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Wolf photographed by Marc-Olivier Jodoin / 1916 engraving of an adventurer using a fire to keep a pack of wolves at bay.
Aren't Dogs Descended From Wolves?
In short, not really. The popular narrative of humans domesticating wolves to create dogs over time is actually largely inaccurate. While dogs and wolves share a common ancestor, scientists now believe that both species evolved from a now-extinct wolf-like creature that lived between approximately 129,000 and 11,700 years ago.
Dogs and wolves took different paths, which really mattered for the people of England. Dogs became part of human communities and helped with work. Wolves, on the other hand, were wild and scary. For centuries, wolves were a real threat to people and livestock in parts of the British Isles.
In England, wolves were largely eradicated by the 14th century. According to legend, the last wolf in England was killed in 1390 by John Harrington of Wraysholme in Lancashire. This event marked the end of an era, as England has been without wild wolves for over 600 years. In contrast to the persecution of wolves, dogs have been highly valued and cherished by English society.
Skeleton of a dog from Grime's Graves in Norfolk. ©British Museum
Dogs Get Domesticated
The story of dogs in England starts way back in the Stone Age. We don't know exactly when or where dogs were first tamed everywhere, but scientists think it might have been in Siberia. From there, dogs went with people as they spread out to places like America and across Europe.
The oldest proof of dogs in England comes from Star Carr in Yorkshire. They found dog leg bones there from around 7,500 BC. And in Norfolk, at Grime's Graves, they discovered a dog buried with a lot of care. This shows that the dog might have been a really loved pet or had some special meaning to the humans who buried it.
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Art from the Middle Ages depicting dogs joining the hunt.
Hunting Hounds
People in Britain thought highly of dogs and thought they were important for their communities. Dogs even fought alongside soldiers in battles. But most often, they were used for hunting.
British dogs were especially good at hunting in the Middle Ages and were even sent to other parts of Europe for this. Big dogs like mastiffs and bulldogs started appearing during Roman times, but they looked different from the ones we know today.
Hunting dogs were prized possessions of the British elite, and hunting with hounds was something only rich people did. There were even cruel rules to make sure poor people couldn't use their dogs to hunt illegally.
Workers + Pets
Dogs could do lots of things. They helped gather sheep, pulled carts, and were great at watching over things. Smaller dogs were bred to catch rats and other pests. Some even had special jobs like turning roasting meat. English dogs came in all shapes and sizes, depending on what people needed them for. Many of today's dog breeds come from breeding dogs in a special way over hundreds of years.
Smaller dogs were also kept as pets. It's hard to say exactly what a 'pet' is, but it's an animal you keep for fun or company. People in Roman Silchester found some poodle-sized dog skeletons that were probably brought from other countries – maybe even the first 'toy' dogs in England. Monks and nuns also had pet dogs in the Middle Ages, and fashionable ladies carried around lap dogs.
Dog Breeds and Names
Deciding on a name for your new dog can be a challenge at times and one medieval duke decided to make this easier by compiling a list of 1065 appropriate names for dogs in his manual on game and hunting. Edward, Duke of York, compiled and wrote a very interesting treatise in the 15th century called ‘The Master of Game.' There is a wide variety of names – some reflect the owner’s desired qualities for their hunting dog, others are more fanciful, referring to history or literature. Some of our favourites include: Dasyberde, Goodnose, Purchase, Havegoodday, Synfull, Argument, Helpeles, Harmeles, Makehitgood, Farewell and Tullymully.
Back in the day, names like 'greyhound,' 'terrier,' or 'bulldog' told you what these dogs were good at. They were more like types of dogs, not breeds like we think of them now. Even greyhounds, which were known for being fast, could look pretty different. In the early 1800s, there were only a few of these different types.
A book called Cynographia Britannica from 1800 listed some dogs we know today, like Newfoundlands, Pomeranians, beagles, spaniels, and bloodhounds. But pugs were considered bulldogs, terriers came in all shapes and sizes, and there was even a group called 'drover's dogs' that were a mix of different breeds. To us now, these groups are really confusing.
Real 'breeds' of dogs started to become popular in the late 1800s. Many of the breeds we know today were created by people who loved dogs and wanted to breed them in a special way. The first 'modern' dog was probably a pointer named Major, described in 1865. To be a good breed, dogs got points for how they looked, not just how useful they were.
The Victorians started dog shows, and the Kennel Club was made in 1873 to have the same rules for dog shows and trials. By the end of the Victorian era, there were about 80 breeds, and now there are over 200. Another thing that shows how important dogs became in England is the first dog shelter, founded in 1861. Also, the first dog food was made a year earlier.
In the Victorian times, people really loved dogs and they were regarded highly. The Queen and her family had dogs, and this made people think that a home wasn't complete without a pet.
This idea continued into the 20th century and is still true today. About a third of all homes in the UK have at least one dog.
Dogs have gone from being hunting animals to being our house pets, good for our health and well-being. Some dogs are even trained for specific tasks such as medical alert dogs, guide dogs and police sniffer dogs. So, it's clear that dogs will still be a big part of our lives well into the future.
