Which dog breed is most closely related to the wolf?

Question

I would like to know what breed is most closely descended from the wolf.

Answer 1

I would say a Sibe Husky or a Malamute.

Answer 2

Wolves are an entirely different species. Read on.
"Purebred Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies are not wolves, or part-wolves, were not bred from wolves, and these breeds were not developed by breeding to wolves anytime recently (that is a separate animal called a wolf-dog). Based on studies by Dr. Robert Wayne at UC Berkeley, sled dogs are no more closely related to wolves than Chihuahuas. There is very little genetic difference between any dog and any wolf, coyote, or jackal, etc., so little, in fact, that genetic tests cannot tell how much wolf is in deliberately bred wolf-dogs. The domesticated canines and their wild cousins CAN interbreed. However, pedigrees on Malamutes and Siberians are available back ~20 generations (to the early 1930s at least) and these dogs are not wolf crosses -- Malamutes are Malamutes, Siberians are Siberians.

Q: Is it true that dogs are all equally related to wolves per genetic tests, that the Siberian is no more related than the Fox Terrier?

A: This is true. All dogs are "equally related". It is believed that domestication of all breeds happened during the same era. However, depending on what humans needed from their animals, they selectively breed for very different traits. In the case of herding dogs, they kept the first part of the hunting instinct, but breed out the "kill" sequence. "

I found this interesting because I would have answered malamute or Siberian also. I am also glad you asked this question, I learned something today right along with you.

Answer 3

A recent DNA study (2004) identified a number of breeds as "ancient" breeds, that is having a genetic profile more like wolves than other domestic dogs. However, this is not to say that they are wolves. What it suggests to me, although I am not a geneticist, is that dogs and wolves shared a common ancestor at some point, and the two diverged, much like humans and chimpanzees, which share a common ancestor. These breeds are:

Afghan Hound (Afghanistan)
Akita (Japan)
Alaskan Malamute (United States (Alaska))
Basenji (Congo)
Canaan Dog (Israel)
Chow Chow (China)
Lhasa Apso (China (Tibet))
Pekingese (China)
Saluki (Egypt, Persia)
Samoyed (Siberia)
Shar Pei (China)
Shiba Inu (Japan)
Shih Tzu (China (Tibet))
Siberian Husky (Siberia)
Tibetan Terrier (China (Tibet))

If this study is correct, it would indicate that a chichuahua is not exactly the same as a Siberian.

However, there is another way in which to compare dogs to wolves, and that is in what is known as neotony. This refers to the retaining of puppy-like characteristics in the adult dog. Puppy like characteristics include large round eyes, floppy ears, short muzzles. Some breeds retain these characteristics as adults, other become more wolf-like in appearance, such as having upright ears and long muzzles. A study performed in England (as cited in "How To Speak Dog", by Stanley Coren, p. 215, ranked 10 breeds in terms of neotony. From most to least, these were:
Cavlier King Charles Spaniel
Norfolk Terrier
French Bulldog
Shetland Sheepdog
Cocker Spaniel
Munsterlander
Labrador Retriever
German Shepherd
Golden Retriever
Siberian Husky

They then looked at fifteen different dominance and submission signals. The Cavalier King Charles only responded to two of those, the Siberian showed all fifteen. The two showed by the Cavalier K C were the first two to appear in wolf puppies. This would indicate that in terms of social communication, the Siberian can essentially speak adult "wolf" while the Spaniel only can do baby talk. I'm sure that if Akitas, Malamutes or Shibas were in the study, they would rank right along with the Siberians.

It's interesting that of the 14 "ancient" breeds, there is a lot of difference in neotony. The Akita, the Malamute, the Chow, the Samoyed, the Shiba and the Siberian show very little neotony, and others, such as the pekinese, are high in this characteristic.

Based on this, In terms of social behavior and appearance, you could argue that these breeds are closer to wolves than some others. Based on my own experience with both Siberians and Akitas, I know they are much more tuned in to issues of dominance and social hierarchy than a lot of other breeds. In this regard, they are definitely much more like wolves than a pug, or any number of other breeds.

Answer 4

No breed is closer to the wolf than any other breed. With the exception of wolf-hybrids of course, which is not any breed of dog!

Dogs were domesticated at least 15,000 years ago from wolves, and they didn't start out with breeds like we have today. It took thousands of years after we created the domestic dog for some different breeds to develop.

Dogs are a subspecies of the grey wolf. This is why dogs can still mate with wolves and have babies that are not sterile.

Answer 5

None really. Some breeds physically look more wolf-like but genetically they are the same as other dog breeds. All dogs and wolves can interbreed. All dogs are essentially bred to be juvenilized versions of wolves and other canid species (such as coyotes, dingoes and pariah dogs) and they are genetically closely related and can interbreed with each other.

Answer 6

All domestic dogs are equally distant from wolves. Huskies and Malamutes LOOK the most like wolves, but they are no closer related than any other breed. Domestic dogs are all one family, the differences between them are caused by traits specifically bred into each breed, not their relationship to wolves.

Answer 7

The German Shepherd dog is only about 150 - 200 years removed from a wolf.

Answer 8

All dogs are equally related to the Grey Wolf. All dogs are decendents from the Grey Wolf!!!

Answer 9

PEOPLE. Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, and any other sled-dog, or german shephard ARE NO MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO WOLVES THAN A CHIHUAHUA IS.

that's a known FACT.

Answer 10

Definitely a Husky or a Malamute I would think. They sometimes even sell wolf hybrids but that can be dangerous.

Answer 11

I'd say wolf dogs.