About Dogs!

In the early time of man’s habitation on this planet, the idea is that he made a friend from an aboriginal type of our today’s dog, and because the dog would protect him from wild animals and help him guard his sheep or goats or whatever, the man would provide meals for the dog and share some living space with him. Over time they would grow trust and care for each other. The original dog was probably a type of jackal, gentle of course, or it could have been an injured wolf that was driven from the pack and was seeking shelter from or in alien surroundings. Over periods of time the animals were taken care of by women and children, eventually dogs became more playful and became close to the children, they began to feel like part of the family.

Traces of the early dogs can be found in nearly all parts of the world, there are exceptions though, like the Polynesian Islands, New Zealand, the West Indian Islands where there has been no sign of dogs, fox’s or even wolves. In ancient Oriental lands, especially the Mongolians, our dog remained a little savage and neglected for a long period of time. They traveled in packs, wolf like, and prowled through the streets much like they do today. Very little attempt was made to coax the dog into a human companionship or to try to tame it at all. And it was not until we come to examine the Assyrians and Egyptians that we discover the different varieties of canines.

Back in Palestine in the Old and New Testaments the dog scorned and treated with contempt much like an unclean beast. Even the reference to a Sheepdog in the Book of Job reads “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 written with a suggestion of contempt.

With the different multitude of breeds of dogs and the differences in size, points and appearance are facts, which make it hard to believe that they have the same ancestry or roots. When you think of the difference between a Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the Mastiff or St Bernard it’s hard to see how they could be from the same bloodline years back.

But to understand what we are asking here in this question, we must first consider the structure of the dog and wolf. There structure can be compared by the osseous system, or you skeletons of the two animals, which resemble each other very close, so close that they would be hard to tell the difference when they are walking or running. The dog’s spine consists of seven vertebrae in the neck and thirteen in the back. Then there are seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae, and twenty to twenty two in the tail.

Both the dog and the wolf have thirteen pairs of ribs. The wolf and dog both have forty-two teeth. Both have four hind toes and five front toes. The natural voice of the wolf is a howl, however when you contain it with a dog it will learn to bark. A wolf is carnivorous but he will eat vegetables and when he’s sick he will eat grass. When the wolf is in a chase they will divide into groups, one group will follow their prey and the other will try to intercept the prey. The wolf seems to use strategy, a trait which is common with our sporting dogs.

Another resemblance between the dog and wolf is the gestation period, which is sixty-three days. A wolf litter will be between three to nine cubs and they are blind for about twenty-one days. They are suckled for two months, but after that time they can eat half digested flesh.

All in all dogs are great friends and companions, they love and are very loyal to their masters and will even die for them. They make great pets and great friends. Buddies for life.

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