According to the specialized studies the first tame dogs appeared around 15000 years ago in the Eastern Asia and China, being the first animals tamed by man.
Although the researchers did not agree yet how did the taming process take place and whether all races evolved from one or from separate genetic lines, it is a fact that once the humans spread over the globe, the dogs spread all over the world too.
Of course the man did not tame the dog without any purpose. The idea that the dog would help the humankind made the species called Canis Lupus Familiaris capable of being specialized for different types of tasks.
Even though the humans started raising cattle, the dog’s potential did not go unnoticed. This is how the breeds specialized for herding appeared. The farmers developed the breed and the dog instinct for keeping cattle under control.
Nowadays we see the instinct at work herding restless kids in the families where the specific breeds like German Shepard or Collie are kept as pets.
The hunting instinct was grown and developed during the ages when the hunting was the single food source. The process of specializing dogs for hunting took many centuries and the man did his best to create perfect nose for sensing the prey and the fast legs for running.
Nowadays the dogs are present in key human activities being more than pets and using the instinct developed over the centuries for activities where they can really make a difference for the human society.
St Bernards are used in salvaging operations and Golden Retrievers are a real help for handicapped persons.
German Shepard are used for herding and Border Collie are excellent key players in searching for bodies or identifying dangerous substances or objects.
The evolution of the dog instinct has produced changes in the behavior of many dog breeds and some specifics of the instinct were better cultivated than the others.
The Terriers were bred to hunt small game and Retrievers were specialized to bring the hunted game to the hunters. This is why Terriers are more aggressive and Retrievers are gentler. The behavioral pattern remains in their instinct and dictates their characteristics as pets.
The dog instinct is the work of millenniums and if sometimes this instinct was built to guard and protect, hunt and kill or simply be the tool of the human need, it is bound to be noticed nowadays too in the dog’s character. The good news is that most of the times the instinct steps down in front of loyalty and unconditional love they have for their owners.