It all started with a Big Bang. And a Wolf.

Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They have different temperaments and different natural abilities. Have you ever wondered why? It might be hard to comprehend how a Great Dane, a Chihuahua, a Poodle, and a Bloodhound could all possibly have a single common ancestor and obviously be so different. How did we arrive at upwards of five hundred (!) measurably distinct dog breeds today, most of which do not remotely look like their common ancestors, a Grey Wolf?

Zoologists today understand precisely how the modern dog started out and how it evolved. They know that between 35 to 40 million years ago there was an animal that shared a few key and unique physical characteristics of the modern dog and that it roamed across at least three of the continents, and possibly more. During the next 30 to 34 million years, evolution and migration molded and diversified those animals into a much more recognizable ancestor to the modern dog. And it would be another six million years, more or less, before those early Grey Wolves agreed to enter a relationship with humans, leading to their domestication.

Domesticating wolves itself took millennia, so did the evolution of humans. Our ancestors watched and learned from the wolves; in turn, wolves neared human encampments, perhaps for their food remnants or perhaps for the warmth of their fires and caves. In exchange for the warmth of a fire and comfort of a cave, wolves served as sentries and hunting partners.

For their part, humans most certainly preferred smaller versions of those wolves. These would be easier to handle, took up less room in the cave, and they ate less, while being no less effective in protecting the tribe or on the hunt. These would be the wolves humans would feed and care for; their choices, self-selection, and evolution culled the others out. As those evolving wolves bred among themselves, smaller wolves produced ever smaller wolves. The same was true regarding temperament. Humans wanted only those individual canines that would work with, not against, their two-legged team leader. Aggressive wolves were likely left to return to the wild, or culled, leaving only those that naturally had more a domesticated temperament. Eventually, the “right” size and temperament was achieved. But it took time, an exceedingly long time, until “man’s best friend” went from wolves to dogs, who we now refer to as until dogs, Canis lupus familiaris.

Humans selecting dogs to suit their needs continued as humans changed from hunters to hunter-gatherers to hunter-farmers. Once humans started tilling the land and needed to stay put to grow their food, the role of dogs in the lives of people changed dramatically. Of course some dogs would continue to assist in hunting, but to earn their keep, dogs also needed to help on “farms.” By this time, people understood that by that by tapping into their natural abilities, dogs could be “trained” to perform on command. They could then be trained to do the work around the homestead that people couldn’t or couldn’t do as well. From ridding their homes from prey and vermin, to protecting fields or livestock from theft or predators, dogs were more agile, faster, and more efficient than any human. Training would be important, but no less important would be to develop dogs that had the innate physical characteristics and natural inclinations needed for these new tasks. Instead of waiting for evolution (with just a little help from humans) to make these subtle changes, long before people understood the microbiology of genetics people began to seek out and control the breeding of dogs to reach specific outcomes.

In short, modern breeding practices is simply directed evolution on hyperdrive. What once took hundreds, thousands, even millions of years could, and would, be accomplished in a few generations of selective breeding.

People have been orchestrating dog breeding ever since. And the basic axiom of dog breeding was born: form follows function.

Tell me what job the dog is intended to fill, and I will tell you what that breed looks like or should look like. The dog’s intended function is key. Beyond that, environmental factors such as climate and weather conditions would more subtly influence breeding choices.

For instance, as people began to raise livestock, the need to protect them arose. The closest descendants of the Grey Wolf were well equipped for this role. They were equal to their wild relatives in brains and strength. They may have been smaller than their wild cousins but were better fed and that put them on a more equal footing. These dogs would also protect against thieves. Remarkably some dogs developed in a way that they could both protect and work with the herds and flocks without attacking them. People saw this and encouraged this development.

Through selection, select dogs that could assist a herder in moving his livestock were encouraged to breed; others that seemed to instinctually know how to find and collect livestock that had roamed too far from home were also kept and bred. Depending on the type of livestock, dogs were selected by size and level of intimidation. A dog working with ducks needs a softer touch and need not be large; a dog moving cattle needed to be powerful in intimidation but small enough to avoid getting kicked. Sheep required a dog large enough and with enough presence to stand up to a 400-pound ram. The goal would be, through selective breeding, to achieve those characteristics and criteria.

Alternatively, if farmer wanted to truly rid his farm or home of rodents, he needed a dog that would hunt those rodents incessantly and hunt independently. Needed was a dog who could hear the activity in a burrow, something no human ever could, and that could also smell a burrow underground. But unlike our above-ground protector or sheepherding dog, a rodent-hunter needed to be able to get down rodent holes to eliminate the problem at its source. This dog needed to be small and compact with short legs and a tenacious spirit that could work alone. He needed to be fearless to take on rats and moles.

Understanding the various roles dogs have played, having different dog-types for different tasks seems logical. But early humans had a limited experience with limited survival needs. If the first dogs were selected and bred to fill those various, but finite, needs, how did we arrive at more than 500 different breeds today?

Once there was any significant diversity in the dog gene pool, there was no stopping the intermingling of different phenotypes of dogs. Alongside that happening, humans continued to selectively breed their dogs. Flash forward to more modern times, perhaps as recently as a few thousand years ago and we see that people had gotten rather good at somewhat

predicting what would result from any given breeding. It was still a gamble, particularly for those traits which stayed hidden for several generations.

It would be a very long time before the study of Genetics showed us how traits, both good and bad, could be predicted. That breakthrough, along with careful record keeping and choosing to breed only dogs that carried genes of the desired traits (and attempting to avoid those undesirable traits), dog owners could finally truly predetermine the outcome of selected breeding generation after generation. This is how modern dog breeders and breeding programs were born. and new breeds created.

Realizing the potential, dog owners sought ever more exacting dogs. For instance, Collies, German Shepherds, Samoyeds, and Corgis were all bred to work with livestock. But over time, each breeder (or groups of breeders) continued to develop dogs to better suit what type of livestock they were working.

By breeding ever smaller Collies, Shetland Sheepdogs (or Shelties) became better suited to the terrain and weather of the Shetland Islands. In open, rugged terrain, of the Shetland Islands. In northern England and the British Isles, most herds are safe to graze during the day, protected by crags and rock formations and open sightlines, so Border Collies, Shelties and Collies are needed mostly to round them up and bring them into safety at the end of the day or the end of the season.

Herds and flocks in more densely populated areas and where fields needed protecting from roaming herds needed dogs like German Shepherd Dogs (and their closest Shepherd relatives) that were bred to move and contain herds, even large herds, along roads and fields, never losing a single one.

Remember our rodent killers? A terrier (a dog that "goes to ground") living in a warm climate would be well-served by a short coat of fur. Those that lived in colder, wet climate needed a longer and thicker fur, but not a coat so thick it would impede getting in and out of a rodent hole. A stiff, wiry coat of fur might do; and it did. Each breed was selectively developed and refined to suit their particular circumstances.

It has only been in modern times that aesthetics and personal preferences, having nothing to do with the work, got involved.

Breed enthusiasts begin to “refine” their breeds even further, altering it bit by bit, generation after generation until it is significantly and, most importantly for breeders, demonstratively and qualitatively different from what the original breed was. Voila! A new breed is born.

A very recent example of this refinement took place on both sides of the Atlantic. When European hunters wanted a dog that would work best for hunting woodcock (a highly desirable game bird) they looked to Spaniels. Hunting enthusiasts in Spain had already taken gentle-mouth hunters and "created" the Spaniel (hence the name). The woodcock community then further refined this breed to the point that breeders could predict their off-springs would be exceptionally qualified to hunt gamecock and other small ground birds. The result was of what we know as the Cocker Spaniel (Cocker from the woodcock).

Once this breed arrived in the Americas (as early as 1620), time and distance and personal preference (not working ability) took its toll. Either by circumstance or design, the Cocker Spaniels in North America began to look a little different from their cousins in Europe. And then they took on a significantly different look. American breeders began to prefer the smaller heads and shorter bodies of their Cocker Spaniels; in England, the breed remained larger, with a larger head. Eventually, breeders of the American Cockers could guarantee their pups were significantly and even genetically different from their predecessors and that there were now two distinct and recognizable breeds, English Cocker Spaniels, and American Cocker Spaniels. From one now there were two. Today, not only are there two breeds of Cocker Spaniels, but color variations are also bred to; there are 24 intentional color variations!

These are but two examples of how the number of breeds grow. It does not take long for one breed to become two, then splits into six and then variations multiply that number again. Before you know it, there are hundreds of discernably different breeds of dogs.

Breeds today continue to evolve with new breeds being recognized, "accredited,” and accepted by national and international kennel clubs every year. In the UK, The Kennel Club recognizes 215 distinct breeds which they categorize by the original function (form follows function) of each breed. In the US, the AKC currently recognizes 197 breeds which they, too, organize by original function, into seven different groups.

The second US-based national kennel club, the UKC, recognizes more than 300. As of this writing, the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, the largest canine organization in the world, officially recognizes 360 breeds. Each of the recognized authority categorizes the breeds different groups based on the original intent of each breed. For example, the AKC sorts all its breeds into: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, or Herding.

In addition to those 300-plus breeds, there are breeds that are recognized only by smaller regional dog clubs. Some of these lesser-known breeds have hopes of one day getting recognized by one of the major Kennel Clubs. Yet there are also breeds that are well-defined with standards and serious breeding programs, but whose supporters have no interest in having their breed “recognized” by any authority. Add all these together and reaching 500 different breeds, all of whom came from the single Grey Wolf, is all too believable.

What’s your favorite breed? And why?

Happy Tails!