Origin of the domestic dog Neolithic dog specimens with sequences from over 5,000 dogs and wolves. These Neolithic dog specimens included a dog sample from the Early Neolithic site in Herxheim, Germany dated 7,000 YBP, one from the Late Neolithic site of Kirschbaum (Cherry Tree) Cave near Forchheim, Germany dated 4,700 YBP, and one found in the Late Neolithic passage grave at Newgrange, Ireland dated 4,800 YBP. The study calculated a mutation rate for the 7,000 YBP Neolithic dog and found that it matched the mutation rate of the Taimyr-1 specimen, and noted that this also matched the mutation rate for the Newgrange dog that
Dog capabilities, and physical attributes. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely attuned to human behavior and they are able to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canid species. Dogs vary widely in shape, size and colors. Dogs perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and military, companionship and, more recently, aiding disabled people and therapeutic roles. This influence on human society has given them the sobriquet "man's best friend". In 1999, a study of mitochondrial DNA indicated that the domestic dog may have originated