Have you ever look at your dog, examined his behavior and wondered – How much is my canine friend actually related to his wild ancestors?
The answer is – pretty much. Practically all modern domestic dog breeds, or Canis Familiaris are extremely closely related to the wild wolf, or Canis lupus. In fact, there is only about 0.2% difference between the DNA of your pooch and that of a big bad wolf, even though our canine companions separated from their relatives more than 15,000 years ago.
Wolf-like Breeds
If we take a look at a DNA study conducted the members of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, we’ll see that the two domestic breeds with the closest relation to wolves are, surprisingly, the Shiba Inu and Chow Chow.
You will notice that that the breeds most closely related to wolves were originally developed in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Arctic, and that most of these breeds actually don’t resemble wolves as much as one would assume.
In fact, breeds like the German Shepherd that appear more wolf-like, share much less DNA with their ancestors.
Human bond vs. The Ancestors
Though our pooches are much more closely related to wolves than we previously thought, that doesn’t mean that they will always act like the wild wolves. Sure, there are some inherited characteristics, habits and mannerisms in their behavior, but all young domestic dogs bond much more quickly and strongly with humans than their wild ancestors do.
So, next time you see your fury friend howling for no reason at all, simply pet him and he’ll soon forget who his wild ancestors are.