How are dogs like wolves?

[SpittersForEver]

I know dogs want company like wolves and look the same but are there any other things the same?
I plan on writing a random essay so I just wanted to know.
Also do any of you know which breeds behave the same way as wolves???

[sphyrna18]

Dogs are genetically the same species as wolves.  So, technically, they are entirely like wolves.  There really are few behaviors displayed by dogs that cannot be found in wild wolves as well.  Most notably, the "play bow," which is unique to Gray Wolves as the signal that the activity, no matter how aggressive it appears, is meant as play.  Anyone who has ever played with a dog should be familiar with it. Trying to separate wolf behavior from dog behavior is an exercise in futility, though, since, as I said, dogs are wolves, and they display all the same behaviors.  One has to remember that not all wolves are the huge, large-game hunting variety from the northern parts of their range.  The African Wolf (Canis lupus lupaster), genetically the oldest subspecies of Gray Wolf, is small and jackal-like; somuchso that until recently, it was called the Egyptian Jackal.  Arabian Wolves, Indian Wolves, Himalayan Wolves, and even Mexican Wolves are all small subspecies, and in the cases of the Arabian, Indian, and Mexican Wolves, they do not tend to form large packes like their larger, nothern kin.  Instead, they form tight pair bonds and usually limit pack sizes to only a few.  Of course, all wolf packs are made up of a breeding pair (alphas) and their non-breeding offspring.  The old ideas of "alpha males" is based on faulty research done by taking a bunch of random, unrelated wolves and putting them in an enclosure to watch how they interacted; thus, lots of in-fighting and aggression between "pack members". 

Dogs, even feral dogs, do not tend to form large packs, even when all the conditions are right for them to do so.  Instead, they form loose associations and occasional breeding pairs.  Feral dogs act more like bachelor wolves in this regard. But they are still wolf-like behaviors. 

You may need to pinpoint more precisely what areas of similarities and differences you're looking for - I suggest doing a great deal of research before writing your essay; There is so much incorrect information out there about this issue already, you don't want to contribute to that  

a great source of information for this is the Dog, Retriever, & Wildlife Blog. (http://retrieverman.net).  That blogger knows infinitely more about this subject that I do, and  he'd probably be willing to give you some help if you ask him. 

Good luck.

[tyrantqueen]

Dogs bark, wolves don't.

[sphyrna18]

Dogs bark, wolves don't.

Sorry, but that's actually a very common misconception.  Wolves don't bark as frequently as domestic dogs, perhaps, but they do bark.  See  www.nwf.org/wildlife/graywolf/, or http://naturepreserve.binghamton.edu.

[SpittersForEver]

Lol my dog, Merlin always barks!            He is a cavalier king charles spaniel ruby,         https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ruby+cavalier+king+charles+spaniel&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5WZqU6TAOsXdOffGgbAN&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667
That is what he looks like!