The dog is the oldest pet. This is evidenced by the many found in the excavations of more or less preserved skeletal remains of dogs from the Stone Age (about 10-15 thousand years BC), when a person lived in a primitive communal system and obtained his own food by hunting. Obviously, the ancestors of the current dog connected their lives with primitive man, the main thing is because it is easier to provide themselves with food, using the uneaten leftovers of game and fish. Staying a dog in close proximity to a person contributed to the further taming and adaptation of the dog to hunting and protecting settlements.
In which part of the continent the dog’s first rapprochement with the person occurred is unknown. Undoubtedly, this rapprochement, or rather the taming of the ancestors of the modern dog by man, took place in many different places and that the tamed material was very diverse. This allowed a person to create different breeds, mutually different not only in color and type of coat, but most importantly in size, physique and behavior. This diversity would rather indicate that the dog arose as a result of crossbreeding of different species of wolves and jackals that lived in ancient times, and that this cross occurred at the behest of a primitive man, in other words, that the dog was the first animal whose breeding was controlled by man.
In numerous excavations of ancient human settlements, the remains of different types of primitive dogs were found, which were probably the ancestors of modern breeds.
So, in pile constructions of the period of about 10 thousand years BC, the remains of the skeletons of a dog were found, of our own origin which we do not know anything, and which was called a swamp or peat dog (Canis familiaris palustris Rutimeyer). From it originates many modern breeds of Spitz, Pinscher, Terriers. Their common feature is mainly small, maximum average growth, very lively temperament, sensitivity and viciousness. The largest descendants of the peat dog are our comparatively youngest breeds: Giant Schnauzer, Dobermann Pinscher and Airedale, which, thanks to the above properties, are used as service dogs.
The group of northern wolf-shaped dogs and shepherd dogs came from a dog, the remains of which were described by a Russian scientist, prof. Anuchin, finding them in excavations at Lake Ladoga. This dog was larger than a peat dog and was named after the Russian scientist-archaeologist, prof. A. Inostrantseva (Canis familiaris Inostranzewi). She is a likely descendant of the North European wolf or a hybrid between a wolf and a peat dog.
We derive a group of dog-shaped dogs from an independent ancestor named Canis familiaris decumanus, whose origin is unknown. But which, with its powerful physique, is most similar to modern dogs and ancient fighting dogs, which are known to us from ancient sculptures.
By crossing the northern breeds with dog-shaped dogs, probably created St. Bernards and Newfoundlands, with a calm character and affection for humans, but at the same time sensitive and fearless.
The evolutionarily youngest primitive ancestor of our dogs is a bronze dog (Canis familiaris matris optimae), the remains of which were found in many settlements of the Bronze Age (we have about 4-5 thousand years BC). From it came all breeds of shepherd dogs (German, Belgian, Scottish, etc.), which are similar to it in size, skeleton structure and skull shape. And, finally, in the same century there was a dog, the remains of which were found precisely with us. It was of medium size and differed from a bronze dog, first of all, in the shape of a skull, which resembles the shape of the head of current hounds or marriages. This dog received the name ashen (Canis familiaris intermedius). She was obviously the primitive ancestor of a number of current breeds of hunting dogs. We explain the great variety of these breeds by the fact that they arose as a result of crossing the original ashen dog with other prehistoric breeds.
The only group whose origin we still know very little are greyhounds. Obviously, they arose in two places, namely in the East European and North African steppes and come from the steppe wolves. However, there is no evidence for this. Studying the origin of the dog and individual breeds is extremely difficult precisely because of the great diversity, depending on the ability of many predators of the canine family to interbreed and produce offspring capable of further breeding. This property was used by people and purposefully selected already hundreds of different breeds, many of which have already ceased to exist, and new breeds are created in our days.