A
Brief History of the Dog:
Based on DNA evidence, the wolf ancestors of modern dogs diverged from other wolves about 100,000 years ago, and dogs were domesticated from its wolf ancestors around 15,000 years ago, making dogs the first species to be domesticated by humans. Though it is still believed,
and can be stated with some degree
of certainty, that our relationship
was one born out of necessity, no
one really knows for sure why it
happened. So it has become widely
accepted that the dogs wanted shelter
and a solid food source, and humans
wanted companionship and protection
from the wilds of nature.
There are numerous dog breeds, and few basic breed types have evolved gradually during the domesticated dog's relationship with humans over the last 10,000 or more years, but all modern breeds are of relatively recent derivation. Most of the breeds are results of deliberate process of artificial selection. While encouraging desirable
traits and discouraging others,
breeders sought to create the ideal
appearance or behavior, or both
for dogs. Additionally, this was
done to ensure that the dogs could
consistently produce offspring with
the same appearance or behavior.
Mixing breeds produce good
results, especially if done by an expert breeder. On the other
hand, inexperienced crossbreeders
can produce unwanted and disastrous results.
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