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 is derived from extinct gray wolves, and 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...)

The English Springer is a breed of gun dog in the Spaniel group traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. They are descended from the Norfolk or Shropshire Spaniels of the mid-19th century; the breed has diverged into separate show and working lines. It is closely related to the Welsh Springer Spaniel and very closely to the English Cocker Spaniel; less than a century ago, springers and cockers would come from the same litter. The smaller "cockers" were used in woodcock hunting while their larger littermates were used to flush, or "spring", other game birds. In 1902, The Kennel Club recognized the English Springer Spaniel as a distinct breed. They are used as sniffer dogs on a widespread basis. The term Springer comes from the historic hunting role, where the dog would flush (spring) birds into the air. (Full article...)
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A yellow Labrador Retriever
A yellow Labrador Retriever
Credit: Herwig Kavallar

The Labrador Retriever ("Labrador" or "Lab" for short), is a retriever, and is the most popular breed of dog (by registered ownership) in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The breed is friendly, intelligent, energetic and good natured, making them excellent companions and working dogs. Labrador Retrievers are known to be one of the fastest-learning breeds of dog and respond well to praise and positive attention. The steady temperament of Labs and their ability to learn quickly make them an ideal breed for assistance dogs as well as search and rescue, detection, and therapy work.

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Jack (John S. Carroll) visiting students

Jack the Bulldog is the official mascot of the Georgetown University Hoyas athletic teams. The school has employed at least nine live Bulldogs as mascots, and counts seven named Jack since 1962, when the name first came into use, including three who are still living. The current incarnation of Jack, who will be taking over from his predecessor during the spring 2024 semester, is an English Bulldog born in 2023 whose full name is Serchell's John P. Carroll. Recent bulldogs have come from the Georgetown alumni family of Janice and Marcus Hochstetler.

Jack was not always the name of the Georgetown Hoyas' mascot, nor was the mascot always a bulldog, as other types of dogs, particularly bull terriers, were associated with the sports teams before 1962. In 2009, the American Kennel Club ranked Jack as the 8th most popular dog in American culture. Today, Georgetown is among thirty-nine American universities to use a bulldog as their mascot, with Georgia, Butler, Mississippi State, Yale, and James Madison being the only others with a live bulldog. Jack is also portrayed by a costumed character Bulldog mascot, a tradition dating to 1977. In 2019, a campus editorial called for replacing the bulldog with a rescue dog, in part because of the health problems and short lifespans that many bulldogs face. (Full article...)
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  • ... that Pyrenean Mountain Dogs were urgently introduced onto French farms in the 1990s to protect flocks from wolves that had arrived from Italy?
  • ... that according to legend, dogs who travelled through a passage between Piper's Hole in Tresco and Piper's Hole in St Mary's emerged without most of their fur?
  • ... that Miller's Anatomy of the Dog, a textbook dedicated to canines, was found by a specialist feline publication to be bereft of information about cats?
  • ... that Ethan Loch, a blind pianist, was inspired by Rowlf the Dog?
  • ... that a flat on London's Cadogan Lane has been described as "one of the happiest turn-on centres there's ever been" due to experiments with LSD done there?
  • ... that the poor of ancient Rome were compared to dogs by the Roman writer Martial?

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For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's dog-related articles, see WikiProject Dogs.

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