Portal:Dogs

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The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of wolves. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. Dogs and the modern gray wolf share a common ancestor. Dogs were the first species to be domesticated over 14,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture, though genetic studies suggest the domestication process may have begun over 25,000 years ago. 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 possess a superior sense of smell and hearing, but inferior visual acuity. Dogs 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 chemical 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 have 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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The Saluki or Arabian hound or Persian hound (Persian: سگ تازی،; Arabic: سلوقي) is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than strong scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game animals. The dog was originally bred in the Fertile Crescent. The modern breed is typically deep-chested and long-legged, and similar dogs appear in medieval and ancient art. The breed is most closely related to the Afghan hound, a basal breed that predates the emergence of modern breeds in the 19th century, and the Saluki has been purebred both in the Middle East, including by royalty, since at least that era, and in the West (especially in Britain and Germany) since the 1840s (with breed standards established in the West and the Middle East around the 1920s–1930s), though as a free-breeding landrace, similar dogs are common as feral animals in the Middle East. A related standardised breed is the north African Sloughi. The saluki is one possible explanation for the mythical Set animal. (Full article...)

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A dachshund dressed in homage to the legend of the naming of the hot dog.

Credit: Jessadactyl

The naming of the modern American hot dog is supposedly influenced by the dachshund. In 1852, the butcher's guild in Frankfurt am Main created a smoked, spiced sausage in a thin casing, dubbed a "little-dog" or "dachshund sausage" for its obvious resemblance to the low-riding German dog. The popular legend on the etymology of hot dog holds that a cartoonist named Tad Dorgan attended a polo match in New York in 1901 where vendors roamed the aisles imploring patrons to "get your red-hot dachshund sausages." Enchanted, Dorgan drew a smiling dachshund nestled in a long bun, but couldn't spell dachshund, so he captioned it "hot dog!" and thus the food got its name.

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Kakadu National Park NT

The dingo is a lineage of dog found in Australia. It is a medium-sized canine that possesses a lean, hardy body adapted for speed, agility, and stamina. Its three main coat colourations are light ginger or tan, black and tan, or creamy white. The skull is wedge-shaped and appears large in proportion to the body.

Its taxonomic classification is debated: it is variously considered a form of domestic dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) not warranting recognition as a subspecies, or a subspecies of dog (Canis familiaris dingo) or wolf (Canis lupus dingo), or a full species in its own right (Canis dingo). The dingo is closely related to the New Guinea singing dog: their lineage split early from the lineage that led to today's domestic dogs, and can be traced back through Maritime Southeast Asia to Asia. The oldest remains of dingoes discovered in Australia are around 3,500 years old. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Diagram of a wolf skull with key features labelled (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 2The 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 3A labradoodle puppy and a Golden Retriever puppy playing together (from Puppy)
Image 4Basenji puppy (from Puppy)
Image 5A wolf mandible diagram showing the names and positions of the teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 6Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Dog breed)
Image 7A cavapoo and maltipoo running back while playing fetch (from Dog behavior)
Image 8Bison surrounded by grey wolf pack (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 9Cave wolf skull, Natural History Museum, Berlin (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 10Jack Russell Terrier puppy (from Puppy)
Image 11The nose of a dog (from Dog anatomy)
Image 12Australian Cattle Dog puppy (from Puppy)
Image 13Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 14Petroglyph depicting two dogs hunting – Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 15Watercolor 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 16A mongrel puppy (from Puppy)
Image 17The 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 18Puggle puppy (from Puppy)
Image 19Boxer and Labrador Mix (from Dog breed)
Image 20A dog's teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 21Tesem, an ancient Egyptian sight-hound (from Dog breed)
Image 22President Lyndon B. Johnson with a basket of puppies in 1966 (from Puppy)
Image 23Sled dogs, 1833 (from Dog type)
Image 24A little mongrel puppy on the shore, on Halong Bay (from Puppy)
Image 25Montage showing the morphological variation of the dog. (from Dog breed)
Image 26Lateral view of a dog skeleton (from Dog anatomy)
Image 27Lateral view of a dog skull, jaw opened (from Dog anatomy)
Image 28An extinct Turnspit dog, 1800 (from Dog type)
Image 29Golden Retriever puppy (from Puppy)
Image 30Chihuahua puppy (from Puppy)
Image 31Cart dogs, c. 1900; different in appearance but doing the same work (from Dog type)
Image 32Bloodhound puppy (from Puppy)
Image 33Ancient Hawaiian petroglyphic depiction of an ʻīlio (Hawaiian Poi Dog) (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 34Reduction in size under selective breeding – grey wolf and chihuahua skulls (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 35Mandible of the Bonn–Oberkassel dog from the oldest dog-human co-burial dated 14,200 years old (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 36German Spitz puppy (from Puppy)
Image 37A 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 38Dog knee (from Dog anatomy)
Image 39Example of a dog making prolonged eye contact with a human (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 40Newborn Welsh Springer Spaniels (from Puppy)
Image 41Newborn Basenji puppies (from Puppy)
Image 42NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin with his dogs Jake and Scout (from Dog behavior)
Image 43The dog diverged from a now-extinct population of wolves 27,000–40,000 years ago, before or during the Last Glacial Maximum, when much of the mammoth steppe was cold and dry. (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 44Cavapoo puppy (from Puppy)
Image 45Skeleton 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 46Schematic 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 47A dog's whiskers (from Dog anatomy)
Image 48An 1897 illustration showing a range of European dog breeds (from Dog breed)
Image 49Chihuahua mix and purebred Great Dane (from Dog breed)
Image 50The dog's retina shows the optic disc and the eye's vasculature. (from Dog anatomy)

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

... that actor Darcy Grey sold "posh dog food" on weekends?
... that 23 tons of dog food were once stolen from the Malibu Feed Bin?
... that Jilly Cooper published volumes of nature diaries, as well as compilations of journalism and other non-fiction?
... that the author of Sugar Dog Life ended up buying and raising a cactus after drawing one in the manga?
... that Joy was the sole survivor of the Romanov family's execution?
... that Xalavier Nelson Jr. developed games with "eye-catching" titles such as Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs?

More did you know... - show different entries

...that Laurence Mancuso was the founding abbot of the Eastern Orthodox monastic community of New Skete (pictured), which is known for its dog training?
...that "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" is the most reproduced cartoon from The New Yorker magazine, and its title a phrase still used around the world?
...that the famous quote "No man who hates dogs and children can be all bad" generally attributed to Leo Rosten was actually first used in 1930 by future war correspondent Byron Darnton?
...that the expressions 'top dog' and 'underdog' may originate with the two sawyers in a saw pit?

...that Snuppy the Afghan Hound is the world's first cloned dog?
...that 217 Dalmatians were used in the filming of 101 Dalmatians?
...that former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King owned several Irish Terriers (all named Pat), and had séances to "communicate" with the dogs after their death?
...that the Labrador Retriever is the most popular dog breed in the USA, with the Yorkshire Terrier and German Shepherd Dog being second and third?

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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, Barrocal Algarvio, 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, Saint Miguel Cattle 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, Villano de las Encartaciones, Villanuco de Las Encartaciones, White Shepherd, White Swiss Shepherd Dog, Xiasi Dog More stubs...
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