Gallery
Illustration of Happy dog licking man s face. Guy having fun with Siberian Husky. Doggy meets owner after long time. Domestic animal. Human s best friends. Flat vector vector art, clipart and stock vectors. Image 90786633.
How did domestic dogs come to be?
We can see by simply looking at them that these modern domestic dogs differ significantly in appearance from breed to breed. What may not be so apparent is what E. Dahr found in 1937. Dahr found that the ratio of snout length to the width of the upper jaw at its narrowest point was, on average, consistent in all dogs and that this was the same for measured ratios in stone age dogs.
He went further in his assessments by measuring the length of the row of molar teeth to the height of the lower jaw and found similar results. This study would indicate that when dogs were first being domesticated, their skulls were all of a similar dimension, making clear that they all evolved from the same type.
This statement is also supported by the fact that all breeds of domestic dogs have brain cases of about the same size. So, in the situation with our Chihuahua and Great Dane, the difference is purely in size and shape—both characteristics that have been shaped by humans via selective breeding.
First, the dog and the wolf share similar dental characteristics. The jackal's teeth are arranged significantly differently from both the wolf and the dog. In a study conducted in 1965 (Scott and Fuller) where 90 behavioral habits of domestic canines were investigated, only 19 were missing from the wolf. The jackal's behavioral patterns differed so greatly that they were not even documented. The jackal's social behaviors vary widely from the domestic dog and wolf as well.
When a female wolf has cubs, it is not uncommon for two or three of her pack mates to begin producing milk in case the biological mother is killed. Similarly, the domestic canine has been known to undergo a false pregnancy when those around her begin gestation (even a neighboring bitch can trigger this reaction). Dogs have also been known to take on orphaned animals that are of another species altogether, showing just how deeply the maternal instinct goes in canines.
Territory is very important to wolf survival. Every pack must carve out its claim and defend its borders. This is done through urinating and defecating along strategic boundary points. We witness this same type of territory-carving behavior daily in our domestic dogs, even though food is readily available and no need to defend territory for survival purposes exists.
When we decipher the body posturing of both wolves and dogs, we discover that it is actually almost identical. Fear, aggression, submission, pleasure, etc. are definable by humans as we have learned to read the obvious signs of our domestic animals. But when it comes to seeing, reading, or understanding the more subtle signs passed strictly between dogs, we find ourselves incapable of interpreting what our dog is trying to say.
It is thought that alterations to breeds by man caused the differences between our domestic dogs and their ancestors—the wolves. The domestic dog is, on the whole, a precariously bred animal, where breeders have accentuated mutation, as well as attributes found desirable by humans. Again, this is probably why we see behaviors in dogs that we don't find in wolves.
