of breeds of the dog and the vast differences in their size, points, and general appearance make it difficult to believe that they could have had a common ancestry.
One thinks of the difference between the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the fashionable Pomeranian, St. Bernard and the Miniature Black and Tan Terrier and is perplexed in contemplating the possibility of their having descended from a common progenitor.
Yet the disparity 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. All dog breeders know how easy it is to produce a variety in type and size by studied selection.
To properly 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 by comparing the osseous system, or skeletons, of the two animals, which so closely resemble each other that their transposition would not easily be detected.
Physiology and Anatomy of Wolves and Dogs
The dog’s spine consists of seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen in the back, seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae, and twenty to twenty-two in the tail. The dog and the wolf have thirteen pairs of ribs, nine true and four false.
Each has forty-two teeth. They both have five front and four hind toes, while outwardly, the common wolf has so much the appearance of a large, bare-boned dog that a popular description of the one would serve for the other.
Nor are their habits different. The wolf’s natural voice is a loud howl, but he will learn to bark when confined with dogs. Although he is carnivorous, he will also eat vegetables, and when sickly, he will nibble grass.
In the chase, a pack of wolves will divide into parties, one following the trail of the quarry, the other endeavouring to intercept its retreat, exercising a considerable amount of strategy, a trait which is exhibited by many of our sporting dogs and terriers when hunting in teams.
A further important point of resemblance between the Canis lupus and the Canis families lies in the fact that the period of gestation in both species is sixty-three days.
There are three to nine cubs in a wolf’s litter, blind for twenty-one days. They are suckled for two months, but at the end of that time, they can eat half-digested flesh disgorged for them by their dam or even their sire.
Local Impacts of Race Variations and Commonalities
The native dogs of all regions approximate closely in size, colouration, 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 seem to be the only difference.
It has been suggested that the one incontrovertible argument against the lupine relationship of the dog is the fact that all domestic dogs bark. At the same time, all wild Canidae express their feelings only by howls. But the difficulty here is not as great as it seems since we know that jackals, wild dogs, and wolf pups reared by bitches readily acquire the habit.
On the other hand, domestic dogs that are allowed to run wild to forget how to bark, while some have not yet learned to express themselves.
Some Final Thoughts About The General History of Dogs
The presence or absence of the habit of barking cannot, then, be regarded as an argument in deciding the question concerning the dog’s origin.
This stumbling block consequently disappears, leaving us in the position of agreeing with Darwin, whose final 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 jackals; 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.