GENERAL HISTORY OF DOGS

The dog wasn't greatly valued 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 hint of contempt, and it is significant that the only biblical allusion to the dog as a recognised companion of man happens in the apocryphal Book of Tobit (v. 16),"So they went forth both, and the young man's dog together."

There's absolutely not any incongruity in the concept that at the first period of man's habitation of the world he left a friend and companion of some sort of aboriginal representative of our modern dog, and that in return for its help in protecting him from wilder creatures, and in guarding his goats and sheep, he gave it a share of his meals, a corner at his dwelling, and climbed to trust it and care for it. Probably the creature was originally little apart from an unusually gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf pushed by its companions out of the wild marauding pack to look for refuge in alien environments. An individual can well imagine the possibility of this partnership beginning from the context of a helpless whelps being brought home by the early hunters to be tended and reared by the women and children. Dogs introduced to the home as playthings for the kids could grow to regard themselves, and also be considered, as members of their family

It has been implied that the one incontrovertible argument against the lupine relationship of the dog is the fact that most domestic dogs bark, although all wild Canidae state their feelings only by howls. However, the difficulty here isn't so good as it appears, since we are aware that jackals, wild dogs, and wolf pups reared by bitches easily acquire the habit. On the flip side, domestic dogs allowed to run wild forget how to bark, even although there are a few which have not yet heard so to express themselves.
The presence or absence of the habit of barking cannot, then, be regarded as an argument in deciding the question regarding the origin of their dog. This stumbling block consequently disappears, leaving us in the position of agreeing with Darwin, whose closing theory was that"it is highly likely that the domestic dogs of earth have descended from two good species of wolf (C. lupus and C. latrans), and by two or another doubtful species of wolves specifically, the Indian, European, and North African forms; from at least one or two South American canine species; from many races or species of jackal; and perhaps from one or extinct species"; and the blood of these, in some cases mingled together, flows in the veins of our domestic breeds.
The back of the dog consists of seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen from the trunk, seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae, and twenty five to twenty-two in the tail. In the dog and the wolf you will find thirteen pairs of ribs, nine four and true false. Every includes forty-two teeth. They have five front and four hind feet, while outwardly the common wolf has so much the appearance of a large, bare-boned dog, a popular description of the one would serve for another.
The wolf's natural voice is a loud howl, but if restricted with dogs he'll learn to bark. Although he's carnivorous, he'll also eat vegetables, and if ailing he will nibble grass. In the chase, a bunch of wolves will split into parties, one following the trail of their quarry, another endeavouring to permeate its retreat, exercising a significant quantity of strategy, a characteristic which is exhibited by many of our sporting dogs and terriers when hunting in teams.
The great multitude of distinct breeds of the dog and the huge differences in their size, factors, and overall appearance are facts that make it difficult to feel they could have had a common ancestry.
In almost all areas of the world traces of an indigenous dog family are located, the sole exceptions being the West Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, New Zealand, and the Polynesian Islands, in which there is not any sign that any dog, wolf, or fox has existed as a true aboriginal animal. From the ancient Oriental lands, and generally among the ancient Mongolians, the dog remained savage and failed for centuries, prowling in packs, gaunt and wolf-like, as it prowls today through the streets and under the walls of each Eastern town. No effort was made to appeal it into human companionship or to improve it into docility. It is not till we come to examine the records of this greater civilisations of Assyria and Egypt that we discover any distinct types of puppy toys form.
The indigenous dogs of all regions approximate closely in size, coloration, shape, and dependency into the native wolf of these regions. Of this most important circumstance there are too many cases to allow of its being looked upon as a mere coincidence. Sir John Richardson, composing in 1829, observed that"the similarity between the North American wolves and the domestic dog of these Indians is so great that the strength and size of the wolf appears to be the only difference.
An additional important point of similarity between the Canis lupus and the Canis familiaris lies in how the period of gestation in both species is sixty-three days. There are three to nine cubs at a wolf's litter, and all these are blind for twenty five days. They're suckled for two months, but in the end of that time they're in a position to consume half-digested flesh disgorged for them with their own dam or their sire.
In order properly to understand this issue it is necessary first to look at the identity of construction in the wolf and the dog. This identity of structure may best be studied at a comparison of the osseous system, or skeletons, of those two animals, which so closely resemble each other that their transposition would not easily be detected.