One night many thousands of years ago, Og and his hunting buddies were sitting around a fire that illuminated a small spot in what must have been a huge, dark, and very scary world. As long as the fire burned, wolves, bears and saber-toothed tigers remained at bay. But Og noticed a small wolf hovering at the edge of the light.
He threw a small Mastodon bone at the wolf to scare it off. But to Og's surprise, the wolf picked up the bone and brought it back! Og repeated the toss several times and each time the wolf brought the bone back, much to the amusement of Og and his buddies.
At some point the wolf spotted something in the darkness that Og was not aware of. The wolf bared his fangs and growled. Og and his buddies began yelling and throwing …show more content…
However, research into the origins of dogs indicates that dogs did evolve from wolves, possibly as long as 100,000 years ago. More interestingly, dogs could not have developed without human intervention. So the story above, while fanciful, may not be too far from the truth.
There are many similarities between dogs and wolves. For one thing, dogs and wolves are the same species, meaning that a dog and a wolf can produce offspring capable of reproducing. Not only are dogs and wolves similar in appearance, (except when it comes to creatures like Shiz Tsus) but dogs and wolves exhibit similar social behavior. Therefore, is very likely that the first dogs were domesticated wolves, and the breeds we have today were entirely created by humans.
What is a dog breed? It is a little more complex than just "Poodles," or "Boxers." A dog breed refers to any group of dogs of similar characteristics developed and maintained by humans. Also, "breed" can include landraces, or natural breeds. These dogs have developed similar characteristics over time in response to their environment, but without direct selection by humans. An example of a landrace is the Dingo of …show more content…
Each club defined the characteristics their breed must have, and other characteristics the breed must not have. The clubs also established pedigrees so that a dog could be certified - or pedigreed - as being of that specific breed.
While specific-breed clubs have been effective at maintaining the uniformity of their breeds, the results are controversial. Maintaining a specific breed of dog is a totally human activity, and breeds as we know them would not exist were it not for breed clubs. But to maintain the characteristics of a breed while satisfying demand for the dog, significant inbreeding has taken place in many breeds.
The result is a dog that may be "perfect" in terms of meeting the show requirements of the breed, but in reality, the animal often has serious chronic problems which are painful to the dog and result in shortened lifespan.
An example of this type of breeding is the English Bulldog. Hundreds of years ago, "bulldogs" were raised to compete in the grisly wagering sport of bull or bear baiting, in which the bulldog would bite a tied up bull or bear around its muzzle and suffocate it. After this activity was thankfully outlawed, the bulldog breed was "re engineered" to be smaller, squat, bowlegged, and have a pronounced under
He threw a small Mastodon bone at the wolf to scare it off. But to Og's surprise, the wolf picked up the bone and brought it back! Og repeated the toss several times and each time the wolf brought the bone back, much to the amusement of Og and his buddies.
At some point the wolf spotted something in the darkness that Og was not aware of. The wolf bared his fangs and growled. Og and his buddies began yelling and throwing …show more content…
However, research into the origins of dogs indicates that dogs did evolve from wolves, possibly as long as 100,000 years ago. More interestingly, dogs could not have developed without human intervention. So the story above, while fanciful, may not be too far from the truth.
There are many similarities between dogs and wolves. For one thing, dogs and wolves are the same species, meaning that a dog and a wolf can produce offspring capable of reproducing. Not only are dogs and wolves similar in appearance, (except when it comes to creatures like Shiz Tsus) but dogs and wolves exhibit similar social behavior. Therefore, is very likely that the first dogs were domesticated wolves, and the breeds we have today were entirely created by humans.
What is a dog breed? It is a little more complex than just "Poodles," or "Boxers." A dog breed refers to any group of dogs of similar characteristics developed and maintained by humans. Also, "breed" can include landraces, or natural breeds. These dogs have developed similar characteristics over time in response to their environment, but without direct selection by humans. An example of a landrace is the Dingo of …show more content…
Each club defined the characteristics their breed must have, and other characteristics the breed must not have. The clubs also established pedigrees so that a dog could be certified - or pedigreed - as being of that specific breed.
While specific-breed clubs have been effective at maintaining the uniformity of their breeds, the results are controversial. Maintaining a specific breed of dog is a totally human activity, and breeds as we know them would not exist were it not for breed clubs. But to maintain the characteristics of a breed while satisfying demand for the dog, significant inbreeding has taken place in many breeds.
The result is a dog that may be "perfect" in terms of meeting the show requirements of the breed, but in reality, the animal often has serious chronic problems which are painful to the dog and result in shortened lifespan.
An example of this type of breeding is the English Bulldog. Hundreds of years ago, "bulldogs" were raised to compete in the grisly wagering sport of bull or bear baiting, in which the bulldog would bite a tied up bull or bear around its muzzle and suffocate it. After this activity was thankfully outlawed, the bulldog breed was "re engineered" to be smaller, squat, bowlegged, and have a pronounced under