Several people have written to me about my previous posting about dog
evolution to share their personal insights with individual members of
the so-called "ancient" breeds of dogs. The fact that these dogs tend
to act more like "wild" animals such as wolves simply because they
refuse to fetch or like to run away from humans is less a measure of
how close they are genetically to wolves and more a measure of the
traits that have been selected for in the breeding program for their
particular breed. Most of these animals were used hundreds of years
ago as working animals for specific purposes and in specific climates.
It's only been quite recently (within the last 100 years or so) that
most dogs have been viewed primarily as human companions. Breeding for
a disposition and fur coat that is suitable for pulling a sled in the
cold arctic winter may very well be incompatible with the genes that
encode for a happy, friendly dog that prefers humans to other dogs
(such as the Cocker Spaniels that live with Bill and I). I've heard it
said by dog trainers that Pekingese dogs are notoriously independent;
if you accidentally let one out of house off-leash, it may take hours
to get it to come back to you. No one would claim that these dogs were
bred to be "working" dogs in the normal sense (unless you think that
being a pampered lap-dog is a job--nice work if you can get it), and
the desire to have a dog with an unusual coat was greater than having
a dog that would obey human commands.
There are scientists who work with wolves that have shown that if you
start training them as pups, they will take on some of the
characteristics of dogs (for example, paying attention to a human that
points at something of interest). There are others that have shown
that if you selectively breed wolves over several generations to be
friendly towards humans, the result is a canine that looks like a
border collie, complete with long fur that is predominantly black with
white markings. So it seems that perhaps one can't have all desirable
modern traits in the same dog--a wonderfully beautiful coat and
extreme physical toughness might be incompatible with the desire to
obey human commands and to please the master no-matter-what. Too many
people nowadays don't realize this about dog breeds, and choose an
animal based upon characteristics that are incompatible with their
lifestyle--and the dog winds up at the pound (or worse, abandoned).
Diana
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
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