- they could not survive the loss. We know and remember such dogs as Kuchi from Varna, who daily came to the seashore and, standing up to his belly in the water, waited for the missing owner-fisherman. Such as Verny, who did not miss a single train for 14 years, on which, in his opinion, the owner-engineer, who was killed by a fascist bomb, should have returned. Like the Scottish Shepherd Dick, who found 12 thousand mines (!) laid on the roads of war, discovered a powerful bomb under the foundations of the Pavlovsk Palace near St. Petersburg. Like terrier Bobby from Greyfriars, who lived for many years as a hermit on the owner's grave. Instinct or feeling?

Many Italians have a special liking for the place of San Rocco di Camogli, where once a year dog lovers gather with their four-legged pets to choose a worthy candidate for the title of the most loyal dog of the year.

The competition is over 30 years old. Among his winners are the Newfoundland Caro, who pulled two drowning boys out of the waves of the Gulf of Naples into a storm; the German Shepherd Vesta, who left her newborn puppies to save her owner, who was covered in an avalanche in the mountains; the poodle Reno, who had been waiting for his sick master at the door of the hospital for several months; police dog Elk is the favorite of Italian customs officers and the absolute champion in drug detection. In 1986, the Scottish Shepherd Rocky was unanimously recognized as the winner of the competition. Alas, the owner received the award. The courageous dog died from burns that he received while saving two children during a fire. In 1986, another award was established in San Rocco di Camogli for the first time - for the owner, the most devoted to his dog. The right to receive this title was contested by Signora Funicelli from the city of Spezia: pushing the slow firefighters, she threw herself into the fire of her house on fire and returned, carrying little Fula in her arms - the dog was locked in a room and could not escape. Among the contenders for the award was Signor Pavettoni, a truck driver from the town of Buscate, who boldly entered into a fight with several hooligans who offended his dog.

After that, guess: is devotion an instinct or a feeling? The answer may not be unambiguous, but still it is. The dog, according to Charles Darwin, is the only creature that loves us more than itself. Is this not a manifestation of the feelings we are talking about?!

A dog is the only animal in the world that can die from separation from its owner. And this cannot be explained by conditioned reflexes, a banal habit.

Do dogs study in schools?
Dogs rescue people at sea, under snow falls, pulled out of burning buildings, found in areas affected by earthquakes.

In the city of Grama in France, there is a special school for drowning rescue dogs. Mostly these are the Newfoundlands, nicknamed the "sea St. Bernards." The drowning man firmly grabs the rubber handle attached to their back, and the animal tows it up to 25 km through rough seas. Rescuing someone who has already swallowed, the newf dives up to 20 meters, gently grabs a person with his teeth by the forearm, throwing his body on his back, and pulls him out onto land. During towing, a person's head is in the air.

The world of canine professions is dynamic - some disappear as unnecessary, others appear. Designed for sprinting, greyhounds, with their long legs and excellent aerodynamic contours, are an example of a narrow specialization of the breed. But the great canine hunts are gone, when the hounds drove the beast out of the forest, and the greyhounds, having taken over from them, caught up and caught it. What fate awaits the greyhounds and hounds?!

“I had to ride all sorts of dogs,” writes the famous Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic Jon Ever, “and even among the most notorious mongrels, I sometimes met dogs with such a fiery temperament that they broke any records. Why is it generally accepted that the more thoroughbred a dog is, the more reliable it is?

What do we know about mutts?
Thousands and thousands of outbred dogs gave their lives during the difficult time of the war. Few people know that their owners were even sent funerals for dogs ... Dogs found a huge number of mines, pulled the wounded from the battlefield, threw themselves under trains and tanks, blowing them up.

We know and remember such dogs as Kuchi from Varna, who daily came to the seashore and, standing up to his belly in the water, waited for the missing owner-fisherman. Such as Verny, who did not miss a single train for 14 years, on which, in his opinion, the owner-engineer, who was killed by a fascist bomb, should have returned. Like the Scottish Shepherd Dick, who found 12 thousand mines (!) laid on the roads of war, discovered a powerful bomb under the foundations of the Pavlovsk Palace near St. Petersburg. Like terrier Bobby from Greyfriars, who lived for many years as a hermit on the owner's grave.

Why is cinematography necessary?
Cinematography is an interesting science. She knows that the Hound of the Baskervilles, according to the writer's intention, was a cross between a mastiff and a bloodhound, that White Fang is a sledding husky with a wolf, that Mumu is a cute spaniel. But it is not necessary to know cynology in order to love and understand dogs. After all, the most powerful fanged dog resembles a child - he requires care, care, he is childishly straightforward, naive. The advantages of dogs can be listed for a long time. The only pity is that a person does not always correspond to these virtues.

Yes, people are sometimes dishonest, but a dog cannot lie. In addition, the dog is not capable of betraying his friend. If you want to become just as honest and worthy of the friendship of a dog, then the following chapters of our book will help you. Perhaps you already have a dog. And then you will learn something new about the upbringing, treatment and training of your four-legged friend.

ORIGIN OF DOGS
Wolf or jackal?
Until now, scientists cannot accurately answer the question - from whom did the current dogs originate. Some believe that ancient wolves were their distant ancestors, others are jackals, and others are convinced that dogs were born as a result of crossing a wild wolf and a peat, long-extinct dog.

What do dog breeders think about this? They are sure that different dogs came from different ancestors. For example, dogs - guards and shepherds (sheepdogs, schnauzers, etc.) descended from jackals, and dogs - hunters (huskies, hounds, etc.) - from wolves.

One thing is clear: both ancient wolves, and jackals, and foxes - they all descended from the most ancient common ancestor, a kind of “bronze” wolf-dog. And then they were divided into a wide variety of wolf-dog animals.

How was the dog tamed?
Jackals, for example, are still trying to settle closer to humans. This makes it easier for them to feed. And in ancient times, they also warned people in the caves about the approach of enemies. The dog is the first animal tamed by man; its remains have been found in the oldest human settlements of the Neolithic period. And it’s not so important - did they tame wolf cubs, peat dogs or small jackals? It is important that they, together with people, hunted, defended themselves from predatory animals, guarded the dwelling. And later, when people began to tame other animals, they learned to graze these animals.

What happened next?
For many millennia, people have selected and bred dogs with special properties. This is how various breeds of dogs appeared, suitable for hunting, guarding, military operations, transporting heavy loads, etc. For example, already on Egyptian monuments of 3400-2100. BC. there were already images of dogs of different breeds. Most of them looked like greyhounds. At later sites, new breeds appear, similar to current hounds and dachshunds. А на ассирийском памятнике 640 г. BC. there is an image of a large mastiff.

Work on new breeds of dogs will continue in our time. Most recently, over the last hundred years, Doberman, Pit Bull, Staffordshire Terrier, Black Terrier, Moscow Watchdog, Moscow Toy Terrier and some other varieties have been bred.

Sometimes, to improve the working qualities of dogs, people cross them with their relatives by origin: wolves, jackals…

What are the relatives of dogs?
As the famous fairy tale by R. Kipling says, the dog became the first pet. But many of her relatives chose to remain wild. Most people, when asked who the closest relative of a dog is, will answer - a wolf, some will also call a jackal, a fox. This is right. But the canine family also includes coyotes, arctic foxes, the maned wolf, the South American bush dog, the African hyena dog, the Australian and New Zealand dingoes, the Asian red wolf, and many genera and species of foxes.

The smallest species - the North African fox FENEK - weighs 1.5 kg. The average weight of a polar white wolf is 70-90 kg. And there is still no generally accepted scientific view of the taxonomy of canines. Most often, the family includes 38 species belonging to 14 genera.

The most interesting is the classification of this family based on the way of life of its representatives. This division was proposed by the American scientist M. Fox.

How to distinguish between a dog and a cat?
How to distinguish between a dog and a