[ovis]

They may be using the term "dog" to refer to Caninae (or Canidae?) rather than wolf-derived pets, judging by the description of the phylogeny.

[selfsimilar]

Exactly. Later in the article it's mentioned that the researchers believe the DNA evidence will move the dire wolf out of the 'canis' genus, which by implication will leave them in the 'canidae' family. However I think the author could have been more clear.

[throwaway894345]

Yeah, I didn't realize that "dog" was equivalent to "canidae".