About Dogs That Changed The World

From the tiniest Chihuahua to the powerful and massive English Mastiff, modern domesticated dogs come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes.

Dogs

This two-part documentary tells the epic story of the wolf’s evolution, how ‘man’s best friend’ changed human history and how humans have, in turn, radically transformed dogs.

From the tiniest Chihuahua to the powerful and massive English Mastiff, modern domesticated dogs come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, with an equally diverse range of temperaments and behaviour. But, when it comes to genetics, the dogs we know and love today are all evolved from one animal – the wild wolf.

Collie

This series starts with a look at how dogs were domesticated, and the theory of biologist Raymond Coppinger, who thought that it was the animals themselves that inspired the transformation. Meanwhile, in Sweden, genetic analysis from Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute Of Technology has placed the origins of domesticated dogs in East Asia. You won’t look at little Rover the same again.