Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Imagine winning tickets to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, one of the world’s most prestigious and well-known canine events! You’d see 2,500 different dogs, from tiny teacup Chihuahuas to massive Saint Bernards. But what if there was an unexpected new entry: a gray wolf competing for Best in Show? A wolf may seem really out of place, but it turns out that both dogs and wolves have a lot in common. And surprisingly, a Chihuahua is more genetically similar to a wolf than a Saint Bernard is to a wolf! How is that possible?
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Listen to the whole story on the SciFri podcast at
sciencefriday.com/segments/dog-domestication-history
and
sciencefriday.com/segments/dog-evolution-genetics

Or get our free educational activity at
sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/dog-breed-dna

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