The Animal We Cannot Date: teacher key

Dogs, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. Scientists can date nearly every other domesticated animal, but not the dog. Read what is argued about dog origins, what dogs do for us and how to meet one.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What have scientists not been able to work out for dogs, unlike sheep or chickens?
   • Breed them
   • Work out the time, place and ancestry (answer)
   • Count them
2. How old do some archaeologists say domestic dogs are, at least?
   • 1,000 years
   • 150 years
   • 15,000 years (answer)
3. Why do scientists argue that the farming-era date may be wrong?
   • Some dog fossils are much older, back to about 33,000 years ago (answer)
   • Dogs have no fossils
   • Farms were never built
4. Which sense do working dogs often use to help where people fall short?
   • Their taste
   • Their touch
   • Their sense of smell (answer)
5. What does a wagging tail not always mean?
   • That a dog is tired
   • That a dog is friendly (answer)
   • That a dog is wet
6. What did people breed brachycephalic dogs to have?
   • Shorter skulls that they found attractive (answer)
   • Longer legs
   • Thicker coats

Words

• domesticated: tamed over time
• brachycephalic: short-skulled
• receptors: smell sensors
• ancestry: family line
• herding: moving sheep