Equivalents of wolves, dogs, and mutts in SFF?

[MuddyAristocrat]

Intelligent or not, are there examples in fiction of a species (the “wolves”) being taken by another species and bred for various specialized purposes (“dogs”)? What about mongrels from being left to breed on their own in nature? Are there any fictional equivalents to the Carolina Yaller?

 

[Husky_Khan]

Intelligent or not, are there examples in fiction of a species (the “wolves”) being taken by another species and bred for various specialized purposes (“dogs”)? What about mongrels from being left to breed on their own in nature? Are there any fictional equivalents to the Carolina Yaller?

The number of Mole Rats to be trained and domesticated in Fallout have slowly increases with the passage of in game time.

And in Metro2033 something similar is beginning to happen with the Metro residents beginning to tame and even train Lurkers which are oversized mutant rats.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

And in Metro2033 something similar is beginning to happen with the Metro residents beginning to tame and even train Lurkers which are oversized mutant rats.

I’ve only ever read the books, but managing to do that kinda makes the setting a lot less bleak

Then again, the games are definitely way more actionized

That said, I remember in Metro 2034, the book, that it was mentioned by one character they made use of rats for races and killing bugs or something

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Intelligent or not, are there examples in fiction of a species (the “wolves”) being taken by another species and bred for various specialized purposes (“dogs”)? What about mongrels from being left to breed on their own in nature? Are there any fictional equivalents to the Carolina Yaller?

Hm... I can only really think of a couple fringe examples (primarily in games).

The Kubrows (dogs) and Kavats (cats) in Warframe are wild animals . Or rather, they are encountered on Earth as wild enemies. I think that they are dogs and cats that were experimented upon by the Orokin, and then after the fall of the Orokin empire, those Kubrows and Kavats became wild beasts in the wild for thousands of years. You can find a Kubrow egg (and inject it with Kavat DNA to turn it into a Kavat) and then raise your Kubrow/Kavat as a domesticated pet that helps you. There are about 4 different Kubrow breeds you can breed for (not counting the wild Kubrow, which I think is either it's own breed, or it's a more hairless variant of the Sunika breed). I guess it doesn't really count because Warframe isn't that story heavy, though.

In FFXIV Shadowbringers, a very different breed of Chocobo is introduced, the Amaro. They are sorta like a camel, with a hunchback and a long neck, and they have four wings. They were bred to carry heavy weights and fly long distances, and are long lived. The Amal'jaa tribes venerate the Amaro and used the roam the countryside breeding and taming Amaro (perhaps they bred the Amaro breed in the first place?). A mage in the employ of the Ronkan Empire enchanted some Amaros so that they might become intelligent. If they live long enough, they can learn human speech and can converse with people on their level. Their eyes are also sensitive to magic, enough that they can "see" the color of a person's soul (which, in the FFXIV setting, is a dense concentration of magical energy).