All About Dogs
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, man and dog teamed up together, each benefiting from the other's company. As the years progressed, different types of dog evolved, some to hunt with man, others to work in different ways and yet others purely as companions.
THE TASKS WHICH DOGS have performed throughout the centuries are many and varied. They have guarded man, protected his flocks, chased and retrieved game, pulled heavy burdens, sought out and saved lost souls from snowy and difficult terrain - even from the sea - the list is endless. Now, we are thoroughly familiar with the important work carried out by police and sniffer dogs. Some dogs act as 'eyes' for the blind, others as 'ears' for the deaf and many help to make life a great deal easier for those who are disabled in other ways.
PEDIGREE GROUPS
PEDIGREE DOGS ARE THOSE which have been bred to conform to a Kennel Club breed standard: a written 'blue-print' for each breed recognized in a particular country. As more and more foreign dogs are introduced to additional breeds are frequently added to the Kennel Club's long list, currently numbering 189 breeds. Until the end of 1998 the various different breeds were divided into six groups, but from the beginning of 1999 they were re-organized to form a seventh group, the Pastoral, which was added to Cundog, Hound, Utility, Terrier, Toy and Working Croups.
In other countries Kennel Clubs also recognise different breeds, although in most countries the majority of breeds recognised in are included in their own official breed lists too. Grouping differs from country to country.
In the United States there arc again seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Non Sporting, Terrier, Toy, Working and Herding; whilst the Federation Cynologique International (FCI), the World Canine Organisation, recognises 329 breeds divided into 10 different groups. In consequence, several of the breeds which belong in a certain group in one country find themselves differenly grouped elsewhere.
MONGRELS AND CROSSBREEDS
Of course, not all dogs are pedigree-bred - there arc also crossbreeds and mongrels. (Crossbreeds are those of which the parentage is known, a term used generally when one pure-bred dog is mated to another pure breed. A mongrel usually describes a dog with at least one parent of mixed breeding, but pedigree, crossbreed or mongrel, all are dogs and all have worked their way deservedly into our affections.
DOGS IN THE BEGINNING
When we look at the dog which shares our fireside today, it is sometimes difficult to imagine how it has evolved over millions of years. Early mammals fed only on vegetation but in time meat eaters came about they were able to survive by eating the vegetarians. History takes us back to mouse-sized, flesh-eating mammals called Creodonts which lived at the same time as dinosaurs, some 100-50 million years ago. Although climatic changes brought about the death of the dinosaurs, the Creodonts survived and from these developed Miacis, between 54 and 38 million years ago in the Eocene period. Believed to be tree and den dwellers, the Miacidae were small, with long backs, short legs and long tails. Several characteristics of Miacis have been passed down to the dogs we know today.
EARLY ANCESTORS
Cats went on to develop from Miacis but the next evolutionary link in the history of the dog brought Hesperocyon, with an inner-ear anatoŽmy characteristic of the canine family. By now, time had moved on to 26 million years ago and by 19 million years before our time, the successful carnivore Cynodictis had come into being, but opinion is now changing about whether or not the modern dog developed from this or more directly from Hesperocyon. Either way, possibly, dogs early ancestors developed in North America, then spread from there into Eurasia.
By this time, a running animal had developed; the fifth toe of which having been shortened into what later became the dog's dew claw; a type of animals had now evolved that had dog-like feet and had also increased in size.
THE CANIDAE FAMILY
Around 12 million years ago, during the Miocene period, came Tomarctus, a wolf-like creature which hunted in packs and had the beginnings of a modern dogs tooth anatomy, so that by the end of the Pliocene period, around two million years ago, the foundation stock for all modern carnivores had evolved and with it the family of Canidae from which came jackals, foxes, hyenas, wolves and the dog. Over recent decades, various theories have been put forward regarding the precise evolution of the dog and much valid debate has ensued. Doubtless, with the passage of time, new discoveries will be made, leading to further theories being put forward. Meanwhile, science and history have combined, allowing us to look back in time and to see the development of that remarkable animal we know and love as the dog. |
