Why do different dog breeds have different kinds of paws?

Answer 1

Different breeds of dogs are adapted to living in different environments and circumstances. Paws and claws help them stay alive and healthy.

Begins making a long speech, which is completely pointless and uninteresting. You tune most of it out.

Evolution, blah blah... Darwin's theory, blah blah blah...

Then, when you hear the words "For example", you begin to listen again.

For example:

Labrador retrievers were bred in Labrador (no, really?), which has a cold climate and freezing waters. They were bred to be able to swim in this water to fetch a duck, goose, or whatever it was that was shot down. If you look closely at a Lab's paws, you will see webbing between each "toe". This would have helped them to paddle though the water more quickly, so as not to either lose the duck or freeze from being too long in the water.

A Terrier, on the other hand, does not have this webbing, but instead has a different adaptation. Terriers were bred to dig, and not just to dig, but to dig fast, to catch rabbits, voles, or anything else that would burrow in the ground. So, terriers have sharp "nails" that are very sturdy, so as not to break. they also have very well-developed muscles at the front of their paws.

Now, I'm not an expert on dog breeds, so I can't explain every single dog's paws to you, but I hope you understand now why there are so many different variations in paws. ;)

Answer 2

Because dogs were bred for different reasons, resulting in some breeds being stronger, thinner, smaller, or larger then the others. Depending on where they live or what they were bred for has changed there size and appearance. So to tell them apart, the different breeds earned different names. And they all over the world they continues breeding dogs of different colors sizes and shapes to create new breeds specialized in different things. In the beginning they made breeds to work all the jobs they could manage, then they progressed to create breeds for looks. So, over the years we have created and named hundreds of different breeds to satisfy are needs.