The dog is from the family Canidae and includes wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals, and dogs they came from a common ancestor, a now extinct variant of the wolf.
There are 36 species of wild canid alive and thriving today but our beloved dogs was not only the first domesticated animal but also only one of 3 predators, the others being the cat and the ferret to be domesticated and is in fact the largest.
But how did Canis Familiaris become the species that we know and love today?
The truth is no one totally knows but at some point man and wolf started to co-exist more closely than they had before. The earliest undisputed evidence is a jaw bone from 14000 years ago however, other suggested evidence of an old dog fossil is 32000 years old and geneticists suggest as early as 135000 years ago! Whatever it is, dogs have been with us a long time!
So how did this happen? There are 2 main theories, firstly that it is possible that with a shared pursuit of hunting wolves started to scavenge around human settlements and human and wolf developed a kind of co-operation with less co-operating wolves now driven away by the presence of the wolves hanging round the human domain. And the second is that perhaps man or woman took pity on some orphaned cubs and took them in. It is likely that there were several prompts that lead to the domestication of the wolf as dogs are located all over the world except Antarctica and historically evidence shows this too with fossils found in Europe, the Middle East and Northern Eurasia.
Current information puts the total number of dogs around the world at 900million and only 14% of these are pets with the rest a staggering 86% free-roaming dogs.
Why does it matter? Well the more we know about the development of the dog that we know and love today the more we can understand how dogs think and why they behave the way they do and this especially helps when we are dealing with problems that our dogs face and with the increasing numbers of free-roaming dogs being brought into homes and owners facing behavioural problems understanding the origin is more important now than ever.
Now ancient man did not know much about genetics but he or she did know what traits they liked and didn’t. We also know from studies on free roaming dogs and other animals that traits that promote survival become more prevalent and so you start the process of evolution via natural selection. There are many adaptations that have been made in the building of the dog from the wolf but a few specific ones are very survival orientated. Dogs have a different jaw from wolves and this has evolved due to changes in nutrition, dogs can also digest starch more than wolves due to the presence of different enzymes, this no doubt an adaptive mechanism from living around the starch eating humans. The ancient ancestor of the dog we know today needed to have certain pre-adaptations or traits in order to make it favourable for breeding although interestingly the 3 predators that have been domesticated - dog, cat, ferret - have more undesirable pre-adaptations but what they have is desirable for service whether that is hunting, guarding, herding or just companionship to name a few. It is this symbiosis with man and his needs that meant our dogs developed as we know them.
Dog traits vary depending on human desire and particular traits help them to survive, for example free-roaming dogs that make up to 86% of the dog population form loose social groups (different to wolf packs) which have a general hierarchy and also show co-operative behaviour such as helping with each other's young. Have enough dogs in your home and you may well see this manifest too. There are many other different traits our pet dogs have due to the evolution of what man desires from a dog.
One way to explain this in more detail is to use the Kennel Club 7 groups based on their specific traits.
Hound - hunting dog to track or chase prey, they have a powerful sense of smell or great speed or both
Working - carry out practical task and their breed heritage of physical characteristics that lend itself to work irrespective of training or employment
Terrier - French for the word burrow - bred to hunt vermin
Gundog - my favourite - they are types of hunting dogs to assist in finding and retrieving game and work at either flushing, pointing or retrieving
Pastoral - energetic and hardy dogs used for working with livestock and used to long hours and harsh conditions
Utility - other breeds not belonging to other groups and with a fitness for purpose
Toy/companion - small dogs and the breeds commonly selected traditionally for being companions
Now all dogs have amazing ability for scent - however depending on breed traits some will be more inclined than others - now I work with aromatherapy which is so beneficial regardless of those traits. However, knowing something about the evolution of the dog and the traits it may exhibit or particular breed characteristics a pet dog might have means I can utilise essential oils in a variety of different ways based on inherent traits either physical or behavioural.
Let me explain - a collie has a different behaviour to a spaniel - collies get excited and might chase and herd, maybe nip whereas your average springer will retrieve anything. These inherent behaviours are reinforcing as they release dopamine which is the neurotransmitter that makes you feel rewarded and so drives the behaviour. So I can utilise that in using essential oils for emotional benefit say - having certain toys infused with specific essential oils for a spaniel to retrieve is a great way to give them therapeutically whereas for the collie diffusion might be the best option in the home where it is trying to chase/herd etc.
Knowing breed characteristics is also vital as too often owners ask for an oil to calm a dog’s behaviour that is actually inherent in their breed make up, nature does tend to win out (although the nature v nurture is a subject for another day) so you need to find a way to adapt that behaviour so it is focused and useful instead of trying to calm a natural behaviour. This is why it is so important to get a breed with traits that suit your lifestyle, not just the one you find cute. Obviously that behaviour may occur in excess due to endogenous positive reinforcement but knowing this cause and effect and what is beneficial and what is difficult helps to understand the dog as a whole and therefore assess what is needed.
All of this can greatly assist in choosing what essential oils are needed and application methods as mentioned above . A great example of the former is looking at some of the physical characteristics - for example a bulldog has an impaired respiratory tract due to the human desire for specific anatomical traits which are poor traits for survivability. So essential oils that assist in opening up the airways and contribute to assisting the respiratory system will help physically and with any emotional component that is the result of this physical imperfection. A cockapoo on the other hand may need some detangling options to assist with the grooming of the difficult coat with the conflict between the high shedding double coat and the low shedding poodle leading to a less matted and easier to groom dog and essential oils can also have a bearing on the emotional welfare of the dog who may be struggling with the on-going need for grooming.
The characteristics of our beloved dogs vary not just between breeds but also domestic v free-roaming dogs. 2 of my 6 dogs are ex-street dogs and they are very different compared to my 3 domestically bred dogs (my other dog is of uncertain breeding heritage). This is important to realise as many of these dogs are now entering our homes to be domesticated and in some cases struggling greatly or have had a traumatic arrival into rescue for a whole multitude of different reasons. Understanding some of their traits can aid a transition and we can use different essential oils to help this transition especially in fearful and traumatised dogs as a a scared dog often won’t be enticed by food but can’t avoid smelling and with many of the oils working to release neurotransmitters, endorphins and oxytocin this can be extremely useful in settling them into new and strange environments.
I find my street dogs are very amenable and adept at reading body language as well as very social, not to mention their resilience both physically and mentally I find particularly interesting. Both dogs were injured by cars on the street and managed to survive despite life-changing injuries but are streetwise dogs who just love the vibes of city living. Maz is a dog from Afghanistan that was hit by a car and suffered huge pelvic injuries which he not only managed to survive but also survive on the streets for 2 years prior to being rescued. Maz is a fan of snow and sun - both in abundance in Afghanistan and extremely hardy, possibly a survival trait that has evolved for those on the streets. Bambi is an amenable little dog not as hardy as Maz, but rescued as a pup and a paraplegic he is a real companion dog no doubt from his likely breed traits based on his looks.
Both Maz and Bambi display diplomatic skills - due maybe to their loose family groups as free-roaming dogs and display a particular status within a loose hierarchy. Maz is definitely acting as the Alpha Male or Guide which is evident in his interactions with other dogs - Maz is not a dominant dog but seems to display a presence that family dogs and new dogs just take without question. We know cooperation and social behaviour is beneficial for evolution and this is clearly displayed within my home. When one of my dogs was elderly and unable to walk far, we used to head out and have regular break points for Toffee to rest and the springers to spring I found Maz set up a kind of sentry duty and any off-lead dogs approaching were not granted admittance he just seemed to exude this presence. Other traits I have noted within the domestic setting are very breed specific - the spaniels retrieve everything and anything, Seren who has collie in her too likes to herd and Inka and her prey drive well lets just say blind or not no rat is safe…….and this goes back to what I said about owners often wanting an oil to calm a natural behaviour.
Now whilst my experiences of street dogs and domestic dogs are not indicative of all dogs they do I believe provide some corroborative evidence of how dogs evolved to be the awesome pets we know and love today. Knowing a bit more about their heritage can really help drive how I can help support dogs both physically and emotionally with natural solutions that really take into account the genetics, the environment and the combination of both.
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