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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 is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf; the gray wolf is the dog's closest living relative. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans. Experts estimate that hunter-gatherers domesticated dogs more than 15,000 years ago, which was before the development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals and gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.

The dog has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. They perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and the military, companionship, therapy, and aiding disabled people. Over the millennia, dogs became uniquely adapted to human behavior, and the human–canine bond has been a topic of frequent study. This influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of "man's best friend". (Full article...)

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A black Giant Schnauzer

The Giant Schnauzer is a breed of dog developed in the 17th century in Germany. It is the largest of the three breeds of Schnauzer—the other two breeds being the Standard Schnauzer and the Miniature Schnauzer. Numerous breeds were used in its development, including the black Great Dane, the Bouvier des Flandres, and the German Pinscher. Originally bred to assist on farms by driving livestock to market and guarding the farmer's property, the breed eventually moved into the city, where it worked guarding breweries, butchers' shops, stockyards and factories. It was unknown outside of Bavaria until it became popular as a military dog during World War I and World War II.

They have a dense coarse coat that protects them from the weather and from vermin. Giant Schnauzers come in three color varieties: pepper and salt, pure black with black undercoat, and black and silver. Where legal, they are shown with cropped ears and docked tails. Like other schnauzers, they have a distinct beard and eyebrows. Today, the Giant Schnauzer participates in numerous dog sports, including Schutzhund. Another sport that the dog excels in is that of nosework. Due to its alert nature, the dog is also used in police work. (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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The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions each year. Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and the limited support that competitors are allowed, it is considered the "most difficult sled dog race in the world", or even the "toughest race in the world"—"even tougher, more selective and less attention-seeking than the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race." The originator envisioned it as "a race so rugged that only purists would participate."

In the competition, first run in 1984, a dog team leader (called a musher) and a team of 6 to 14 dogs race for 10 to 20 days. The course follows the route of the historic 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, mail delivery, and transportation routes between Fairbanks, Dawson City, and Whitehorse. Mushers pack up to 250 pounds (113 kg) of equipment and provisions for themselves and their dogs to survive between checkpoints. Each musher must rely on a single sled for the entire run, versus three in the Iditarod. (Full article...)

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

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

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

... that after U.S. Navy pilot Royce Williams engaged in a solo dogfight with seven Soviet MiG-15s during the Korean War, he was ordered never to tell anyone about it?
... that Chuck Eisenmann went from professionally pitching in baseball to owning and training the dogs that starred on the Canadian television series The Littlest Hobo?
... that either dog feces, or hen and pigeon manure, were used by tanners to produce a soft leather?
... that the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is the only U.S. cemetery reserved exclusively for coon dog burials?
... that Mack Trucks adopted the Bulldog as its corporate logo after World War I British soldiers nicknamed the Mack AC the "Bulldog", a reference to the model's tenacity and stub nose?
... 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?

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 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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