Portal:Dogs

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The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of the gray 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. 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 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 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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Dog on point

The German Shorthaired Pointer or Deutsch Kurzhaar is a German breed of continental pointing dog of Braque type. It originated in the nineteenth century in what is now Germany. It is of medium size, and is an all-purpose gun dog suitable for hunting and retrieving on both land and water. It may also be kept as a companion dog. (Full article...)

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Credit: Doug Noon

A team of fourteen mixed-breed dogs mushing. Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow. The term is thought to come from the French word marche, or go, run, the command to the team to commence pulling. "Mush!" is rarely used in modern parlance, however; "Hike!" is more common in English.

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A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow.

Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transportation in Arctic areas until the introduction of semi-trailer trucks, snowmobiles and airplanes in the 20th century, hauling supplies in areas that were inaccessible by other methods. They were used with varying success in the explorations of both poles, as well as during the Alaskan gold rush. Sled dog teams delivered mail to rural communities in Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Sled dogs today are still used by some rural communities, especially in areas of Russia, Canada, and Alaska as well as much of Greenland. They are used for recreational purposes and racing events, such as the Iditarod Trail and the Yukon Quest. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Bison surrounded by grey wolf pack (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 2Montage showing the coat variation of dogs. (from Dog anatomy)
Image 3A dog's teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 4Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Dog breed)
Image 5Chihuahua puppy (from Puppy)
Image 6Diagram of a wolf skull with key features labelled (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 7Bloodhound puppy (from Puppy)
Image 8Frontal view of a dog skull (from Dog anatomy)
Image 9Mammoth bone dwelling, Mezhirich site, Ukraine (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 10"Five different types of dogs", c. 1547. (from Dog breed)
Image 11Map 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 12Mandible of the oldest recognised dog discovered in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany, and dated 14,200 years old (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 13Chihuahua mix and purebred Great Dane (from Dog breed)
Image 14Tesem, an ancient Egyptian sight-hound (from Dog breed)
Image 15Example of a dog making prolonged eye contact with a human (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 16Lateral view of a dog skull, jaw opened (from Dog anatomy)
Image 17The 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 18A little mongrel puppy on the shore, on Halong Bay (from Puppy)
Image 19A dog's whiskers (from Dog anatomy)
Image 20The nose of a dog (from Dog anatomy)
Image 21External 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 22A 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 23The dog's retina shows the optic disc and the eye's vasculature. (from Dog anatomy)
Image 24Skeleton 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 25German Spitz puppy (from Puppy)
Image 26Cavapoo puppy (from Puppy)
Image 27A cavapoo and maltipoo running back while playing fetch (from Dog behavior)
Image 28Puggle puppy (from Puppy)
Image 29Reduction in size under selective breeding – grey wolf and chihuahua skulls (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 30Cart dogs, c. 1900; different in appearance but doing the same work (from Dog type)
Image 31A mongrel puppy (from Puppy)
Image 32St. Bernard puppy (from Puppy)
Image 33Schematic 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 34Dog knee (from Dog anatomy)
Image 35Jack Russell Terrier puppy (from Puppy)
Image 36Lateral view of a dog skull, jaw closed (from Dog anatomy)
Image 37Lateral view of a dog skeleton (from Dog anatomy)
Image 38President Lyndon B. Johnson with a basket of puppies in 1966 (from Puppy)
Image 39Newborn Welsh Springer Spaniels (from Puppy)
Image 40Cave wolf skull, Natural History Museum, Berlin (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 41A labradoodle puppy and a Golden Retriever puppy playing together (from Puppy)
Image 42The 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 43Ancient Hawaiian petroglyphic depiction of an ʻīlio (Hawaiian Poi Dog) (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 44Golden Retriever puppy (from Puppy)
Image 45An 1897 illustration showing a range of European dog breeds (from Dog breed)
Image 46The 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 47Sled dog types, sketched in 1833 (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 48Sled dogs, 1833 (from Dog type)
Image 49Basenji puppy (from Puppy)
Image 50The dog diverged from a now-extinct population of wolves 27,000–40,000 year ago, before or during the Last Glacial Maximum, when much of the mammoth steppe was cold and dry. (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 51Two Shih Tzu puppies (from Puppy)
Image 52Basset Hound (from Puppy)
Image 53Newborn Basenji puppies (from Puppy)
Image 54Montage showing the morphological variation of the dog. (from Dog breed)
Image 55A wolf mandible diagram showing the names and positions of the teeth (from Dog anatomy)
Image 56NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin with his dogs Jake and Scout (from Dog behavior)
Image 57An extinct Turnspit dog, 1800 (from Dog type)
Image 58Watercolor 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 59Petroglyph depicting two dogs hunting – Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria (from Domestication of the dog)
Image 60West Highland White Terrier puppies (from Puppy)
Image 61Australian Cattle Dog puppy (from Puppy)

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

... that the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station was nicknamed the Temple of Storms?
... that only Greenland Dogs may race in Avannaata Qimussersua?
... that beavers, mules, and dogs have been parachuted from airplanes?
... that the collapse of Cloghan Castle in County Cork, Ireland, was said to have been caused by the barking of a ghostly black dog?
... that the author of Sugar Dog Life ended up buying and raising a cactus after drawing one in the manga?
... that the winner of the seventeenth series of Britain's Got Talent was the first individual woman to win the show without a dog?

More did you know... - show different entries

...that Tillamook Cheddar (pictured), a Jack Russell Terrier from Brooklyn, New York, is the world's most successful and widely shown animal artist?
...that grape and raisin toxicity is a potential cause of acute renal failure in dogs?
...that Able Seaman Just Nuisance is the only dog to have been officially enlisted in the Royal Navy?
...that the Moscow Water Dog, developed as a water rescue dog, preferred to bite drowning people instead of saving them?

...that past Olympic mascots include several bears named Misha, Coal, Howdy and Hidy, and dogs Cobi and Waldi ?
...that the dog called the Miniature Fox Terrier (or Mini Foxie) originated in Australia?
...that the Brown Dog affair, an Edwardian-era vivisection cause célèbre, led to massive riots?
...that in addition to human spaceflight, there have been many animals in space, including monkeys, apes, mice, dogs, guinea pigs, frogs, rats, cats, tortoises, fish, newts, insects, snails, spiders and nematodes?

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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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