We’ve enjoyed the company of dogs for 30,000 years. We domesticated the ancestors of the dogs we love today, even before we domesticated horses or farm animals. But before we domesticated the dog, there was the wolf.
Wolf vs. Dog
Most scientists will agree that all modern-day dogs, including pugs and jack russel terriers, descend from wolves, as strange as that might seem. But if they are relatives, how many differences exist between the apex predator and our domesticated companions?
Social Structure
Dogs are often flexible about their social structure and hierarchy. They often see their owners as the pack alphas. Wolves are led by an alpha pair of wolves (a male and a female) who make the decisions for the pack.
Physiology
Dogs come in many different breeds, shapes, and sizes. Dogs typically have shorter snouts and smaller heads compared to wolves, who have larger teeth and more powerful jaws to assist them in hunting prey.
Maturity
Because wolves still actively live in the wild, pups mature much faster than dogs and tend to learn and absorb vital information for their survival. Dogs keep juvenile traits for a lot of their lives and only tend to mature after 8 months.
Diet
Wolves are specialized carnivores that can consume huge amounts of meat in one sitting since they don’t know how long it will be until they find food again. Dogs should also primarily eat meat, but they have a slightly more flexible diet and can eat grains if it’s a small part of it.
Body Language
Wolves communicate through howls and by marking their scent where they go so they can be tracked by their pack and deter other animals. Most breeds don’t howl and instead bark. They also learn to interpret their owner’s body language.
Reproductive Cycles
Wolves and dogs even have differences in their reproduction cycles. Female wolves typically only breed once a year, whereas some dog breeds can go into heat twice a year. Wolves can have anywhere from 2 to 10 pups in a litter, while dogs can have 1 to 12.
Independent
While wolves often rely on their pack to help them solve problems, if needed, they can problem-solve and do things independently. Because of their domestication, dogs will often immediately look to their own pack to solve problems for them.
Roles In Their Environment
Wolves serve a vital purpose in their ecosystems, including controlling local populations and cleaning up carcasses. Dogs fulfill the roles that they’ve been bred for. Historically, they protected and herded cattle, but today, they are more often companions and used for protection.
Facial Expressions
Wolves rely more on social cues and body language to portray their feelings since survival is generally their biggest concern. Dogs have developed many facial expressions to show their owners and other dogs a complex array of emotions unrelated to survival.
Coats
Wolves have less dynamic coat colors, normally a variation of one color, like grey, black, or brown. All wolves have double coats to help them against the harsh conditions many of them live in. Many dogs don’t have double coats, and they can have many variations in their coats, including piebald.
Adaptability
While wolves have specialized traits and are still very adaptable animals in the wild, dogs have shown to be more adaptable to changes in their environment, possibly due to their exposure to a wider variety of settings, situations, and places.
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