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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. 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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The Jack Russell Terrier is a British breed of small terrier. It is principally white-bodied and smooth-, rough- or broken-coated, and can be any colour.

It derives from dogs bred and used for fox-hunting in North Devon in the early nineteenth century by a country parson, Jack Russell – for whom the breed is named – and has similar origins to the modern Fox Terrier. Though closely similar, it is a distinct and different breed from the Parson Russell Terrier. (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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Dog intelligence or dog cognition is the process in dogs of acquiring information and conceptual skills, and storing them in memory, retrieving, combining and comparing them, and using them in new situations.

Dogs have about twice the number of neurons in their cerebral cortexes than what cats have, which suggests they could be about twice as intelligent. (Full article...)

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

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

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

... that Phil Fletcher as Hacker T. Dog caused Lauren Layfield to make the "most famous snort" in the United Kingdom in 2016?
... that eccentric Yorkshirewoman Camberley Kate is estimated to have cared for more than 600 dogs in her lifetime?
... that Open Philanthropy has made grants to causes ranging from recession prevention to cancer vaccines for dogs?
... that with only three of the six guns in his P-51 Mustang working during a dogfight, Claude J. Crenshaw managed to shoot down four enemy aircraft?
... that the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station was nicknamed the Temple of Storms?
... that Lixia traditions include weighing people, brewing seven-family tea, and making rice 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 Ramy Brooks, a competitor in the 1,049 mi 2006 Iditarod dog sled race across Alaska, is one of the few Native Alaskans competing in the event?
...that the Caucasian Shepherd Dog is generally a low activity dog, seemingly lethargic when not working, but extremely agile and convincing when it feels that its family is threatened?
...that the Battle of Garibpur fought between India and Pakistan preceded the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and was the first battle where dog fighting occurred over East Pakistan?
...that George E. Studdy was a British artist best remembered for his creation of Bonzo the dog, a fictional character, in the early 1920s?

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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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