How dog height stacks up

Here is a visualization of the height for 317 dog breeds listed in the book Encyclopedia of Dogs by David Alderton. The dotted lines represent the typical height range of the Gray Wolf, the ancestor of dogs. As you can see, most dogs have been selected for smaller size, and there is still quite a bit a height variation within breeds. Keep in mind that actual variation within breeds is likely much higher than listed in this book and plotted here.