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There is no doubting in the idea that in the very earliest period of humanity's habitation of this world he made a friend and companion of some sort of ancient ancestor of our modern dog, and that in return for its help in protecting him from dangerous predators, and in guarding his sheep and goats, he gave it some scraps of his food, a place in his domicile, and grew to trust and care for it. Probably the animal was originally nothing more than an unusually gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf driven by its companions from the wild marauding pack to seek shelter in unknown territory. A different idea is that certain packs of wild dogs or wolves were scavenging for food and found some generous humans. It's also easy to picture early hunters bringing home wild puppies to be raised by the family. Dogs introduced into the home as playthings for the children would come to see themselves, and be seen, as members of the family.

In nearly all parts of the world traces of an indigenous dog family are found, the only exceptions being the West Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, New Zealand, and the Polynesian Islands, where there is no sign that any dog, wolf, fox, or any other member of the canine family has existed as a true aboriginal animal. In the ancient Oriental countries, and mostly amongst the early Mongolians, the dog remained wild and not tended to for many ages, hunting in packs, skinny and wolf-like, as it prowls these days through the streets and under the walls of every Eastern city. No one ever tried to draw it into friendship with man or to improve it into docility. It is not until we come to study the records of the higher civilizations of Assyria and Egypt that we find any distinct varieties of canine breed.