Why “familiaris?”
Taxonomy
In 1758, a Swedish guy named Carl Linnaeus decided to make himself famous by publishing a big book to explain a way of classifying living things is an orderly way. We call it a taxonomy.
For living things, the taxonomy has these headings: domain, kingdom, phylum class, order, family, genus, and species.
Because our dog and wolf friends can all interbreed, scientists added a subspecies to the list so we can identify our friendly family pet from his less fortunate cousin, the wolf.
Why less fortunate? You will have to read all the way to the end to decide.
Canus is the Latin word for dog; lupus means wolf. Linnaeus wanted to call our pet dogs Canus familiaris, presumably because we are more familiar with our dogs than we are with wolves.
Then, as scientist are fond of doing, they looked at wolf and dog DNA and decided that dogs may have descended from multiple ancient wolf populations and are now unlike any living wolf. That meant adding a subspecies to the wolf classification: familiaris.
Until scientists come to a consensus about wolf DNA, we are stuck with their taxonomic fix: Canus lupus familiaris (Genus, species, subspecies). Reading the Latin from back to front, it’s our familiar wolf dog.
That is not to be confused with a wolfdog, the cross between Canis lupus familiaris and any number of Canis lupus subspecies such as our favorite wolf from almost everywhere, the Canis lupis lupis, dog wolf wolf, or is it wolf wolf dog?
For what it’s worth, the grey wolf, Canis lupus lupus was reintroduced into the wild in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 after being hunted to extinction 100 years earlier.
National Geographic has an interesting “Gray Wolf Educator Guide, which you can rad online HERE.
Less Fortunate Cousin
You decide if the wolf is less fortunate that our domestic dogs, Canis lupus [sub-species]has been hunted to extinction and near extinction in almost every ecosystem it inhabits.
Domestic dogs are raised for human consumption in various parts of the world, notably Korea and China. And also Vietnam. And Africa, And a bunch of other places too. Actually eating dogs is illegal in only 6 U.S. states.
That needs to change.
It the U.S., many domestic dogs are coddled as beloved pets while others die abandoned, unable to feed themselves in an ecosystem overrun by Homo sapiens sapiens, the wise ones!
What can you do? Be wise.
Support your local animal rescue, feed your pet dogs well, and use Buddy Breath on their teeth to stave off the ravages of gum disease.
Why Do Dogs Have such a Short Life Span?
It seems unfair that our dogs can’t live as long as our own children. But think about it. They grow up a lot faster than our own children. Sometimes they are smarter and obey better too. When our dog is one year old, she can run, fetch, bark at strangers, and eat little animals that venture into her backyard.
Our own child at age one can barely walk, cannot pick up after himself, cries for no perceptible reason, and refuses to eat even the choicest morsels placed within easy reach.
Our child and pet equally depend upon us for their welfare.
We need to do everything we can to make our pet’s pitifully short life and our child’s tediously long life as happy and healthy as possible.
DNA
We can’t do anything about their DNA once we have committed to a lifetime relationship.
Genetics is what makes small dogs generally live longer than large dogs.
After DNA, almost everything else about dogs’ longevity is in our hands.
Remarkably the same things we do for our own children are exactly the same things we need to do for our dogs.
DIET
A canine diet is different from a human diet. Fortunately there are manufacturers such as Purina that extensively study the diets of animals. In the case of cows and chickens, a farmer’s income depends on good nutrition for his livestock. It the case of dogs, the extremely competitive and lucrative pet food industry depends on your dog’s continued health in order to maintain their reputations and profits.
Feed your dog a high quality diet from reputable manufacturers. Dog nutrition is arguably better than the SAD, Standard American Diet. Don’t feed your SAD food to your dog.
Exercise
Our apologies for mentioning exercise. Nevertheless it’s as important for your dog’s longevity as it is for yours.
Sleep
Dogs are seldom sleep deprived but people are. Your bad sleep habits may interfere with your pet’s need for sleep.
Hydration
It is true that a dog is not too picky about the water he laps up, including pond water contaminated by bird feces and all manner of parasites. Of course he will get sick and you will take him to the doctor and it will cost a fortune.
So wash the dog’s bowl and fill it with clean filtered water, the same as you drink, if you actually drink water. The dog will be healthier and live longer.
Dental Health
We all now know that bad dental health is implicated in heart disease and cancer in humans. Periodontal disease ruins a dog’s life and you can prevent it.
