AI Predicts What Dogs Might Look Like in 10,000 Years

Why did researchers pick this specific time frame? That’s apparently long enough for the world to shift into a radically different climate phase. The team says the planet could face very different scenarios that would shape the evolution of today’s dog breeds.

Specialists at Basepaws, a pet genetic testing company in California, modeled how modern breeds might develop over the next 10,000 years. They fed the results into neural networks, which produced surprising visualizations. Not everyone will recognize the breeds in the AI-generated images.

Veterinarian Ernie Ward weighed in on how dogs’ appearances could change. He says future changes depend on two possible scenarios: extreme heat from global warming, or a new Ice Age.

Scenario: global warming

Global climate change will affect how people feed and care for their dogs. Ward believes resource shortages could lead to smaller body sizes in dogs. Smaller dogs need less food and energy and are easier to cool down. A reduced skin surface area would also help protect dogs from harmful ultraviolet radiation, and in some cases their skin may darken.

Higher temperatures could lead to hair loss. If it gets very hot, dogs may become more active at night and could develop larger heads and ears.

If water becomes scarce, dogs’ metabolisms may change to let them go longer without rehydrating.

An illustration of what a poodle, golden retriever, whippet, and Pomeranian might look like if global warming continues.

Scenario: glacial period

If the planet plunges into a new ice age, dogs’ fur would likely become thicker and more insulating.

Scientists aren’t sure whether colder temperatures would favor larger or smaller dogs. In any case, dogs would likely accumulate more fat to serve as an energy reserve.

Dogs might also revert to more wolf-like traits, developing stronger muscles for hunting and running. In a worst-case scenario, those traits could be driven by competition with humans for food and shelter — a real test of the human-dog bond, Interesting Engineering reported.

An illustration of what a Dalmatian, bulldog, dachshund, and English mastiff might look like if the temperature drops.

Experts also suggested another possibility: if humans establish a settlement on another planet, dogs could be among the first animals to travel with them.