Clementine, a brown dog being held close by a person.

Clementine, an adopted dog companion, being held by her owner; photographed in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 2023.

Creator: AverageSizedMuskrat, ‘Photo of dog.jpg’, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. No changes to the source file; display cropping only. Licence: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Photo_of_dog.jpg.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

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Species record

Dog

Canis lupus familiaris

Explore the Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The Dog is a domesticated and managed canid that lives with people in homes, farms, grasslands, and urban areas worldwide. It is kept as a companion and may assist with herding, guarding, hunting, service work, and detection; strong social communication supports its close relationship with people. Multiple breeds, varieties, strains, and managed lines exist.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Chordates
  3. Subphylum: Vertebrates
  4. Class: Mammals
  5. Order: Carnivorans
  6. Family: Canidae
  7. Genus: Canis

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
homes, farms, grasslands, urban areas
Selected regions
North America, Europe, Asia
Selected countries
United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan

Conservation status

The Ark records: Domesticated.

Did you know?

  • Dogs use their powerful sense of smell to learn about the world.
  • Different dog breeds were developed for jobs such as herding, retrieving, and companionship.

More images

A black dog standing outdoors at Le Hameau du Lac, France.

Creator: H. Zell, Canis lupus familiaris 001.JPG, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported (GFDL is an alternative, not the selected licence). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canis_lupus_familiaris_001.JPG. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0. No source-file edits; display resizing/cropping only.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

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Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) in a Wikimedia Commons reference photograph.

Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) — additional reference view.

Creator: Emőke Dénes, Carnivora - Canis lupus familiaris - 36.jpg, Wikimedia Commons (file page: “kindly granted by the author”). CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carnivora_-_Canis_lupus_familiaris_-_36.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. No source-file edits; display resizing/cropping only.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

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Sources and attribution