Canis lupus familiaris

Canis lupus familiaris or commonly known as dogs are tame animals and to be known as subspecies of the wolves. The term dog derived from the Old English word “docga” means the “powerful breed of canine.” According to evidences of their DNA studied by scientists, wolves are dog’s ancestors and deviated almost 100,000 years ago. Dogs belong to Canidae family of mammal. These species were specified by Linnaeus during the 17^th century. Dogs has been possess as working and companion animals in the history of the human being. For some cultures globally, dogs has been also become a source of food.

Dogs have several breeds. These breeds vary on their height, color, patterns, coats, and hair. A female canine is referred to as bitch and the male canine denotes to as a dog. Sire is the name of the litter’s father while the litter’s mother is called the dam. The litter then referred to as pups or puppies until they reached the age of a dog or a bitch.

As mentioned above, dogs have been used to help human being in their works, utility and assistance. The Australian Border collie cross are often times called as mixed-breed dogs and often used for work due to their intelligence and health. Aside for working dogs, there are also called the assistant dogs which they seek to help the people who are blind and deaf. Some of them are also trained to assist in psychiatric and epileptic persons by just detecting the person’s onset of condition. One example is the Labrador Retriever.

Furthermore, there are also dogs that are trained to detect something that is unusual with the use of their sense of smell. They may detect bombs and illegal drugs. The guard dogs like Doberman Pinschers, Rottweiler, and German Shepherds are trained to guard and protect their owner’s property. Sheepdogs or Herding dogs are then trained to ensure livestock against predators.

The police dogs and the rescue dogs are trained to assist law enforcers and hunt for missing individuals. The Bloodhound and the St. Bernard are the best example. Dogs are also used for therapeutic purposes in various centers because they found out that dogs have gentle temperament and are friendly. They are trained to provide affection and comfort to the [patients in the said hospital or centers. There are also dogs used in the military and trained to detect opposing and rival soldiers and as well as land mines. That’s why as many century go may passed, with the used of the dogs and their capacity to deal with human being and their capacity to be involved in many human activities, dogs then became man’s best friends.