Portal:Dogs

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The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from an extinct population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans, over 14,000 years ago and before the development of agriculture. Experts estimate that due to their long association with humans, dogs have gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.

Dogs have been bred for desired behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. They have the same number of bones (with the exception of the tail), powerful jaws that house around 42 teeth, and well-developed senses of smell, hearing, and sight. Compared to humans, dogs have an inferior visual acuity, a superior sense of smell, and a relatively large olfactory cortex. They perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, companionship, therapy, aiding disabled people, and assisting police and the military.

Communication in dogs includes eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture (including movements of bodies and limbs), and gustatory communication (scents, pheromones, and taste). They mark their territories by urinating on them, which is more likely when entering a new environment. Over the millennia, dogs became uniquely adapted to human behavior; this adaptation includes being able to understand and communicate with humans. As such, the human–canine bond has been a topic of frequent study, and dogs' influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of "man's best friend". (Full article...)

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Black and white Siberian Husky

The Siberian Husky is a medium-sized working sled dog breed. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognizable by its thickly furred double coat, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings, and is smaller than the similar-looking Alaskan Malamute.

Siberian Huskies originated in Northeast Asia where they are bred by the Chukchi people as well as the Koryak, Yukaghir and Kamchadal people of Siberia for sled pulling and companionship. It is an active, energetic, resilient breed, whose ancestors lived in the extremely cold and harsh environment of the Siberian Arctic. William Goosak, a Russian fur trader, introduced them to Nome, Alaska, during the Nome Gold Rush, initially as sled dogs to work the mining fields and for expeditions through otherwise impassable terrain. Today, the Siberian Husky is typically kept as a house pet, though they are still frequently used as sled dogs by competitive and recreational mushers. (Full article...)

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Credit: American Water Spaniel Club

The American Water Spaniel is a gundog breed of dog developed in the market hunting days of America's history. Hunters needed a dog that could function on land as well as in the marsh and that could easily fit into a canoe or skiff without taking up much room. An American original, this flushing spaniel also doubles as a competent retriever.

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A coydog is a canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a male coyote and a female dog. Hybrids of both sexes are fertile and can be successfully bred through four generations. Similarly, a dogote is a hybrid with a dog father and a coyote mother.

Such matings occurred long before the European colonization of the Americas, as melanistic coyotes have been shown to have inherited their black pelts from dogs likely brought to North America through the Bering Land Bridge 12,000 to 14,000 years ago by the ancestors of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various dog-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The dog's retina shows the optic disc and the eye's vasculature. (from Dog anatomy)
Image 2Dog knee (from Dog anatomy)
Image 3A little mongrel puppy on the shore, on Halong Bay (from Puppy)
Image 4Sled dogs, 1833 (from Dog type)
Image 5Lateral view of a dog skull, jaw closed (from Dog anatomy)
Image 6Cave wolf skull, Natural History Museum, Berlin (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 7Reduction in size under selective breeding – grey wolf and chihuahua skulls (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 8A dog's whiskers (from Dog anatomy)
Image 9"Five different types of dogs", c. 1547. (from Dog breed)
Image 10Example of a dog making prolonged eye contact with a human (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 11President Lyndon B. Johnson with a basket of puppies in 1966 (from Puppy)
Image 12Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 13Petroglyph depicting two dogs hunting – Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 14Two Shih Tzu puppies (from Puppy)
Image 15Lateral view of a dog skull, jaw opened (from Dog anatomy)
Image 16External anatomy (topography) of a typical dog: 1. Head 2. Muzzle 3. Dewlap (throat, neck skin) 4. Shoulder 5. Elbow 6. Forefeet 7. Croup (rump) 8. Leg (thigh and hip) 9. Hock 10. Hind feet 11. Withers 12. Stifle 13. Paws 14. Tail (from Dog anatomy)
Image 17Watercolor tracing made by archaeologist Henri Breuil from a cave painting of a wolf-like canid, Font-de-Gaume, France, dated 19,000 years ago (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 18An extinct Turnspit dog, 1800 (from Dog type)
Image 19Bison surrounded by grey wolf pack (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 20The dog diverged from a now-extinct population of wolves 27,000–40,000 years ago immediately before the Last Glacial Maximum, when much of the mammoth steppe was cold and dry. (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 21Montage showing the morphological variation of the dog. (from Dog breed)
Image 22Australian Cattle Dog puppy (from Puppy)
Image 23The difference in body size between a Cane Corso (Italian mastiff) and a Yorkshire Terrier is over 30-fold; both are members of the same species. (from Dog anatomy)
Image 24Cavapoo puppy (from Puppy)
Image 25Newborn Welsh Springer Spaniels (from Puppy)
Image 26Skeleton of a dog:
1. Cranium
2. Maxilla
3. Mandible
4. Atlas
5. Axis
6. Scapula
7. Spine of scapula
8. Humerus
9. Radius
10. Ulna
11. Phalanges
12. Metacarpal bones
13. Carpal bones
14. Sternum
15. Cartilaginous part of the rib
16. Ribs
17. Phalanges
18. Metatarsal bones
19. Tarsal Bones
20. Calcaneus
21. Fibula
22. Tibia
23. Patella
24. Femur
25. Ischium
26. Pelvis
(from Dog anatomy)
Image 27Chihuahua puppy (from Puppy)
Image 28Schematic anatomy of the ear. In dogs, the ear canal has a "L" shape, with the vertical canal (first half) and the horizontal canal (deeper half, ending with the eardrum) (from Dog anatomy)
Image 29Ancient Hawaiian petroglyphic depiction of an ʻīlio (Hawaiian Poi Dog) (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 30Chihuahua mix and purebred Great Dane (from Dog breed)
Image 31Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Dog breed)
Image 32Basset Hound (from Puppy)
Image 33A mongrel puppy (from Puppy)
Image 34A cavapoo and maltipoo running back while playing fetch (from Dog behavior)
Image 35Basenji puppy (from Puppy)
Image 36German Spitz puppy (from Puppy)
Image 37Bloodhound puppy (from Puppy)
Image 38Diagram of a wolf skull with key features labelled (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 39The nose of a dog (from Dog anatomy)
Image 40Golden Retriever puppy (from Puppy)
Image 41Montage showing the coat variation of dogs. (from Dog anatomy)
Image 42Newborn Basenji puppies (from Puppy)
Image 43NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin with his dogs Jake and Scout (from Dog behavior)
Image 44Mandible of the oldest recognised dog discovered in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany, and dated 14,200 years old (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 45St. Bernard puppy (from Puppy)
Image 46A labradoodle puppy and a Golden Retriever puppy playing together (from Puppy)
Image 47Tesem, an ancient Egyptian sight-hound (from Dog breed)
Image 48Mammoth bone dwelling, Mezhirich site, Ukraine (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 49A drawing by Konrad Lorenz showing facial expressions of a dog - a communication behavior. X-axis is aggression, y-axis is fear. (from Dog behavior)
Image 50Map depicting possible phylogeographic origins of dingoes, New Guinea singing dogs, and Island Southeast Asian and Oceanian dogs, based on recent genetic evidence (Fillios & Taçon, 2016) (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 51Lateral view of a dog skeleton (from Dog anatomy)
Image 52The Greenland dog carries 3.5% genetic material inherited from a 35,000-year-old wolf from the Taymyr Peninsula, Arctic Siberia. (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 53A wolf mandible diagram showing the names and positions of the teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 54An 1897 illustration showing a range of European dog breeds (from Dog breed)
Image 55The difference in overall body size between a Cane Corso (Italian mastiff) and a Yorkshire terrier is over 30-fold, yet both are members of the same species. (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 56West Highland White Terrier puppies (from Puppy)
Image 57Frontal view of a dog skull (from Dog anatomy)
Image 58Puggle puppy (from Puppy)
Image 59Jack Russell Terrier puppy (from Puppy)
Image 60A dog's teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 61Cart dogs, c. 1900; different in appearance but doing the same work (from Dog type)

Did you know (auto-generated) - show different entries

... that the poor of ancient Rome were compared to dogs by the Roman writer Martial?
... that Palmire Dumont, a pioneer of LGBT nightlife in "Gay Paree", was among the first members of the French Bulldog-Owners Club and met other bulldog owners in her lesbian bar?
... that the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is the only U.S. cemetery reserved exclusively for coon dog burials?
... that Dan Lanning, who coached his final game at Georgia in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship, will face Georgia in his first game as the new head coach at Oregon?
... that Ladoga Skerries National Park in Russia has more than 350 species of various liverworts, hornworts and mosses?
... that eccentric Yorkshirewoman Camberley Kate is estimated to have cared for more than 600 dogs in her lifetime?

More did you know... - show different entries

...that Buster, the dog of British Labour politician Roy Hattersley, earned his owner a criminal record after killing a goose in St. James's Park, London?
...that the appearance of a dog in a Hutch ad campaign doubled sales of pugs in India in 2003?
...that Bamse was a St. Bernard dog that became the heroic mascot of the Free Norwegian Forces during the Second World War?

...that Adolf Hitler owned a German Shepherd named Blondi, and was so fond of her that he allowed her to sleep in his bedroom?
...that the most common breeds for use as guide dogs are Labrador and Golden Retrievers?
...that Ashley Whippet became the first disc dog on August 4, 1974?
...that Marie Antoinette supposedly walked to the guillotine with her pet Papillon under her arm?

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Stubs : Aksaray Malaklisi, Alopekis, Argentine pila dog, Armant (dog), Banjara Hound, Barbado da Terceira, Braque Dupuy, Bruno Jura Hound, Bulgarian Scenthound, Cane Lupino del Gigante, Cane Paratore, Cantabrian Water Dog, Český fousek, Faroese Sheepdog, Georgian Shepherd, German Spitz Mittel, Gończy Polski, Grand Griffon Vendéen, Himalayan Sheepdog, Hygen Hound, Indian Spitz, Japanese Terrier, Kaikadi (dog), Koyun dog, Kumaon Mastiff, Levriero Italiano, Mahratta Hound, Majorca Ratter, Montenegrin Mountain Hound, Northern Inuit Dog, Phu Quoc Ridgeback, Plummer Terrier, Porcelaine, Pyrenean Mastiff, Rampur Greyhound, Romanian Mioritic Shepherd Dog, Romanian Raven Shepherd Dog, Sapsali, Sarabi dog, Sardinian Shepherd Dog, Schweizer Laufhund, Segugio Italiano, Segugio Maremmano, Segugio dell'Appennino, Sinhala Hound, Slovak Cuvac, South Russian Ovcharka, St. Hubert Jura Hound, Stichelhaar, Taigan, Tazy, Telomian, Treeing Cur, Vikhan Sheepdog, Villano de las Encartaciones, Villanuco de Las Encartaciones, White Shepherd, White Swiss Shepherd Dog, Xiasi Dog More stubs...
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