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guide dog

(Encyclopedia)guide dog, a dog trained to lead a blind person. The first school for training such dogs was established by the German government after World War I for the benefit of blinded veterans. Schools now exi...

nonsporting dog

(Encyclopedia)nonsporting dog, classification used by breeders and kennel clubs to designate dogs that may formerly have been bred to hunt or work but that are now raised chiefly as house pets and companions. The f...

police dog

(Encyclopedia)police dog: see German shepherd. ...

prairie dog

(Encyclopedia)prairie dog, short-tailed, ground-living rodent, genus Cynomys, of the squirrel family, closely related to the ground squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots. There are several species, found in the W Unite...

toy dog

(Encyclopedia)toy dog, classification used by breeders and kennel clubs to designate very small breeds of dogs kept as pets. Some are selectively bred diminutive forms of larger breeds and others are naturally smal...

working dog

(Encyclopedia)working dog, classification used by breeders and kennel clubs to designate dogs raised by humans to herd cattle and sheep, as draft animals, as message dispatchers in wartime, in police and rescue wor...

raccoon dog

(Encyclopedia)raccoon dog: see tanuki.

sporting dog

(Encyclopedia)sporting dog, classification used by breeders and kennel clubs to designate dogs bred for pointing, flushing, and retrieving game. These dogs hunt by air scent—as opposed to most hounds, which are g...

Saluki

(Encyclopedia)Saluki səlo͞oˈkē [key], breed of tall, slender hound whose origins may be traced back to the Sumerian empire of 6000 b.c. It stands between 23 and 28 in. (58.4–71.1 cm) high at the shoulder, alt...

schipperke

(Encyclopedia)schipperke skĭpˈərkē [key], a breed of small nonsporting dog developed in Belgium several hundred years ago. It stands about 13 in. (33 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 14 to 18 lb (6.4–...