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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Tricolour Beagle

The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, the beagle is the primary breed used as a detection dog for prohibited agricultural imports and foodstuffs in quarantine around the world. The beagle is a popular pet due to its size and good temper.

The modern breed was developed in Great Britain around the 1830s from several breeds, including the Talbot Hound, the North Country Beagle, the Southern Hound, and possibly the Harrier. Beagles have been depicted in popular culture since Elizabethan times in literature and paintings and more recently in film, television, and comic books. (Full article...)

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Purebred dogs, such as these Airedale Terriers, may participates in conformation dog shows with its owner or handler. Dog shows (and the related sport of Junior Handling for children and young people) are a popular activity; a single show, the 2006 Crufts dog show alone had 143,000 spectators, with 24,640 purebred dogs entered, representing 178 different breeds from 35 different countries.

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The Polynesian Dog refers to a few extinct varieties of domesticated dogs from the islands of Polynesia. These dogs were used for both companionship and food and were introduced alongside poultry and pigs to various islands. They became extinct as a result of the crossbreeding that occurred after European breeds of dogs were introduced. Modern studies done on the DNA of the Polynesian dogs indicate that they descended from the domesticated dogs of Southeast Asia and may have shared a remote ancestor with the dingo. (Full article...)

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

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

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

... that Babydog is "a fixture in West Virginia politics"?
... that Winston Churchill was often portrayed as a bulldog, but his personal pet dog during the Second World War was a poodle?
... that the death of Odysseus's dog in the Odyssey uses language typically reserved for the noble deaths of warriors?
... that Lài dogs were instrumental in the Vietnamese Lam Sơn uprising against Ming China in 1418–1428?
... that Lixia traditions include weighing people, brewing seven-family tea, and making rice dogs?
... that ancient Greek philosopher Xenophon thought the alopekis was part dog, part fox?

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 American president Lyndon Johnson owned two Beagles named Him and Her?
...that the domestic dog's health is possibly one of the best-studied areas in veterinary medicine?
...that the word "terrier" comes from the Latin terra, meaning "earth"?
...that Moose, a Jack Russell Terrier who played Eddie on the popular sitcom Frasier, was given away by his original owner because he was too active for them?