A Brief History of the Dog:

While the details surrounding when the partnership between dogs and humans happened is still a controversial issue, it most likely happened somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago. Though it is still believed, and can be stated with some degree of certainty, that our relationship was one born out of necessity, no one really knows for sure why it happened. So it has become widely accepted that the dogs wanted shelter and a solid food source, and humans wanted companionship and protection from the wilds of nature.

Recognized dog breeds are a result of human selection, in that dogs were traditionally bred for specific functions. Most existing dog breeds began as mixed breeds, either by random occurrence or by deliberate crosses of existing breeds. While encouraging desirable traits and discouraging others, breeders sought to create the ideal appearance or behavior, or both for dogs. Additionally, this was done to ensure that the dogs could consistently produce offspring with the same appearance or behavior. Mixing breeds can lead to desirable results, especially in the hands of an expert breeder. On the other hand, inexperienced crossbreeders can produce disastrous results.