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This is Dylan, the shih-tzu - the perfect lapdog. But did you know that his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather was... |
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...a wolf! This is Shadow. He doesn't look much like Dylan, does he? But it's true that all dogs are descendants from wolves. So how come there are so many different breeds of dog? |
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Well, thousands of years ago after humans tamed wolves, we started a process called selective breeding. |
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We chose animals with certain characteristics and bred them over thousands and thousands of years, and generations and generations until eventually we had created different breeds of dogs which all had special design features. |
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Most dogs are just pets or companions nowadays. But they were originally bred to be able to help humans. And each breed was specifically designed for the job it was going to do. |
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This is Reuben - a bloodhound. He's got enormous, floppy years... |
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...which are very different from Shadow's pointy ears. |
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Bloodhounds are bred to be very good at tracking smells. When they run about, their big floppy ears waft the smell right into their nose. |
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Wolves are brilliant hunters. They have long powerful legs packed with muscle - perfect for hunting prey. |
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This is Red - he may not look like Shadow but he's a very good hunter. He's a Dachshund - which is German for "badger dog". You'll probably know him better as a sausage dog. |
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Wolves are too big to go in underground burrows and caves, so humans bred small dogs like the dachshund to go underground and even into a badger's set. |
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Wolves are fantastic at hunting in packs. Together, they can bring down very big animals. But humans wanted a dog that could hunt by itself. This is Denny - a Great Dane. She's enormous and can hunt animals like deer, all by herself. |
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Wolves are good swimmers. They're almost as happy in the water as they are on dry land. So from this starting point, humans bred dogs that love to swim. |
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Asti the newfoundland is one! Newfoundlands were originally bred to help fishermen bring in their nets. They have an oily coat to stop them from getting too wet. |
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And believe it or not, underneath this hairy paw is a webbed foot! Newfoundlands are sometimes used as sea rescue dogs, but they'll attempt to rescue you whether you want to or not. |
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So from wolves are descended all different types of dogs - all perfectly designed for the jobs they do. |
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