Читать книгу Jack Russell Terrier: An Owner’s Guide - Robert Killick - Страница 9

We will never know exactly how, why and when wolves morphed themselves into domestic dogs; it was part of the evolutionary process and could have been over a period of 500,000 years or more. Those of us blessed with a vivid imagination can picture in our minds a family of primitive men sitting round a fire eating the results of the day’s hunt. The glittering eyes of wolves can be seen watching from the bushes, waiting for the bones that will be tossed into the undergrowth. Wolves, being intelligent, realized that primitive man was a source of food, and because they went hunting as a group, they would skulk along behind the humans in the hope that when they killed their prey there might be enough left over for them.

Early Man may have thought of wolves as a source of food – they were edible, especially when young. Primitive children may have liked the look of wolf puppies when they were brought back to the cave as living store food, and perhaps they found that the puppies kept them warm at night, so they kept them and became attached to them. Slowly, over many years, the two species came to trust each other and Primitive man realized that domesticated wolves could help him find his prey and then kill it. With their superior hearing, they also made good guard dogs, warning of the approach of any other humans or animals, and this type probably became sheep and cattle dogs as men became agronomists. The early association between primitive man and wolves has been proved by the discovery of wolf bones found buried with human ones, dating back 500,000 years old.

The Parson Russell Terrier is easily recognizable with his longer legs. Like all Jack Russells, he is an excellent ratter and loves to scent and hunt in the garden or countryside.