Dogs are one of the most popular animals to be kept as pets all over the world. Despite being incredibly domesticated in most cases, there are many species of dog that are more commonly found living as wild, or feral, dogs.
Dogs are carnivorous mammals that are part of the Canidae family of animals. They are actually a descendant of the Gray Wolf – one of the survivors of the Ice Age. They have an incredibly diverse range of sub-species due to cross-breeding under the control of humans.
Sizes, colours and temperaments of domestic dogs vary hugely. The smallest known dog was a Yorkshire Terrier that measured a meagre 6.3 centimetres from paw to shoulder and weighed 113 grams, and the largest was an English Mastiff weighing in at 343 pounds!
Dogs have been used as working animals for humans in a number of different roles and over many years. They have been bred or utilised for herding animals, pulling sleds, hunting vermin and more recently trained as guide dogs or service dogs to help people with disabilities.
They have also been preened and pampered by their owners and showed at competitions, where they compete with dogs of all breeds on factors such as their appearance, temperament and movement.
Dogs are considered to be one of the more intelligent creatures on the planet and can be trained through simple lessons and reinforcement routines. The most effective method of training a dog is to allow the puppies to observe the behaviour of older dogs. One particularly smart breed of dog is the Border Collie and they are commonly trained to respond to a farmers whistle to herd livestock.
Their intelligence and their tenable personalities are what have earned the dog its nickname of “man’s best friend”. Their appeal is so universal that this phrase exists in many languages around the world.