It is highly likely that the first animal to be domesticated by humans was the dog. This may have taken place more than 10,000 years ago. Certainly, dogs were ‘companions of man’ before the horse and the cat, but it was so long ago that we can only guess how it came about.

Prehistoric man must have been surrounded by wild dogs of many kinds, such as wolves, foxes and jackals. These, together with the few we still call ‘wild dogs’, make up the dog family. They feed on flesh although most of them also eat small amounts of fruit and vegetation. They catch large prey by running it down then snapping at it when it is exhausted. Some species, such as foxes, hunt singly. But most dogs hunt in packs. Jackals usually hunt on their own, like foxes, but will sometimes come together in packs.

The domestic dog is believed to be descended from the wolf, which lives in the northern parts of the northern hemisphere. Adult male wolves are about 80cm high at the shoulder and reach a length of about 140cm, excluding the tail. The coyote, also known as the prairie wolf, live in North America. It is much like a wolf but smaller.

Another member of the dog family is the jackal, which lives in warmer countries, in Africa and southern Asia. This, too, is much like a wolf but, at about 100cm long, including the tail, it is not much bigger than the largest fox. The dingo, the wild dog of Australia, is a domesticated dog taken to Australia by the Aborigines which then went wild.

The strongest of the dog family is the Cape hunting dog of the southern half of Africa. It is about the size of a wolf and very powerfully built. It hunts in packs, the dogs keeping in touch by hooting softly instead of barking.

The smaller members of the dog family are the foxes. The largest is the red fox of Europe and North America. The smallest, the fennec of the deserts of Africa and Arabia, weighs only 1.5kg, about half the size of the red fox. It has large ears, like those of the bat-eared fox living on sandy plains of South and East Africa.

The teeth of a hunter

Whatever the size of the animal and however much the wild dogs and foxes differ in shape or colour, all have the same kind of teeth. In the front of the mouth are the incisors. These teeth are used for picking up small prey. Behind them are the fangs, or canines, for holding large prey or for making slashing cuts. Then come the cheek teeth, made up of premolars and molars. The dog family are carnivores, a word which means flesh-eaters. One cheek tooth on each side of both upper and lower jaws is much enlarged and has a prominent cutting edge. These are called carnassial or flesh-teeth. They are used for cutting flesh once a piece has been taken into the mouth.

A North American wolf stands and howls on a look-out rock. This cry can be heard over great distances and is a frightening, eerie sound. To wolves it is a signal that they are about to gather before setting off to hunt. To their prey it is a warning that there is danger about.

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The thick coat of the Arctic fox provides both protection against the cold and good camouflage.

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A European red fox photographed in the wood. The shading of its coat blends well with the woodlands, providing an excellent camouflage.

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Coyotes scavenge the remains of a carcass. The coyotes, or prairie wolf, is a smaller cousin of the wolf and looks very like it. Coyotes hunt single or in pairs, seldom in groups as do wolves. They also hunt smaller animals. They will eat plant food, vegetables, and carrion.

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in Australia lives the dingo or wild dog. But is it a truly wild dog? The Aborigines reached Australia from Asia several thousand years ago and scientists believe they brought the dingo with them. Some of these domesticated dingos escaped and went back to living in the wild. Today’s dingos are their descendants.

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Resources & Extra reading:
African wild dogs | Wolves | Jackal | Domestic dog | Fennec fox | Dental anatomy of dogs | Carnivores | Dingo

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