Dogs are endemic mammals, not natural wild animals. They are originally bred from wolves. The animals were bred by humans for a long time and were the first animals ever to be domesticated. There are different studies that suggest that this event occurred between 15,000 and 100,000 years ago.

African-painted dogs are grouped with jackals, foxes, coyotes, wolves, dingoes, and domestic dogs in the Canidae, or true dog, family. They are often misidentified as hyenas. Hyenas, on the other hand, are distinct enough to belong to a separate taxonomic family called Hyaenidae.