GENERAL HISTORY OF DOGS
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GENERAL HISTORY OF DOGS.
wardog
There
is no incongruity in the idea that in the very earliest period of man's
habitation of this world he made a friend and companion of some sort of
aboriginal representative of our modern dog, and that in return for its aid in
protecting him from wilder animals, and in guarding his sheep and goats, he
gave it a share of his food, a corner in his dwelling, and grew to trust it and
care for it. Probably the animal was originally little else than an unusually
gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf driven by its companions from the wild
marauding pack to seek shelter in alien surroundings. 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 and reared by the
women and children. Dogs introduced into the
home as playthings for the children would grow to regard themselves, and
be regarded, as members of the family
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dog
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 civilisations of Assyria and
Egypt that we discover any distinct varieties of canine form.
dog
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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 it is significant that the only biblical allusion
to the dog as a recognised 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."
dog
The
great multitude of different breeds of the dog and the vast differences in
their size, points, and general appearance are facts which 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, the 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; and all dog breeders know how easy it
is to produce a variety in type and size by studied 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.
dog
The
spine of the dog 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. In both the dog and the wolf there are 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.
dog
Nor
are their habits different. The wolf's natural voice is a loud howl, but when
confined with dogs he will learn to bark. 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.
dog
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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.
dog
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.
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It
has been suggested that the one incontrovertible argument against the lupine
relationship of the dog is the fact that all domestic dogs bark, while all wild
Canidae express their feelings only by howls. But the difficulty here is not so
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 allowed
to run wild forget how to bark, while there are some which have not yet learned
so to express themselves.
their
qualities
The
presence or absence of the habit of barking cannot, then, be regarded as an
argument in deciding the question concerning the origin of the dog. 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 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.
With my best wishes
.