There is no inconsistency in the idea that, in the earliest period of man's dwelling in this world, he made a friend and companion of some kind of aboriginal representative of our modern dog, and that in return for his help in protecting him from wild animals, and , guarding his sheep and goats, he gave her some food, a corner in his house, and he grew to trust her and take care of her. Probably the animal was originally little more than an unusually gentle jackal or a sick wolf chased away by his companions from the wild pack to seek shelter in a foreign environment. It is conceivable that the partnership could start when helpless helpers are brought home by the first hunters to be cared for and raised by women and children. Dogs introduced into the home as playful items for children will grow up to consider themselves and be considered family members.
In almost every part of the world there are traces of a family of native dogs, the only exceptions being the West Indies, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan archipelago, New Zealand and the Polynesian Islands, where there is no sign that a dog, wolf or fox existed as a true aboriginal animal. In ancient Eastern lands, and among the early Mongols in general, the dog remained wild and neglected for centuries, wandering in packs, arrogant and wolf-like, as it roams the streets and walls of every city in the east today. No attempt has been made to draw her into human company or to improve her docility. Only when we examine the records of the higher civilizations of Assyria and Egypt will we discover any distinct varieties of canine form.
The dog was not very popular in Palestine, and in both the Old and New Testaments, it is usually spoken of with contempt and contempt as an "unclean beast." Even the familiar reference to the sheep dog in the Book of Job "But now those younger than me bother me, whose parents I would have despised to sit with the dogs of my flock" is not without suggestion of contempt and is significant the fact that the only biblical allusion to the dog as a recognized companion of man appears in the Apocryphal Book of Tobit (v. 16), "So they both went out with the young man's dog."
The great multitude of different breeds of the dog and the great differences in size, points and general appearance are facts that make it difficult to believe that it could have had a common ancestry. We think of the difference between the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the fashionable Pomeranian, St. Bernard and Miniature Black and Tan Terrier and is puzzled at the possibility of being a descendant of a common parent. However, the difference is no greater than that between the Shire horse and the Shetland pony, the Shorthorn and 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 through studied selection.
To properly understand this question, it is first necessary to consider the identity of the structure in wolf and dog. This identity of the structure can best be studied by a comparison of the skeletal system or the skeletons of the two animals, which are so similar that their transposition would not be easy to detect.
The dog's spine consists of seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen in the back, seven in the loins, three sacred 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. Both have five front fingers and four hind fingers, while on the outside the common wolf looks so much like a large, boned dog that a popular description of one would serve the other.
Their habits are no different either. The wolf's natural voice is a loud howl, but when it is closed with dogs it will learn to bark. Although he is a carnivore, he will also eat vegetables, and when he is sick he will nibble on grass. In pursuit, a pack of wolves will split into parties, one following in the footsteps of his career, the other trying to intercept his retreat, exercising a considerable amount of strategy, a trait that is presented by many of our sporty dogs and terriers when hunting in teams. .
Another important point of similarity between Canis lupus and Canis familiaris is that the gestation period for both species is sixty-three days. There are three to nine chicks in a wolf bed, and they are blind for twenty-one days. They are breastfed for two months, but at the end of that time they are able to eat half-digested meat, disgusted for them by their dam or even sire.