Responses (1)
The scientific method:
1. Observe something.
2. Formulate a hypothesis.
3. Devise a test.
4. If the test fails, go to #2.
5. If the test passes and is confirmed, the hypothesis might be promoted to a theory and used to prove other hypotheses. And it might not.
A dog originating from a wolf has never been observed, so that is conjecture. Conjecture plays a very big part in the scientific method, and sometimes a conjecture gets talked about so much for such a long time that people start to think it is a proven fact when it's not. You just have to be careful to be sure everything you think you know is actually true. It doesn't help that scientists usually want to be certain, even if they are wrong.